Syntax Bomb - Itch Game of the Week

Itch’s strangeness might be older than you would think

Syntax Bomb is a game by VJOStudios and can be found at time of writing at this page.

Occasionally I find it useful to take a look at the more conventional games on Itch. I focus pretty heavily on the unconventional and the bizarre in this column as that’s the stuff that gets passed over by the gaming zeitgeist in general. There are games I’ve passed over on featuring not because they’re lesser than other titles, but just because other games were stranger. Syntax Bomb is one example of an incredibly well crafted traditional arcade game. It’s part Lode Runner and part Bomberman, a combination I’m sure has already been tried in some arcade game I’ve never heard of before. But Syntax Bomb totally fits with the wealth of creative projects on itch.io because as it turns out, old arcade games were actually weird as shit themselves.

Syntax Bomb is a game where you place little bombs to kill a variety of crawling, falling and flame shooting creatures. Stepping on a banana peel rockets the player across the floor. Take to long and the specter hanging out in the cage at the top of the screen is released and will hunt the player down. Monsters explode into prepared food like cakes and berries when killed. It’s all solidly weird. But Burgertime was a game that was incredibly popular, so maybe Itch and art games in general get mischaracterized for being odd for the sake of being odd when it’s been a trend in games since forever.

Regardless Syntax Bomb is a simple pleasure to play. It might be a call back to old arcade games and their NES era ports, but it’s one that plays sufficiently tight to feel like it doesn’t show its aged lineage. Or at least the first half does. I can’t vouch for the second half because I’m downright terrible at the game and can’t get much past halfway through. It’s why this write up is six days late, I kept knocking my head against it futilely. But the fact I kept at it is a testament to the fact that the game is a joy to play, so I’ll vouch for the first half at least.

Syntax Bomb was the game of the week for January 22nd, 2018.