Spilled! Review – A Short But Sweet Indie Game With a Green Message

Spilled! is a short but sweet eco-friendly indie game where you clean oil spills, rescue wildlife, and enjoy relaxing gameplay in a charming pixel-art world.

Mar 31, 2025

Spilled!
Studio: Lente
Publisher: Lente
Platforms: Steam
Completion Time: 1 Hour
Price: $6.99
Genre: Short, Casual

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Good Game Lobby Review of Spilled!, a short, relaxing game that simulates a ship cleaning waste and rescuing animals in the wild. Let’s ship out and get to cleaning!

Lente

Spilled! has a special place in my heart because it was the first game I ever backed on Kickstarter. It’s exciting to watch the process go from an idea to a playable demo, get a graphical overhaul, and now, finally, receive a release date. (Out now!)

Lente, the developer behind the game, doesn’t just develop this game about a ship—she actually lives on a boat herself. Based in the Netherlands, she decided to take time to focus solely on game development and created Spilled! It took off on social media with its fantastic demo and was funded at 316% during her Kickstarter campaign. This momentum didn’t slow down, and the game grew in popularity so much that it currently has 65,000 wishlists!

Also, $0.10 per sale on Steam will be donated to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation. What else do you need to convince you to buy the game? Well, if you need more, then keep reading.

Shipped!

Let’s get to the story. It’s very straightforward. A ship is polluting the beautiful natural setting you inhabit, and it’s up to you to clean the oil spills, recycle garbage in the areas you explore, and rescue all sorts of animals in the process. With each area cleaned, you unlock a new one, ready to repeat the process and beautify the environment.

Clean, Rescue, Relax

Let’s check out the gameplay.

You control the ship using your skimmer to suck up oil and grab recyclable materials. As you collect oil, a container on your ship fills up. Once it is completely filled, you need to bring it to a station that pays you for recycling the materials you collect. With these payments, you can upgrade your boat’s movement speed, increase the size of your skimmer, and expand your container to visit the depository less often.

You use the Right Trigger to move forward and the Left Trigger to move backward, using the thumb sticks to change your position. As you progress, you unlock a hook magnet that assists in pulling up barrels underwater. You also get an upgraded hose that helps spray oil off mountainsides and put out fires.

Charming Pixel-Art Aesthetic

When I first played the demo over a year ago, the game looked bare-bones and needed some visual love—and that’s exactly what we got. Considering the Kickstarter hit 316% of its funding goal, it gave Lente the opportunity to hire a designer who revamped all the visuals.

The attention to detail in the underwater wildlife, the grass and vegetation reacting to the wind—these are all nice touches that create a vibrant and beautiful environment. The game begins in a more natural setting, with solar panels littering buildings and fields, before taking you to a more mountainous area. You work your way through a desert-like land, putting out fires, and eventually reach a snowy setting. The pixelated style was originally cute and cozy, and the graphical upgrade has matured the game into a beautiful experience.

Chill & Immersive Tunes

The soundtrack is very chill and cozy, only increasing in intensity for a late-game “boss,” which was so adorable. Here’s a bit of the soundtrack—enjoy!

A Short but Meaningful Journey

Spilled! is a short game, and I’m glad it’s labelled as such on Steam, so you know what to expect. You often see reviewers feeling like they didn’t receive enough for what they paid. Lente has mentioned that the game is about an hour of gameplay, but I finished with 50 minutes of full gameplay, completing the main game, exploring all eight biomes, and collecting all 16 animals along the way.

It’s $6.99, which I think is a fitting price for what you get. Plus, you’re supporting a solo developer’s start to her career—and we can’t forget that your purchase also contributes to charity.

Spilled! is a relaxing, casual game where you take your time saving animals and making the world a better place, with a chill soundtrack and cute pixel design. I also wanted to share that while playing the demo, my six-year-old son left the room and came back with an adorable LEGO ship—then we played Spilled! together in our living room. Thanks for that, Lente!

I backed the game on Kickstarter to get early access, but the key I used to review it while waiting for my personal key was provided by Pirate PR.