Game adaptations of Friday The 13th haven’t fared too well over the years. 1985’s home computer entry was barely serviceable at best, 1989’s NES edition is a confusing mess, and 2017’s largely broken online multiplayer effort could have been great if behind the scenes legal wrangling hadn’t put a premature end to the game’s update cycle. Friday The 13th: Killer Puzzle was released on mobile earlier this year, and has now made its way to the Nintendo Switch. But does it finally give slasher fans a reason to get excited?
Jason’s antics might not immediately seem like the sort of thing that would translate well into a puzzle game, and neither might one expect the aesthetics to get a cutesy animated overhaul, but this is exactly what’s happened with Killer Puzzle. Each level sees Jason sliding around a grid trying to make his way towards a set number of terrified campers. Catch them all, kill them all, and move on to the next level. It’s a simple premise, but of course there are plenty of obstacles in your way. Some campers might run across the screen while others might need to be lured to certain areas, and there are plenty of environmental hazards that can stop Jason in his tracks. Figuring out the best way to navigate each level can be pretty difficult at times – planning ahead isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially later on when all kinds of things start moving around, and you might find that trial and error rather than brainpower is the key to victory.
Players amass a huge arsenal of weapons throughout the game’s 150+ levels, ranging from the downright evil like swords and scythes to the more ridiculous purses and baguettes, and these can be swapped between at any time. Most weapons have unique kill animations which are always amusing, and the South Park meets Cartoon Network visual presentation really comes into play during the ultraviolent “final kills” in which the last survivor meets their maker in a huge variety of gory but snappy cutscenes.
Your enjoyment of Killer Puzzle will totally depend on how well you get on with the gameplay itself – the idea of causing havoc as Jason is massively appealing, but the type of puzzle won’t be to everybody’s liking. Great fun if you can get your head around it, but maybe less so if you can’t.
FRIDAY THE 13TH: KILLER PUZZLE / DEVELOPER: BLUE WIZARD DIGITAL / PUBLISHER: BLUE WIZARD DIGITAL / PLATFORM: ANDROID, iOS, NINTENDO SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
