Slap the Rocks [Xbox]

Developed by Antonio Filipe, Slap the Rocks is a simple, pixel-art puzzle game that revolves around you slapping rocks to clear a path to the treasure chest at the end of each level. It offers a decent level of brain-exercise as you try to work out the best routes forward - and planning out your moves is essential as chopping down bushes prematurely could cause problems, so make sure you know where the rocks are going before you slap them.

There are thirty levels available for you to complete, with these all being unlocked from the beginning and able to be played in any order. This is great for achievement hunters, particularly as only some of the levels are tied to achievements, but it removes any sense of reward through unlocking the levels as you progress yourself. The gameplay remains the same throughout which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity - adding new elements every few levels would have been good to keep things fresh, so it‘s a shame that it ends up somewhat stale.

Some levels have a straightforward path to follow, and your only real concern is which way to hit the rocks to get them where you ultimately want them to go; but other levels will have a few different routes to take, and therefore a number of rocks that may or may not be necessary - and sometimes even too many pits, losing you the precious rocks you need to progress. If you mess up, you can always go hit the reset, giving you a clean slate to start again.

The chunky pixel art style looks decent, and keeps things from feeling too cluttered. Some levels pan across into other areas off screen, but everything keeps a really consistent, easily readable look that works really well. As you progress further into the game, the level designs change slightly, evolving from lush forests to wintry areas, though the gameplay remains the same - the only real change is that it puts more of a focus on bringing rocks from other areas to fill the pits. The main menu is oddly minimal, with no way to tell which levels you’ve played or completed upon viewing - and this is such a simple thing to have included that makes it feel overly strange that it is missing. The soundtrack consists of a single looping track that drones on in the background, but surprisingly isn’t totally mind-numbing due to its calming, relaxed vibe. Having a bit more variety would have been decent, even having some more powerful tracks, as the sound of the rocks being slapped does tend to drown out anything else.

Overall, Slap the Rocks is a pleasant puzzle game, but unfortunately feels a little too bare-bones as it stands. Having more variety in the level designs and gameplay mechanics as well as more levels would have made this a far more solid title. Heck, even having some form of a challenge mode, such as limiting the number of moves you can do within each level, would have given it a whole new layer - and having it as an optional mode would mean that it wouldn’t punish players looking for a more relaxing experience. Priced at £4.19 on Xbox, it’s not a terribly expensive title - but for the limited gameplay and total lack of replayability, there’s just not a lot of bang for your buck.

In the end, we decided to give Slap the Rocks the Collecting Asylum rating of 5/10.

Are you interested in Slap the Rocks? What do you think of it?
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- V x

Thank you to EastAsiaSoft for the Slap the Rocks Xbox review code!