Swarm Grinder is a fun, but testing endeavour that will drive you insane. Though its core concept is straightforward, there are so many variables that trial and error is the name of the game. Now, this may drive some people crazy, but I loved the variety and the testing action. Moreover, the grim aesthetic and seamlessly never-ending action made me smile throughout. However, there was an awful lot of swearing as I died miserably more often than not.
This casual rogue-like was published and developed by Last Bite Games. Moreover, it is reminiscent of Vampire Survivors and Brotato. Accordingly, if you adore either of those games, you will cherish every grindy moment you experience. I have to highlight the word “GRIND”! This title demands a lot of your time and you will die repeatedly. Along the way, you will unlock new skills, new characters, and new levels. Yet, you must invest a lot of time and patience to get to the end game. Consequently, you must be prepared to lose hours of your life to this fun, but repetitive endeavour.
Swarm Grinder tells a grim, fantasy story.
Aliens and destruction go hand-in-hand. Why can’t our extraterrestrial neighbours get along with us? After all, all we want to do is steal their resources and ruin their planet. Not a lot to ask to get to know us, is it? Well, this mindset unfortunately backfires as the aliens that inhabit this abandoned mining system are fighting back. As your mechanoid lands on the planet, the swarms of monsters awaken. You must do your best to avoid their attention and gather as many resources as possible. However, this is easier said than done as every node and mining machine is surrounded by human-hating entities.
You play the role of a mech pilot. You explore a grim and dark alien world that is filled with Bioshards. These valuable items are essential if you wish to upgrade your equipment. However, the aliens don’t see it that way, and they’ll stop you any way they can. As such, you must navigate a challenging environment that is filled with wave after wave of pissed-off creatures. If you are lucky, you will survive your experience, unlock new skills, and find new parts. But, luck is often not on your side and death and failure are all but guaranteed.
An addictive experience.
The idea of playing another wave-focused rogue-like wasn’t on my radar. I’ve played this genre to death and was looking for something a little less casual. Yet, once Swarm Grinder got its claws into my skin, I couldn’t put it down. The mixture of horrific aesthetics, banging tunes, and easy-to-follow gameplay makes this an addictive experience. What’s more, I loved the “just one more go” attitude. Yes, failure and losing your progress annoyed me as normal, but there was something slightly less irksome that I enjoyed.
The straightforward gameplay loop makes this the perfect title for newbies. However, the challenging end game and the evolution layers will interest veteran gamers. I adored the gentle learning curve and the different layers of skills and perks that can be unlocked. Alongside this, there is an array of permanent buffs and temporary upgrades to experiment with. Subsequently, the more you play, the easier things get. Yet, this requires an awful lot of time and effort, and some players will become frustrated and fed up with the back-and-forth and repetitive nature of the gameplay loop.
So many skills.
Those valuable Bioshards are the key to your success. Consequently, you must decide whether you wish to harvest every golden node to gather as many as possible or bum-rush each stage. Either way, you are not going to have an easy time as the waves of enemies and the list of big bosses will push you to your limits. Moreover, your gradually depleting fuel levels demand you take action. As your mech improves, you drink fuel at a ridiculous rate. Luckily, every kill has the opportunity of dropping either a health boost or a canister of fuel. Accordingly, you must balance exploration and fighting if you wish to survive each playthrough.
Thankfully, though, the permanent buffs improve your chances significantly. You can increase your health, fuel, strength, speed, and much more. Alongside this, the temporary skills complement your rigid character build. This was an interesting approach that changes your tactics depending on what skills unfold. Furthermore, each character has its strengths and weaknesses and these must be considered as well. Essentially, you are spinning plenty of plates whilst hoping that luck is on your side.
Swarm Grinder performs admirably.
This is a game that chucks everything at you in one go. At times, the screen is filled with wave after wave of alien beings. However, the game never stuttered, nor did I experience any bugs, glitches, or frame rate drops. Additionally, it works perfectly if you have a Steam Deck. Yes, it isn’t the most graphically advanced game you’ll experience, but there is so much going on that I expected it to fail at some point. Swarm Grinder uses a dark colour palette and isometric viewpoint to enhance the sense of claustrophobia. This uncomfortable approach adds to the drama. Additionally, though there are plenty of projectiles and an underlying theme of destruction and violence, the developers stayed away from guts and gore and I appreciated this slightly underwhelming finish.
The audio is loud, obnoxious, and aggressive. The bass-heavy soundtrack gets you in the mood to kick some alien ass. Moreover, the uncomfortable sound effects have a brilliant sci-fi edge that matches the theme. The cacophony of noises will rattle your eardrums and the sound of squelching enemies will bring a smile to your face. Though this isn’t particularly unique, I loved the OTT ideas that enhanced the adrenaline-fueled action.
Excellent controls.
If you cannot use a mouse and keyboard, then worry not. Swarm Grinder is perfect if you use a gamepad or a Steam Deck. However, I liked the M&K setup as the design was well-considered, and the inputs were responsive. However, I didn’t like the inaccuracies in the dash mechanic as this caused multiple issues. Sadly, it was tough to use this skill and avoid large waves of foes. Accordingly, this caused many premature deaths and an increased sense of frustration. Now, this could be a skill issue, but having invested a fair bit of time, I’m leaning more towards a design fault. Therefore, if this could be resolved, the levels of frustration would be vastly reduced.
This genre is renowned for its replay value and longevity. Subsequently, I wasn’t surprised that this became my guilty pleasure very quickly. Though there is a sense of extreme grind and repetition, I couldn’t put it down. If you add in the Steam Deck verification, then you know you’ll be playing this for hours. Alongside this, there are multiple character builds to experiment with, several layers of evolution to experience, and a smattering of levels to test out. Finally, there are 31 challenging achievements to unlock if that is your thing.
Swarm Grinder does enough to challenge its peers.
This is one tough genre to crack. The lead protagonists are so far ahead of their competition, that you have to be unique to be noticed. Sadly, Swarm Grinder lacks originality, but the gameplay is good, and the aesthetics are impressive. Moreover, it is addictive and fun and a wonderful casual challenge. Accordingly, I enjoyed it and I recommend buying it here! Can you gather every valuable resource and survive? Choose your mech, pick your skills, and hope that luck is on your side.
