Iron Snout

As it was proven time and again over the years, a video game does not need to be complex in order to attract a huge number of players. Instead, it needs to be fun and addictive, while also allowing people to keep playing for as long as they want. Whether it’s to acquire more wealth, or achieve higher scores and be at the top of the leaderboard, people are always attracted by competition.

Iron Snout is about as simple as it can get when it comes to gameplay mechanics, underlying concept and even graphics. However, it’s difficult to stop playing after you give it a go, mainly because it’s so easy and difficult at the same time. The goal is to beat as many wolves as possible, while trying to survive their attacks and score more points along the way.

The game’s simplicity is mostly obvious in the controls, since you only need the arrow keys in order to attack. Your pig cannot move at all, so pressing the right arrow makes him attack the enemy coming from his right, while the left arrow has the opposite effect. It is also possible to jump and duck, as well as combining these moves into nice combos that yield more damage and can even affect multiple enemies at the same time.

Most enemies carry some sort of weapon as well, such as knives or even chainsaws. If you are quick enough, you can catch them and use them to your advantage, or throw them to take out wolves from far away. There are also enemies that have special attacks, such as riding toward you on a rocket, or charging at you with great speed. All of these attacks can be dodged or blocked, but you have to be quick.

Thankfully, the controls are both accurate and simple, which makes it only a matter of good reflexes. It takes practice to get very good at it, but not so much so to make you give up too quickly. The graphics are cartoony and simple, but they hardly make a difference anyway. Granted, the wolves and the animations are hilarious, so at least they help with the mood.

In the end, Iron Snout manages to provide players with the perfect combination of fun and challenge, which is fantastic. Hence, while it may not the kind of game to keep you playing for hours on end, it’s certainly something you can go back to every once in awhile to waste some time.