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Clustertruck

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ClusterTruck
The words "Cluster" and "Truck" are stacked on each other. Two letters, the "T" and "R" that make up "Truck", are over the letter "F". Cracks are present from the bottom left corner.
Developer(s)Landfall Games
Publisher(s)tinyBuild
Director(s)Wilhelm Nylund
Designer(s)Wilhelm Nylund
Programmer(s)
  • Petter Henriksson
  • Wilhelm Nylund
  • Philip Örum Westre
Artist(s)Wilhelm Nylund
Composer(s)Karl Flodin
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release
  • Linux, macOS, PS4, Win, XONE
  • September 27, 2016
  • Switch
  • March 15, 2018
Genre(s)Platformer
Mode(s)Single-player

Clustertruck is a 2016 platformer game developed by the Swedish independent studio Landfall Games and published by tinyBuild. The game consists of nine worlds in which the player must navigate by jumping on moving trucks to avoid obstacles and the ground, culminating in a boss fight. This concept originated from Landfall Games's founder, Wilhelm Nylund, picturing himself leaping across trucks to escape traffic. Clustertruck was released for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, Windows, and the Xbox One in September 2016, followed by a version for the Nintendo Switch in March 2018. While praised for its gameplay, graphics, and original soundtrack, Clustertruck's Nintendo Switch port was primarily criticized for its controls.

Gameplay

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Three-dimensional trucks in a disorderly pile.
In Clustertruck, the player must jump on trucks to reach the goal.

Clustertruck is a platformer game played from the first-person perspective.[1] Across nine worlds with ten levels each,[2] the player navigates to a designated goal by jumping across moving trucks with real-time physics that collide, flip, and tip over.[3][4][5] During a level, the player may sprint or slow down time.[4] Touching the ground or any obstacle triggers a game over.[1][6][7] Each world introduces a new obstacle;[2] for example, the third world has ice that causes trucks to be slippery, the fourth world adds lasers, and the sixth world adds a boulder that the player must run away from.[8] The game culminates in a boss fight in the final world.[1][8] The player may earn bonus points by skipping trucks or remaining airborne, which can be spent on power-ups,[6] such as grappling hooks, double jumps, speed boosts,[9] air dashes, and a jet pack.[10] The player can use the level editor to construct and share custom levels.[11][12]

With Clustertruck's Twitch integration, the game's developers and Twitch users can modify the game by voting in the chat.[13] Modifications include rickrolling, time manipulation, color changing, on-screen messages,[13] exploding trucks, earthquakes,[14] laser trucks, high and low gravity, and inverted controls.[15]

Development and release

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The development of Clustertruck began in 2015 and spanned one year. While traveling home from Gamescom in 2015, Wilhelm Nylund, the lead designer and CEO of Landfall Games, imagined himself escaping traffic by jumping on trucks to get home faster, inspiring him to develop the prototype of Clustertruck. New features were playtested and discussed within the team on whether it would be implemented into the game.[10] Building the game in Unity,[16] Landfall Games ultimately added power-ups and obstacles that passed. After a few months in development, an early alpha build was released. During the alpha phase, playtesters discovered they could finish levels early by reaching the front of the truck line. They messaged the developers on Discord to make the game more optimal for speedrunning.[10]

Landfall Games planned to release Clustertruck by April 2016.[5][12][17] This was postponed as the game's early popularity led the team to extend its development.[5] At PAX South 2016, it was announced that Landfall Games had signed a publishing deal with tinyBuild.[18] On September 27, 2016, the game released for Linux, macOS, the PlayStation 4, Windows, and the Xbox One,[3][19] with an estimated 65,000 sales within its first month of release.[10] In October 2016, Clustertruck was updated with a Halloween-themed map.[20] On March 15, 2018, the game was released for the Nintendo Switch.[21]

For an April Fools' Day prank, Landfall Games created a parody of Superhot called Super Truck in 2016;[22] similar to the original game, trucks would only move forward when the player does so.[23] Permission was obtained from the Superhot development team prior to its production.[24]

Reception

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Clustertruck received scores of 76/100 on Metacritic for the PC version, 74/100 for the Nintendo Switch port, and 69/100 for the Xbox One edition.[25] On OpenCritic, the game holds a 50% approval rating.[26]

Critics generally praised the gameplay, likening it to the children's game the floor is lava.[4][11] Other reviewers commended how the gimmicks in each world and stressful gameplay kept the game fun.[1][2][11][19] Emily Sowden of Pocket Gamer noted the sudden increase in difficulty, stating that the game is "brutal" and "unfair at times" but also "super simple to pick up" for any player.[2] Nintendo Life's Gonçalo Lopes praised the game for "masterfully" implementing a combination of casual and hardcore gameplay and giving the player choices on how to beat a level.[4] Nintendo World Report's Donald Theriault felt satisfied after finishing a challenging level,[1] and HobbyConsolas's Alberto Lloret praised how the game's variety in worlds captivated players.[27] Ian Dallas, for a Game Informer report, highlighted the game's "weird, surreal energy" of leaping across trucks and called it "the strangest game" since Katamari Damacy.[28] While Peter Bathge of PC Games stated that highscore lists incentivized players to purchase power-ups,[19] Theriault felt that the double jump was the only necessary one.[1] Writing for Destructoid, Peter Glagowski found the first world "disappointing" with a "weird", repetitive gimmick, adding on that the game's boss level was too long, went against the game's concept, and "sucks the fun out".[11]

