More Dark

HugePixel’s More Dark is a 2D platformer where you play as a demon on a mission to save hell; capturing the escaped prisoners and returning them to the pit. You see, the demon Lord went on holiday, leaving his daughter Evilina in charge - big mistake. Things quickly went south, with prisoners scattering themselves across the Kingdom, leaving it up to you to hunt them all down and restore Hell back to its former glory.

Each level consists of a number of prisoners for you to boop on the head, as well as puzzles to figure out in order to reach them. These start off straightforward but build in complexity as you work your way through the 60 levels, evolving from simple gaps to jump to levels that require the use of expertly placed bombs to explode the correct route to avoid leaving you stranded.

Visually, More Dark has a pleasing, retro pixel art style, and a lot of suggestive artwork of Evilina. The cute level visuals and the fact that puzzles are challenging, with the progression of game mechanics being easy to digest makes for an entertaining time. Sound Design is similarly retro, and goes well with the overall vibe of the game.

Enemy designs are simple, consisting of little human prisoners that don’t really do all that much, in all honesty. You need to jump on their heads to kill them, but touching them in any other way will kill you, so you’ll need to make sure to aim well! I’d have liked to see a little more variety in the enemies, or even just how they interact with you, as they aren’t very difficult to deal with. Giving them a little more threat and purpose would have injected a little more fun into things, I think.

There are collectible hats for you to find hidden within some of the levels. These were a fair bit trickier to find that we both expected - as it turns out, you’ll need to jump up the walls to find invisible gaps in places, so you can pop in and nab the hat. These add a fun little element, with a variety of hats such as a little fez - possibly a reference to either Fez, Gravity Fall’s Grunkle Stan or well… just a normal fez - as well as a toadstool hat, a leprechaun hat and more.

It’s not overly complicated but it is enjoyable enough for what it is, although I feel either adding a little more complexity or extending the length (or number) of levels would have given the game a bit more longevity. With 60 short levels in total, you can complete More Dark - and unlock all achievements - in around an hour, without too much trouble, so if you like the sound of that, then you can pick this up digitally for £4.99 on the Xbox Store.

In the end, we decided to give More Dark the Collecting Asylum rating of 6/10.

Have you played More Dark yet? What did you think of it?
Let us know in the comments below!

- V x

Thank you to Ratalaika for the More Dark Xbox review code!