“Holy Smokes” by Milkbar Lads (Jack, Ace, Major, Gel & Loud).
“[An] arcade [roguelike] adventure to the Underworld where you use bombs to blast your way downwards, obliterate enemies, and collect precious gems. You play as Faith, a newly recruited angel tasked with a very special assignment to destroy the King of the Underworld before he is able to begin his conquest of your homeworld, Paradise.”
When I played through the demo version of “Holy Smokes”, I felt reminded of an older jam entry I was really addicted to: “Trappy Mine” made by RogueNoodle, an arcade game where you have to bomb your way from the top of a level downwards while collecting gems. “Holy Smokes” has a similar game concept, but realizes it in its own style.
For example, your own bombs will not hurt you. Instead, you will encounter several enemies like sleeping bats, which will attack you after you wake them up with a sudden explosion. Another type of fiends are the yellow birds that hide under blocks, or take the munching giant worms, that look at you like you are their next snack. Another sweet touch are the golden keys that can open up treasure chests, though the wooden boxes might appear in the next stage only. Also, after each level you can spend your well earned money for some upgrades like intensifying the blast of your bombs or lowering the reload time.
The narrative scenario of “Holy Smokes” – you are the angel Faith who has to fight against the Demon King – does not really matter right now, as the demo focuses mainly on the gameplay feel. It proves to be pretty juicy so far, even though the spawning mechanism for the monsters could be refined a bit. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a sweet, colorful arcade game with great pixel art and bomb-digging mechanic, you should definitely give it a try. [PLAY]
