Silly Polly Beast is a survival horror game developed by Andrei Churnyshov and published by Top Hat Studios. On behalf of the team here at the Handheld Gaming Community I would like to thank Top Hat Studios for the review code. You can buy Silly Polly Beast for 19.99 on the Steam Store.
Overview
In the game Silly Polly Beast you play as Polly. She and her sister Alice live in an orphanage, and have been plotting an escape. The setting for this game looks like some sort of dystopian city. Polly and Alice got separated and now Polly is trying to find Alice. When she arrives at the place where she and Alice agreed to meet, Polly waits for a while and eventually falls asleep. She gets her lighter that Alice gave her stolen by a dog, and starts to track this dog across the broken city.
Gameplay
The game Silly Polly Beast allows you to control Polly and move around the various areas you are navigating. Most of time you have a isometric view. When you first begin your journey to find your sister Alice, you really don’t have anything to defend yourself except for your hoodie. You can pull the hood of your hoodie to make yourself more stealthy, and attract less attention from the police looking for you, and other less savory characters.
Eventually you get a skateboard that you can use to break down barriers, and pummel your enemies. There has to be a catch right? You have a limited stamina, and if you don’t use your stamina wisely you could find yourself defenseless for a critical few seconds.
The next weapon you get is a pistol with six spiritual bullets. The ammunition you use is spread around the levels, but you do need to be careful to not waste it.
The figure that will be driving your direction in the game is a figure called “The Tormented” You encounter “The Tormented” when you fall down into a well into a land called the Abyss. It saves you from getting killed by some enemies. “The Tormented” asks you to defeat three demons in order to free him and you from the Abyss. I thought “The Tormented” is an interesting character who adds a mildly sinister voice to your journey. I have to admit I like them so far.
Story
Silly Polly Beast has a solid story that gives you purpose and direction. The story is set in a dystopian future, where Polly and the people who live in the world are under the control of an authoritarian regime. Polly and her sister Alice are trying to live their lives to the fullest give the circumstances. Polly goes into this spirit realm looking for Alice and that is where the real story begins.
Sound
The sound in Silly Polly Beast is simple but definitely sets the tone of the game. Much of the interaction is done through text so the sounds in the game add to the tone set by the writing.
Value
You can buy Silly Polly Beast for 19.99 on Steam right now. If you enjoy a supernatural story set in a dystopian future with some survival elements then this game will be well worth the price. I am only 3hrs into the story and I can tell there is quite a bit more to experience.
Conclusion
I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I started Silly Polly Beast. I had know idea what I a treat I was in for. The art style, gameplay, and story are very good and compelling. I played this game on my laptop and it ran fairly well ~40 fps. Though it ran much better on my Steam Deck. My laptop is about 4 years old so if you have an older laptop you should still be okay. On the Steam Deck the frame rate never got below 60 fps (the maximum for that device). I would like to thank Andrei Churnyshov, and Top Hat Gaming for the review code.
