Sports games have been out since the dawn of video games. Numerous titles lets players enjoy basketball, tennis, football, among many others. However, very few titles have explored the possibilities of dodgeball.
Stikbold: A Dodgeball Adventure is a game that allows players to play a spirited game of dodgeball. It has a Story Mode option that follows the story of Björn and Jerome, two eccentric professional dodgeball players that is about to embark on their next competition.
The story begins as we discover that the duo has failed to win a gold trophy in their past competitions. This predicament seem to set their coach’s teeth on edge and pressures them to win the gold trophy in the next tournament. As the game is about to begin, their competitor, a lovely woman, was abducted by a guy wearing a devil costume. Wanting to rescue their competitor, Björn and Jeremy set off for a quest to save her.
The gameplay is quite simple and fun, you play dodgeball. There are other surprising elements that would add to the game’s experience such as buses running you off or bees stinging your character, that definitely makes the game more fun to play. The controls are also easy to use once you’ve gotten used to it. I admit playing on my laptop was a bit awkward at first, but as soon as the tutorial is over, I got used to it already and played away with no problems.
Besides the 12 level story mode, there is also a multiplayer feature labeled as Quick Match. Players can choose three modes in Quick Match: Team vs. Team, Free For All, and Mini Games. This feature allows four players to battle on one console. You can also add an assortment of up to five bots and set their difficulty to make the game more interesting. Unfortunately, online play is not supported by Stikbold, which is a swing in a miss for me.
The graphics of the game is cartoony that has a somewhat similar style to Minecraft, but has a lot of charm. There were so many bright colors that would make this game appealing to kids as much as it would with adults. The smooth textures and balanced colors makes this game good to look at.
Whenever I review games, I always tend to be vigilant with its soundtrack than any other aspect of the game. There were many games that are successful because of their memorable music as seen on many platformers, or lack of it, to add tension in some horror games. With Stikbold, I’d have to say that I am very impressed with the music in this game. It’s bright and quirky and definitely adds to the appeal of the game.
The Achievements feature in Stikbold increases the game’s replayability. The game features 26 Achievements worth a total of 1,000 Gamescore. Before each level begins, the game will show some objectives that would make your game score higher. They are not mandatory to unlock the next level in story mode, but the competitive player in me makes me repeat levels whenever I miss one achievement. Unfortunately achievements can only be earned by the first player, which is a shame if you are playing co-op.
Overall, Stikbold: A Dodgeball Adventure is a surprisingly fun game to play. The silly characters, interesting story, and very fun gameplay will make a virtual game of dodgeball quite enjoyable for hours on end. The graphics and soundtrack in this game are its strongest points as they add charm and character to the fun gameplay. Hopefully, Stikbold will support online play soon as I’m sure many players would like to battle with others online. A Stikbold tournament can even be a possibility if they let it. I would recommend this game for those who want a fun and unique dodgeball experience and I give this game a score of 7.5/10.
Stikbold: A Dodgeball Adventure is created by Game Swing, an indie game developer based in Copenhagen. The game is available for $10 on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One.