Flinthook - A game that will hook you

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Hello everyone! How are the gaming sessons going? Did you try already Hollow Knight, the Metroidvania of which I talked about in the last entry? In this new entry I’m going to talk about a game that has some similarities with Hollow Knight, and that just like the game starring the insect knight, will make the classic style 2D game fans fall in love with it right from the very first minute. The game is called Flinthook. Let’s see what this small jewel of the game indie scene has to offer.


The first thing that would be worth to mention is that the team behind Flinthook it’s not your average team, for probably they are (at least in my humble opinion) one of the best indie teams out there right now. I’m talking about the Canadian Tribute Games, creators among others of Mercenary Kings or Wizorb, both of which I have talked about in this blog and which I strongly recommend to any classic style game fans out there. Flinthook is basically a 2D action platformer with Roguelike elements. The story puts us in the role of Flinthook, a hooded space pirate (yes, it’s not a dude wearing a cheap Halloween ghost costume, it is actually a pirate…) who sets on an adventure to stop an evil pirate from destroying the whole universe. I know, I know, the story couldn’t be any more typical, but then no one plays this kind of game expecting the story of the year, and although it is true the story is really not that special, the game does more than enough to compensate for it with its bizarre charming characters and kinky world, on top of its solid gameplay, which is the best point in this new game from the talented Canadian team.

You like looting? Yeah? Well, fear not, you will get plenty of it!

As I was saying before, Flinthook is basically a 2D action platformer, although the game includes also some Roguelike game elements. Basically, our mission will consist on hunting down a series of famous speace pirates in order to follow the trail of the most dangerous pirate in the whole universe, who is our final objective, although finding these pirate bosses won’t be an easy task. The game will be divided in several areas, and these will be divided in several stages or space pirate ships (yes, the whole “space pirate” thing is literal here). Our mission will consist on boarding those ships and finding the Ghost Gems, which we will have to feed to our… “Slime Compass” (I know, it’s difficult to understand, but somehow it matches with the whole pirate with a cheap Halloween ghost costume thing) so that it can find the ship of the pirate boss of each area. Once we have obtained enough gems, our Slime Compass will indicate the position of our target’s ship, which we will have to board in order to fight the corresponding boss and complete the area so that we can proceed to the next one. And that’s all. Of course, this is much easier said than done. In fact, if you are not into challenging games, I can already tell you Flinthook and you won’t get along that well, for it belongs to that selective club of games who aim to torture the players as much as they can.

Regarding the gameplay mechanics, the stages of Flinthook will consist on a series of interconnected rooms that we will have to explore in order to find the Ghost Gems, as well as all kind of treasures like items that will allow us to improve our character or relics that will provide us more info about the world of Flinthook. All the stages will have several routes we will be able to follow, thus allowing us to explore the stages with complete freedom, with every single room being a new challenge, forcing us to avoid all kind of deadly traps and fight against a wide variety of (charming like hell) enemies. It is also worth to mention that Flinthook world is a procedural one, meaning that we will (almost) never play the exact same stage twice, something that adds a lot of value to the exploration aspect of the game, for you will never know what is awaiting in the next room, and which comes from the Roguelike DNA included in the game. Flinthook will be able to use several tools to get the job done, like a plasma pistol that will allow him to shoot the enemies down, a belt that will allow him to slow down time for a few seconds, a skill that we will surely need in order to complete some stages, and finally we have the most important item: the hook. The stages will be full of grappling spots that we will be able to hold onto with our hook, thus allowing us to quickly soar around the stage while we dodge the traps and obstacles we will find in all the ships. Although it might take a while to get use to this mechanic, once you get used to it, it is really cool to move quickly from one side to another of the stages, thanks especially to the tight controls of the game. On top of this, Flinthook will also allow us to use a series of consumable items as secondary weapons, such as bombs, but what really gives depth to the gameplay is the perks system. Not only Flinthook will be able to level up, allowing him to improve his stats, but he will also be able to equip all kinds of perks that we will be able to buy in the game´s black market and that will grant him several special skills that will come really handy while we explore the ships with our little hooded fellow. However, the number of perks we will be able to equip at once will be limited, so we will have to choose well which combination better fits our playing style.

We will be able to use the money we will obtain during the missions to purchase new skills.

When it comes to the graphics, just like with all Tribute Games previous titles, Flinthook is a true pixilated eye candy that will make all the pixel fans fall in love with it right from the very first minute. Each and all of the characters models posses an insane amount of detail with really fluid animations that really make them come to life. It is really laudable the great personality that the Canadian team is always able to infuse their characters with thanks to their masterful use of the pixels, something that has almost become their hallmark and in which few companies can really compete with. It is also worth to mention the awesome chiptune soundtrack that matches perfectly the mood of the adventure and that evokes the melodies of the great 8/16-bit classics.


Flinthook is probably the most complex and polished game that Tribute Games has created so far, a great unexpected surprise that will truly hook you, and that proves how much this talented team has matured over the years. Whether it is for its engaging mechanics or its charming graphics, Finthook is a game that no fan of classic 2D games should miss. The game is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam. Enjoy it!


GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMTbx5EAYoA