Squids

Gameplay

Squids is a turn-based action-RPG consisting of 21 regular stages in addition to two bonus Halloween levels, which were released free of charge, and developed by The Game Bakers, in which the player must sling their squids across the screen to accomplish an assortment of tasks and objectives.

When starting a level, the player may choose up to 4 squids to fill their party. Every squid has his/her own stats and special abilities in addition to this various items, which are found within the stages or bought in the game's shop, can be equipped in order to increase the aforementioned stats.

These stats include :

• Level
• Health
• Stamina
• Attack
• Defense
• Special ability (Dash, Heal)

There are 4 different kinds of squids each with their own special ability:

• Shooter: Possesses the ability to shoot bubble projectiles at enemies.
• Trooper: While slow and less agile than the other classes, the trooper has high attack rates and can summon a tidal wave.
• Scout: The quickest and most maneuverable, is the game's jack-of-all-trades class having medium attack and defense rates.
• Healer: Most of the healer's stats are slightly below average, however the healer's special skill more then makes up for this. Any contact with another squid will regenerate their health.

During stages the player can collect 3 stars:

• Secret: Hidden in the stage.
• Survival: All Squids must make it to the end of the level.
• Speed: Complete the level within a certain number of rounds.

There are a few squids to chose from when preparing for battle:

• Steev: As a scout class squid, he is quite maneuverable and has far reach. For all intents and purposes Steev is Squids' main character.
• Vahine: A mild-mannered female healer squid.
• Winnick: An elder squid with immense power that is only with the group for the initial few battles.
• Clint: Clint is a red elderly shooter squid that's already survived one war with the black ooze. He's basically Clint Eastwood in squid form. When unlocked the "the Unforgiven" achievement pops.
• Sammo: Sammo is a stout Trooper squid, able to project devastating tidal waves. He also loves food and treasure. He is named for notably overweight action star Sammo Hung.
• Vesper: A blue female shooter squid with a somber attitude. She is part of Thalas Guards and is named for Vesper Lynd, an early James Bond love interest.
• Venus: A relaxed and beautiful healer. Also part of Thalas Guards.

There are two kinds of stages in Squids: The survival variant, in which the player must clear a couple waves of enemies and the exploration stages which have the player getting to a certain part of the map whilst staving off opponents. Within both areas the player can collect power ups (safety shells that protect the user from damage and being pushed off the edge of the map by adversaries, food that recharges stamina and health, attack buffs, etc) hang onto anchors to minimize damage and prevent being pushed off the map, use currents to traverse the map more efficiently (more common in exploration stages) and open treasure chests filled with items or pearls.

Pearls, the game's currency, can be obtained through various means.

• When enemies are killed they tend to drop pearls
• Treasure chests
• Combos
• Microtransactions

They can be spent in the game's store on hats, buffs, level ups or even additional squids.

Hats

Various equippable hats and helmets can be found scattered throughout the games stages. Along with adding some visual flair they provide stats bonuses to each squid. Once found they have to be bought in the game's store. Their stats can be permanently transferred to the squids, allowing the player to wear whichever hat they prefer.

Art

One could liken Squids art style to that of Rayman Origins. This is probably because the development studio is mostly comprised of Ex-Ubisoft employees who had been working on said game before starting The Game Bakers.

Music

Squids' jazzy main theme is inspired by the song "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid.

The rest of the tunes are mostly also upbeat and fun, though there's also a few dramatic numbers.

Miscellaneous

The game is available in the iOS App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and on Desura for Mac and PC.

System Requirements

• CPU: Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2 Ghz (1 core processor)
• RAM: 512 MB
• GPU: Radeon X1300 with 512 MB VRAM