Ever wanted to know what it feels like to be an egg? No? Me neither. What about an egg trying to escape being used for baking? Again, never crossed my mind. Yolked puts you in the shell of an egg. Trying to escape and having to use its arms to escape by grabbing and climbing the environment. Developed by Hardboiled Studios (what a great name). It was released on Steam on October 27th.
You’ve Been Yolked!
Initially, I tried playing with a keyboard and mouse. But for some reason, my hand-eye coordination was not working well with the controls. I switched to a gamepad and it made the game far more enjoyable. The analogue sticks are to control each arm independently and the trigger buttons are used to grab the environment. Once you’ve mastered the controls the game stops being frustrating and starts being fun.
Yolked introduces new elements of the environment slowly but effectively. In the background, there are other eggs trying to escape. These will then fall victim to the next obstacle that you will get to. Which is a great way of doing it without hand-holding too much.I found this more enjoyable than a tutorial as it feels like you are building your own skills gradually. Rather than being handheld through the stages. One of the early Megaman games did this which a lot of players appreciated.
The obstacles that are in your way vary depending on the environment. On the first level, you are in a bakery. The obstacles are utensils or condiments that can smash your egg if you get hit directly. But if it only grazes your egg, it won’t always smash the egg. This makes it far more forgiving and contributes to the fact you want to get to the end.
Yolked’s Egg-cellent Presentation
Yolked is a beautiful game to look at. The details on the environment really shine. Especially when seeing your egg peers find their demise. The point of view also puts into perspective the world compared to an egg. And nothing feels out of place. The very first level you are climbing a fridge. The obstacles are fridge magnets and they do not look out of place. Due to the graphics being cartoony like they run really well on laptops and non-gaming PCs which is always a bonus.
Yolked sound effects are brilliant. The familiar noise of your egg going splat becomes one you begin to fear throughout your time with Yolked. Each obstacle and environment produces its own sound which helps the comical atmosphere.
The music also matches the tone of the game and blends into the background. It doesn’t detract from the focus of the gameplay. But it isn’t music I intend to add to my daily playlist. Which it doesn’t need to be for a casual game.
Why Did the Egg Cross the Road?
The main reason to keep replaying Yolked is the skins. Throughout the levels, there are various accessories that are difficult to get to or hidden. These can then be equipped by your egg to give their look a bit of variety. Some of these accessories are in response to what you have done. In the very first level, you can microwave a fellow egg. You are then rewarded with devil horns. Many other levels have you trying to launch into locations where you will certainly get smashed in order to obtain new objects. It’s a great reason to replay and try to collect them all.
Yolked Final Verdict
When I first booted up Yolked and used a keyboard and mouse. The game felt unresponsive and unplayable. This probably says more about my own skill than the game’s controls. But once I had moved to a gamepad it all clicked into place. Swinging across the environments is enjoyable and escaping the various obstacles in the process makes you feel amazing.
The gameplay is very similar to Happenlance. Which takes the platformer gameplay and tried to add something new. But Yolked does this far more effectively. It may be easier as well. I recommend anyone give this game a try and just enjoy it for what it is. A great platformer.
