We first reported on Ship v Maze in February this year, and have now had the chance to try this minilmilist arcade title for ourselves. It’s out now on Steam, priced at $3.59 with a 10% early bird discount currently running as we posted this initial impressions post. Ship v Maze is a minimalist arcade game that puts gameplay before everything else. The graphics are simple, the soundtrack is quiet and sombre at times, but trying to survive the maze in a ship that simply turns left or right is exhilarating.
When a game strips everything back, it needs to deliver some solid gameplay, and that is exactly what Ship v Maze does. The game starts with a few easier levels unlocked. When you finally survive one of the mazes for more than 60 seconds, the next level unlocks. None of the levels are easy, and we had to turn the game down to ‘slow’ to get through some of the mazes. This is one tough arcade experience that just requires practice and a bit of memory to win.
While the basic game is learned within a couple of deaths, it’s the constant retrying after failing that makes this a winner. You will scream in frustration and just have to give it one last go, followed by the emotional sense of achievement when you finally crack a level that you had been stuck on for ages. Ship v Maze takes the very core essence of arcade gaming and just serves it up on a plate with no garnish or extras.
Even though the presentation is minimal, we still enjoyed the art style and 8-bit nature of the artwork. The soundtrack felt like a combination of slow synthwave mixed in with some experimental electronica, which was decent, if unspectacular, throughout. Ship v Maze gets the perfect balance between nostalgia and homage, and you can tell the developer has really thought about the experience for the player. This felt like a Tron game that I’d play on my NES or even in the arcade back in the day.
The controls are tight, and it will only take most players a few minutes to work out the ship’s turning angle. As you progress through each level, they become faster, but the controls keep up, and at no point will you be blaming the game for a failure. We also tried playing with other devices beyond our Xbox controller, including a mouse and keyboard, and each one worked fine, our favourite being the mouse’s left and right buttons.
Overall, Ship v Maze is a fantastic arcade game, although it is quite short-lived. Beyond finishing all the levels, there is only a high score table to aim at, although this is online and appears to be quite competitive already. However, at this price, the length of the game is mostly mute, and this is a perfect game for those looking for a weekend blast or just something straightforward without any gimmicks. Ship v Maze is thoroughly recommended, and we look forward to seeing the developer’s next title.