Clustertruck was praised for its original soundtrack.[4][18] Lopes felt the "catchy tunes" fit the chaotic gameplay,[4] and Theriault, while critical that it "isn't all that memorable", appreciated how the music did not restart with each new level attempt.[1] Lopes noted that the game's use of flat, shaded polygons helped to maintain performance.[4]

The Nintendo Switch port faced criticism for its controls. Some critics stated that turning the game's camera with the right Joy-Con's analog stick was too sensitive.[2][19][27] Bathge found it "almost impossible" to control the player's jump and rotate the camera simultaneously with the same controller.[19] Theriault thought the game "ran fine" on the Nintendo Switch,[1] and Lloret argued that the game's short levels fit with the console's "portable nature" due to their length.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Theriault, Donald (March 20, 2018). "Clustertruck (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Sowden, Emily (March 27, 2018). "Clustertruck Switch review – A jumping success on the portable platform?". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b O'Connor, Alice (September 12, 2016). "Clustertruck Goes Platforming Across A Honking Pile-Up". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Lopes, Gonçalo (March 19, 2018). "Clustertruck Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Marks, Tom (January 22, 2016). "ClusterTruck made me feel like an incredibly clumsy Neo". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Klepek, Patrick (September 29, 2016). "Clustertruck Is a Physics Nightmare That's Hilarious and Fun to Play". Vice. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Bohn, Jason (February 3, 2016). "PAX South: tinyBuild Proves That it Can Do Both Ultraviolence and Whimsy". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Birsner, Chris (July 20, 2022). "Clustertruck: 10 Best Levels In The Game, Ranked". TheGamer. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  9. ^ Robinson, Martin (September 29, 2016). "Clustertruck is a cruel, brilliant joke of a game". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d Yarwood, Jack (October 16, 2016). "Fleshing out Clustertruck's high concept into a satisfying game". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e Glagowski, Peter (October 1, 2016). "Review: Clustertruck". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 25, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (December 17, 2015). "Clustertruck Looks Like A, Well..." Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  13. ^ a b D'Anastasio, Cecilia (September 30, 2016). "Clustertruck's Developers Are Pranking Its Twitch Streamers". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 27, 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  14. ^ Köhler, Stefan (September 30, 2016). "Clustertruck – Coole Aktion: Twitch-Streamer von Entwicklern »gehackt«" [Clustertruck – Cool action: Twitch streamer "hacked" by developers]. GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  15. ^ Gach, Ethan (July 4, 2017). "Devs Conspire With Twitch Viewers To Troll Clustertruck Speedrun". Kotaku. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  16. ^ "Clustertruck". GRYOnline.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  17. ^ Priestman, Chris (December 17, 2015). "Clustertruck Is A Chaotic Game About Not Falling Off Trucks". Siliconera. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  18. ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (January 29, 2016). "tinyBuild's Latest Game is a Total Clustertruck". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bathge, Peter (March 23, 2018). "Clustertruck im Test: Lkw-Wahnsinn mit treibendem Soundtrack – Mirror's Edge auf Speed, jetzt auch für Nintendo Switch" [Clustertruck in the test: truck madness with a driving soundtrack – Mirror's Edge on speed, now also for Nintendo Switch]. PC Games (in German). Archived from the original on February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  20. ^ Prescott, Shaun (October 30, 2016). "ClusterTruck now has ten new Halloween-themed levels". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  21. ^ Theirault, Donald (February 10, 2018). "tinyBuild Announces Six More Switch Games". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  22. ^ Reisenegger, Thomas (April 18, 2016). "Is an April fools' joke a good PR tool for your game?". Game Developer. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  23. ^ Sykes, Tom (April 2, 2016). "Super Truck is Superhot but with trucks". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  24. ^ Booker, Logan (April 3, 2016). "Super Hot Meets Trucks? You Get Super Trucks, Obviously". Kotaku Australia. Allure Media. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  25. ^ a b c d "Clustertruck". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Clustertruck". OpenCritic. October 8, 2016. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  27. ^ a b c d Lloret, Alberto (March 16, 2018). "Análisis de Clustertruck, un loco plataformas indie para Switch" [Analysis of Clustertruck, a crazy indie platform for Switch]. HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 20, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  28. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (January 1, 2017). "Developers From Naughty Dog, id, Square Enix, And More Share Their Top Games Of 2016". Game Informer. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
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