Retro-styled 3D vector shooter sphereFACE is confusing, but quite good

sphereFACE [itch.io, Steam, Official Site] is an arcade shooter that will send your mind in spirals and it's actually pretty darn good.

The game released back in May of 2017, sadly one we completely missed here and it seems to have released with same-day Linux support as well.

Disclosure: Key provided by the developer to our Steam Curator.

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What makes sphereFACE interesting, is that each level is set inside a sphere. The idea is to destroy all the asteroids in each sphere, as you do so scrolling texts appears along the border of the sphere to tell you how much you've done. Once you destroy all the asteroids, a portal will turn green allowing you to enter it to get to continue your journey.

So—it's basically Asteroids right? Well, sort-of.

It sounds easy, but it's really not. Not only is it a real challenge, the way it's all presented is actually quite brilliant. You control a camera placed in the centre which you can rotate around on the spot, as well as ship movement which is entirely separate to the camera. It's easy to get disorientated and lost, requiring some quick reflexes. There are some visual indicators to help with this, but it still managed to mangle my brain somewhat.

It's especially interesting since you're dealing with asteroids and enemy ships that can come from anywhere, while you're also battling with ship and camera movement. On top of that, it's perma-death too so once you're dead it's time to start again.

There's various upgrades to collect as you travel through including a shield, various different types of weapons, weapon upgrades and so on.

Amusingly, loading it up gave me a "Free Software Supporter" achievement. You can find it on Steam and itch.io.