Review: Arachnophilia

Spiders, one of the commonest phobias in the world, present on every continent except Antarctica and sworn enemy of every gamer since developers could code more than just a blob of pixels as opponents. It doesn't matter whether it's a platformer, RPG or shooter at some point or another you will have been confronted by these poison oozing, web spinning, eight legged monstrosities (available in sizes ranging from squishable to city destroyer). It's basically hardwired into the gamer's brain that spiders are the enemy and best left splattered across the floor as soon as possible but Arachnophilia wants to change all that. In fact, not only does it encourage you to like spiders, it wants you to be one.

The object of the game is pretty simple. Build a web to catch flies and other tasty treats. The more creatures you catch and eat the more points you get with the difficulty increasing in levels once you've gobbled up enough bugs. It is all controlled through drawing new web lines via the mouse or clicking on the bugs you want to eat so it's easy to get to grips with. The challenge comes in designing a web which can withstand the hordes of bugs that will inevitably come crashing through and threaten to destroy your hard work.

You have a limited amount of web which can be replenished through eating certain prey and a health bar which gradually depletes (again, replenished by eating) acting as a time limit. Each string has a certain amount of resilience to being broken so closely packed strands are the way to go to catch the stronger creatures because they spread the load out and stop your web breaking. As I said, a pretty simple concept but one which is pulled off remarkably well thanks to the variety of insects and animals you can actually capture and eat.

Whilst you begin with the humble fly you will soon be catching bees, dragonflies, stag beetles, humming birds and eventually the grand prize of them all, the bat. Each new item of prey is introduced in a different wave and has its own properties. A lady bird for example gives plenty of health but no web whilst a queen bee actually harms you when you eat it, as well as summoning more damaging bees to its aid. Learning these properties is the key to maintaining your web and staving off starvation because a certain bee destroyed your web by calling in an air strike from its mates. This all culminates in a confrontation with the bat, who cannot be caught outright but must be tangled up several times in order to wear down its stamina. Catching the bat is not necessarily the end of the game though and players can still go for the highscores afterwards, eating multiple bats if you're good enough.

Graphically the game is unremarkable. It all functions well enough but the creatures are pretty simplistic and the background never changes. The sound however is pretty good, with soothing background music to ease away the stress of seeing a web you have spent ages building get smashed to pieces by a swarm of moths. The spider makes some interesting sucking noises while it feeds and each enemy has its own sounds to announce its arrival which helps keep track of what's coming. If that bothers you don't worry you can always mute them and put on something a little faster paced to get the adrenaline flowing for those more frantic moments when it all goes horrible wrong because believe me, it'll happen.

As far as a challenge is concerned this game offers enough to keep you entertained until you conquer the bat and it'll probably take you a few tries to really crack the game but beyond that it really depends on how much highscores mean to you. Regardless of your aim though Arachnophilia is definitely an original and entertaining game which is well worth your time though be warned, you will start feeling guilty for all the webs you have mercilessly destroyed once you realise the work that went into them.

Graphics: 5/10 functional but basic
Gameplay: 8/10 great fun but gets repetitive one you get past the bat
Sound: 8/10 Music relaxes you for the task ahead
Lifespan: 7/10 Depends on your motivation but a reasonable challenge means it'll take a few attempts

Overall: 8/10 a fun and original game which will test your planning skills and your reflexes