Spilled!

Spilled! is the kind of game that immediately makes you go, “Aw.” You’re a pixelated little boat, cleaning up oil slicks, scooping garbage, and rescuing critters drifting through an increasingly gunked-up ocean. It’s beautifully made by a solo developer, who also happens to live on a boat, which is about as on-brand as it gets. The vibes? Immaculate. The mission? Noble. The controls? Oh no.

You’ll start with a modest vessel and slowly upgrade it as you vacuum oil from the sea, drag sunken drums to the surface, and return lost items to grateful hands. As you earn coins, you’ll boost your paddle, tank, and motor to take on bigger spills across eight colorful biomes. It’s short, about an hour, but lovingly handcrafted and genuinely pleasant to look at.

Until you try to turn.

Despite offering four control schemes (keyboard, thumbsticks, D-pad, and controller chaos), steering your boat feels like wrestling a shopping cart on a frozen lake. The game needs precision to scoop and steer, but instead you’re constantly overshooting, drifting, or backing into a turtle. A mouse-guided solution would’ve been game-changing, but right now, every cleanup feels like a boss fight with your own fingers.

Still, Spilled! isn’t soulless. It’s cozy, well-meaning, and full of charm. If a patch ever steadies the helm, this could be an indie gem worth sailing back to. But for now, this is a lovely little boat with a rudder that just won’t listen.