Level Devil: The "Troll" Platformer, Brain-Breaking and Funny
The internet-famous indie side-scroller is unique. Expect your platforming instincts to be erased.
However, execution is difficult
The core gimmick is to anticipate the unexpected.
As in an 8-bit game, Level Devil's levels seem simple at first. But as you move, the game joyfully defies every platformer rule you've learnt.
Game complexity requires memory, observation, and anticipating the developer's evil goal, not simply rapid reactions.
Key Devious Gameplay Elements:
A solid-looking platform will vanish from beneath you.
Late Spikes: Spikes arrive after you leap or a safe wall explodes with thorns as you pass it.
Moving Goal: The escape door will move, vanish, or become a fatal trap.
Control Confusion: Later levels offer reversed mobility, gravity flips (where the jump button pins you to the ground), and instant-death directional inputs.
Layered Traps: Level Devil's cleverness is that when you understand a stage's initial trap, it has a larger trick on the second try.
Trial, Error, and Success
Death is the main mechanic of Level Devil. Since every trap is concealed until activated, your first few efforts on a new level are reconnaissance. Game loops:
Assess the arrangement.
Die: Find the first trap (vanishing floor tile).
Die Again: Set up the first trap but throw the second (e.g., ceiling spikes).
Win: Complete the complicated, learnt actions to reach the door.
Instant respawn makes the pace intense, converting rage-inducing frustration into a humorous loop of curiosity and delicious victory.
Single-Player Headache Plus
While the main game has approximately 200 imaginative stages in realms like "level devil," "Level Devil-er," and "Level Devil-est," survivors have extra content:
Local 2-Player Mode: Race a buddy through specially created stages where they may unleash lethal traps on each other in a chaotic competition.
To obtain the game's True Ending, gather purple keys buried throughout the stages.
For those who know the techniques, a speedrun option lets players compete for the best time.
Which Player?
If you liked Cat Mario or Trap Adventure 2's unexpected difficulty but want a cleaner, more sophisticated, and smarter challenge, Level Devil is for you. If you're funny about dying often, you'll chuckle along with this fantastic contemporary platformer design.