Sugar Sling Showdown’s Demo Shows the Promising Power of Food, Caring, and Tongue Muscles

When I got wind of The Super Sling Showdown's demo release, I was expecting a difficult game. Developer Eaz Games, having seen my request for Asian and Asian-American developers with upcoming releases, sent me a link to the Steam page and the trailers on YouTube.

Trailer footage hinted at a difficulty spike. The demo warns that a controller would work best, instead of a keyboard, but my controller is buried somewhere unknown. So I went forward with the keyboard, as I tend to do. AAPI Heritage Month is halfway over, and I haven't played the games with new indie developers; time's a-wasting!

Thankfully, Sugar Sling Showdown doesn't have a hard learning curve for the game mechanics. There are some bits where the objectives aren't clear and I was wandering in the sewers for a bit while looking for something to do, but I generally enjoyed myself. My keyboard didn't slow me down at all, and not just because I have owned the title of being a keyboard warrior gamer who is very uncomfortable with controllers. I feel that other players will enjoy themselves too, with a keyboard or controller, when the full game is released.

Everyone Deserves a Meal, a Home, and a Job

You play as a strange figure that can use a powerful tongue to lob round balls at enemies, move gates, open ovens, and navigate sewers. Just as well you have those powers, since random monsters appear and make an immediate beeline for you. You have to aim and get the angle right too, since it's easy to miss if you're facing the wrong direction.

These monsters keep children trapped in the sewers. You need to go down and rescue the kids, collect coins, and keep your health from getting too low. The coins help you build houses and farms that the kids need, providing them with shelter and food. They will also need jobs when they grow up, so you create businesses for them using those same coins, which also come from defeating the monsters. You do all this and more, with the power of your very long tongue.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Is in Full Force

You can tell that compassion drives this game. You aren't killing monsters to rob the dead but to help vulnerable children who can't defend themselves. These children then need care and nurturing, which you provide by cooking their meals and building nurseries where they can stay, recover from their trauma, and grow up.

"What about the jobs?", you may ask. Contrary to what one-percenters and CEOs may think, most people like working. They just need fair wages and fallbacks when life causes medical emergencies or natural disasters strike without warning. This game world doesn't have a universal basic income option when monsters drop the coins, so we go for the next best thing. Maybe a Golden Ending will have UBI as an option once we make a sustainable town.

The level of compassion shown here comforts me. Plenty of games make you kill monsters in self-defense or because it's the only way to progress forward. Goodness knows that plenty of real people have shown an unhealthy cocktail of cruelty and apathy.

But here, you are showing that you care about your actions. Sure, the local mayor is a bit sketchy in that they're not filling the ovens with food or feeding the kids, but NPCs have an excuse. They exist to provide just enough info to send you on a quest, keep the story going, and entertain. You don't need a complex villain when the real problem is not enough infrastructure to protect the vulnerable. Building the infrastructure with constant support will help those kids in the long term and build a community out of sprites and pixels.

I'm looking forward to Sugar Sling Showdown's full release. This demo has made me emotionally invested and restored some of my faith in humanity. We can still care about others and do good, whether in the real world or a fictional one.