Skeler Boy (Nintendo Switch) Review

Grief, love, obsession, and depression collide in MANIAC BOY STUDIO’s Skeler Boy. After receiving a letter from his girlfriend, Megan, Skeler sets out to a mysterious town to find her. Skeler arrives to find Megan missing, and his search takes him down a bizarre and nightmarish path where nothing is what it seems.

Skeler Boy is a 2D pixel adventure game that takes a lot of its inspiration from 1980’s horror movies and a variety of horror video games. There’s a little bit of quirkiness but it’s the oppressive atmosphere that shines through and do its many inspirations apparent throughout the games disjointed narrative.

Skeler Boy is also a rather tough game to review, partly because of its disjointed storytelling and length. It’s quite short but while it tells a full story, it ends up feeling more like a work-in-progress or test-build than it does a full game. You can blow through the story in one sitting if you feel like it – and while that’s not always a bad thing, Skeler Boy ends up feeling like it needed more ingredients to bake with, and more time in the oven.

The bulk of your playtime is spent talking to townsfolk, engaging in mini-games, solving puzzles, and a mix of running and hiding from enemies in insta-death scenarios. Neither the mini-games nor the puzzles are particularly difficult – and neither are the insta-death sequences. While they provide a light sense of tension, they’re more for mood. Some of the mini-games are also rather amusing, referencing to other videogames such as Metal Gear and Legend of Zelda and often left me with a grin on my face. Which is good, because the games subject matter is very dark.

A good deal of Skeler Boy‘s inspiration comes from Silent Hill 2, Jacob’s Ladder, and some Flatliners thrown in for good measure. It ends up feeling like a fever dream throughout its playtime, and while there’s a good narrative reason for that, most of what happens in the game and its connective tissue operate on unstructured nightmare logic. Both the ending and a digital comic accessed through the main menu explain the reason for this, but those hoping for more traditional storytelling and an upbeat ending may be let down. As nightmares rarely follow the rules of logic, Skeler Boy leans into this wholeheartedly. For those who enjoy the at times senselessness and lack of logic in 80’s movies, you might will find Skeler Boy’s weirdness refreshing.

The 2D isometric and side-scrolling pixel visuals do a pretty good job of fleshing out the world. It may be a relatively small area to explore, but you’ll be jumping from wood cabins to forest mazes and sewers during your playthrough. The developers have done a great job of setting up some creepy and atmospheric areas through the use of light and sound design.

Unfortunately, some of that atmosphere is negated by Skeler Boy‘s problems.

There are some audio issues with certain sound effects not playing loudly enough, or not at all, which made two of the insta-death sequences an issue. One was solved by me waiting longer while hiding away in a cupboard for a scripted monster to disappear, as I couldn’t hear the siren sound effect that heralded its coming. Another moment, which relied on me picking up certain sound effects from a metal detector, turned into a trial-and-error sequence as that sound effect was nowhere to be heard.

Skeler Boy’s biggest problem though lies in the translation (depending on where you’re from, of course). To say that the English version is wonky would be an understatement as most of translation has serious problems. You can still understand what’s going on but, when a game relies as heavily on its narrative as it does here, constantly shifting pronouns and poorly translated sentences break the immersion and impact. Despite all the spooky shenanigans and creepy atmosphere, Skeler Boy is a story-driven adventure, so it’s a shame that the translation didn’t go through a couple of more iterations.

That said, Skeler Boy still does an admirable job telling a psychological-horror story in the vein of Silent Hill or Jacob’s Ladder – but while there’s a great atmosphere and some fun mini-games, the poorly translated dialogue and short runtime make the game feel more like a prototype that needs extra polish. It’s engaging while it lasts, but the ideas and style are begging for a more substantial game.

Skeler Boy was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One/ Series S|X, and PS4/5.