A year ago, talented Polish artist Vanripper fancied sharing his chocolate x banana pancake recipe with the world. Curiously enough, he decided to add an entire video game on the side for free — a puzzle game about a harem of sharply dressed demon girls in hell. As outlandishly deviant as it sounded, the short indie title turned out to be more tame and wholesome than expected. Helltaker has been sitting at “Overwhelmingly Positive (91,000+)” on Steam for a year now. To celebrate its anniversary, Vanripper has treated the community with a free Helltaker anniversary update featuring a bonus chapter, Examtaker.
Examtaker adds seven challenging post-game levels to the base game. Half of the stages follow the “mobile-esque” puzzle formula of the title, while the other half are fast-reflex tile strategy hybrids, with an exceptionally difficult boss sequence. Notably, the developer has made all of the DLC levels skippable for those interested only in the Examtaker‘s short story interactions.
A new colorful character seemingly inspired by GLaDOS (Portal) has also emerged, “Loremaster,” the Science Demon. While it’s uncertain if the community fan artists will go as hellishly wild with Loremaster content as they did with the rest of Helltaker‘s underworld succubi, she is a pleasant addition to the harem roster.
One particular selling feature of the main game (although it’s free) is the devilishly catchy bopping soundtrack composed by the electro-progressive house and psytrance musical artist Mittsies. Along with the appealing art style and bewitching charm of the demonic cast, Mittsies’s upbeat OST downright nails the funky and comical presentation of the Helltaker‘s narrative and gameplay. As everyone had hoped, the anniversary update also features some sweet new tunes from Mittsies.
Helltaker is available on Steam for free, with a paid DLC that includes the Helltaker: Artbook and Vanripper’s Pancake Recipe. It’s mostly just an optional way to support the indie developer. Here’s a quick description for those unfamiliar with the game:
You woke up one day with a dream. Harem full of demon girls. You’ve opened the portal in hopes of fulfilling your wildest desires. Hellfire burns through your lungs, death awaits around every corner and everything looks like from a cutesy mobile game. You are in hell.”
Have you heard of or played Helltaker? Are you interested in giving the Helltaker anniversary update Examtaker a try? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section!