Oeuf Review
You’re in control of the egg. Mostly. That’s enough to make every fall hurt and every win feel incredible.
Oeuf. Credit: increpare
Indie developer increpare (Stephen Lavelle) of Stephen's Sausage Roll fame has a new game: a gloriously infuriating 3D precision platformer. In Oeuf, you are an egg. You’ve fallen from your nest to the bottom of a surreal structure and somehow not broken, and now you must get back to the top.
Your speckled egg can roll and jump. The challenge is learning the nuances of the physics and adapting to your oblong shape’s irregular roll. It’s symmetrical but uneven, so it doesn’t move as cleanly as a perfectly round ball. It behaves predictably, but it’s not immediately intuitive. You think you’ve got it, and then you’re just slightly off and send yourself tumbling. Your palms sweat and your teeth grit as you anticipate your almost inevitable failure. Then you finally clear a section, and it feels incredible.
Even then, Oeuf is fair. The game is mercifully broken into sections, so you can tackle the journey in small chunks. You’ll fail. At least you won’t fail as badly. A button that instantly sends you back to the last checkpoint also helps, for those times you know you’re already doomed.
Oeuf. Credit: increpare
The game’s world is rendered in PS1-style graphics, complete with distorted, low-res textures and that characteristic polygonal wobble. Detail is low, but it still creates a strong sense of place. Soft lighting, distant haze, and steady rain make it feel calm, almost soothing, which clashes perfectly with the seething anger you’ll feel as you fall for the 20th time. The low-poly style also helps with clarity; it’s easier to read surfaces and understand how your weirdly shaped egg will react as you roll along.
Oeuf. Credit: increpare
Oeuf includes a complex, fully featured level editor and Steam Workshop support. If the game blows up, and I hope it will, there’ll be tons of extra content to play. I had a blast with a custom bonus 100-checkpoint level accessible from within the game. I didn’t try it, but there’s also support for co-op multiplayer.
There were times I had to play in small bites because I got so stressed out. It was glorious. It’s not quite Foddian thanks to the generous checkpoints, but it hits that same sweet spot in your brain. Embrace the frustration. You’ll keep going back anyway.
Oeuf
A precision platformer that makes every mistake hurt and every success feel worth it.
