Imagine strolling into an ‘80s arcade and telling the young folk surrounding the arcade’s latest addition that in the future games exist that essentially play themselves. You don’t need quick reactions or a sharp memory to beat them, just lots of spare time to invest.
You’d be laughed out of the arcade, but little do those baggy shirt wearing youths know that the gaming industry will change a lot in the future; the age of a typical gamer is far older, and spare time is increasingly valuable for most adults. A market for idle-style games happily exists alongside big budget action titles and indies that cleverly combine all manner of genres.
This brings us onto Hextreme Void. It resembles a Breakout/Arkanoid/Alleyway clone but has more in common with a rogue-like. You’re presented with a screen full of hex-shaped blocks and a handful of balls that automatically, and haphazardly, bounce around the screen. Your input here is simply limited to choosing upgrades, with a choice of four appearing upon levelling up. These include adding more balls, boosting ball speed, increasing damage, adding 10 extra seconds to the clock, and a few more besides. Once the screen is cleared, the next stage commences, bearing new block formations. If the timer reaches zero, then it’s game over.
Five minutes are provided as default to clear dozens of stages, with five ‘voids’ (worlds) to beat in total – a task that takes only around an hour. Upon failure you’re returned to the main menu screen and can invest in permanent upgrades such as more starting balls, XP and coin multipliers, and a variety of damage increases. These upgrades are the path to success. Unfortunately, that success comes far too swifty and easily.
See, Hextreme Void is only a slow burner to begin with. The first set of stages see just a few balls slowly bouncing around, making every temporary upgrade count. Upon reaching the midway point though, success depends more on the permanent upgrades rather than making smart choices when levelling up. I managed to blitz through the final set of stages making random upgrades, and there’s no reason to return once that final achievement unlocks.
Initially Hextreme Void seemed like it might be a nice little distraction, in the sense that it can be played while watching YouTube or doing something else, much like an idle game. After just thirty minutes of play it that opinion changed, coming across as far too simplistic for its own good. There isn’t even anything remotely hypnotic about watching the balls breaking bricks on their own accord, even when the screen is filled with 30+ balls. The clean cut, no nonsense, presentation holds some appeal but isn’t anything special either.
With more modes and extra stages Hextreme Void may have been able to hold onto attention spans longer than the hour it takes to finish. It’s a bit of a mystery why it didn’t lean into the rogue-like elements more, mixing up block formations on the fly and introducing things that could potentially reduce chances of success, making it more interesting. In the end, the lack of unpredictability makes this the gaming equivalent of nothingness. A void indeed.
Double Mizzlee’s Hextreme Void is out 21st Jan on consoles. Published by eastasiasoft.