How Snake Pass Became a Platformer Without Jumping

Hi. I’m Mark Brown, and this is Game Maker’s Toolkit. Every year I like to celebrate one game for its innovation and creativity. Because, game of the year lists tend to focus on games in well known franchises and genres. Amazing games, but ones that build, incrementally, on past successes and well established formulas. But it’s important to recognise games that do something completely different, and work to push the industry in new directions.

So in the past I’ve talked about the non-linear, murder mystery search ‘em up Her Story; and the creepy chatbot puzzler Event[0]. But this year, the game won’t be about typing words into an antique computer! Instead, it’s a 3D platformer. A genre that saw a fierce comeback in the last 12 months. Mario broke new boundaries with the incredible Super Mario Odyssey. Some Banjo Kazooie alums teamed up for the so-so Yooka Laylee.

Indie dev Gears for Breakfast made the hidden gem A Hat in Time. And even Crash Bandicoot got remade. Plus, there’s Super Lucky‘s Tale, Knack II, and Sonic Forces which are all games that... exist. And then... there’s Snake Pass. This game has all the trappings of this genre. It's about a stripy snake with big googly eyes who explores scrumptious cartoon levels with his hummingbird sidekick. All this while collecting coins and grooving out to catchy music composed by Donkey Kong Country maestro, David Wise.

But don’t be fooled - this isn’t your typical 3D platformer. And it’s all because of one key thing that the snake can’t do. But lemme back up a bit. Snake Pass was created by this chap - Seb Liese. He got hired by Sumo Digital - developer of Sonic Racing, LittleBigPlanet 3, and the upcoming Crackdown 3 - because of his impressive user-made levels for the older LittleBigPlanet games. After he got the job, he was told to figure out how the Unreal Engine worked, and so tried to make a dangling rope that would use physics to realistically respond to a character walking into it.

But, by accident, he forgot to attach the rope to the ceiling and, when he pressed play, it fell down and coiled up in an interesting way that sparked his imagination. So, he made it so he could control the rope, and then added a head to turn it into a snake. Turning this clever snake tech demo into an actual game, though, proved challenging. The team had all sorts of ideas in the early days, but none of them quite fit.

Having the snake sneak up and kill things was too scary. Having the snake coil up and spring out was unrealistic. And eating fruit to grow or shrink made the snake either too short or too long to be fun. So, ultimately, the team had stop thinking about what the snake could do - and instead think about what the snake can’t do. And it’s something that every 3D platforming hero does all the time: jump. But sometimes, taking a mechanic away can lead to all sorts of interesting consequences.

Designers can find fertile ground by asking themselves, what does it mean for a shooter where you can’t shoot? A driving game where you can’t brake? Or a platformer where you can’t jump? And this lead to a game about climbing. About manipulating this snake’s body to navigate crazy vertical levels. About the bizarre biological structure of a snake, and what sort of crazy movement that can lead to. And this would require changes to just about everything that we know about 3D platformers.

Starting with the need for a completely new control scheme. So, here’s how Snake Pass works. Moving the analogue stick moves Noodle’s head around on a flat axis, but in 3D space - all relative to the camera. So you can use that to point Noodle’s head in the direction you want to go. Holding A - typically the jump button on other games - lifts Noodle’s head up. And, because of gravity, letting go of A naturally lets Noodle’s head drop.

This set up allows you to aim the snake’s head at any point in 3D space. And then, you can hold the right trigger to drive Noodle forward in that direction and - oh. Why’s he going he so slow? Ah, yes. That’s the thing about Snake Pass - while you only really have direct control over the head, you also have to think about this big old body that’s forever trailing right behind you. Under the hood, Noodle’s body is actually made up of 35 different “collision spheres”, which all track things like what they’re touching, what their neighbours are touching, and whether they’re part of a bend.

And holding the right trigger stretches those spheres out - which is why you must perform that famous serpentine zig-zag manoeuvre to build up any real speed. And the thing about this body is that you can use it to your advantage. If you move your head around a pillar, the body will naturally follow afterwards - which creates traction and grip that can anchor Noodle in place. Repeat this a few times and you can move up or along all sorts of crazy structures.

You can even create anchor points and then swing underneath platforms. But on the flip side, this body is also working against you - because the whole thing is affected by gravity, so having half your body - and thus, half the spheres - dangling into nothingness, can cause Noodle to slip and fall. So it’s this body - this wibbly wobbly serpent structure - that really makes Snake Pass stand out. I mean, we’ve seen games where the character is a physics object, like the slapstick squid simulator Octodad and Human Fall Flat which is like trying to work in an Amazon warehouse while you’re hammered.

And even physics-driven games about climbing, like the mountaineering gem Grow Home and the goofy toast ‘em up I Am Bread. But it’s giving Noodle this gigantic body. This huge lump of stuff that is only half way under your control. This thing that is simultaneously both your greatest asset and your biggest enemy. This is what makes Snake Pass so brilliant, and leads to this crazy tug-of-war between upwards momentum, sticky friction, and sinking gravity that I could mess around with for hours.

Now, the game is not easy. That much should be obvious. But learning how to climb is enjoyable in its own right. Seb told Nintendo, “mastering Noodle is a learning process and it’s a skill that you acquire. So it requires training. Anything that you get better at, it doesn’t even need to be video gaming, is satisfying and triggers a certain area in your brain that makes it pleasant to do. So, we knew the controls were difficult but we also knew it wasn’t impossible to control him from the start and it is that self-improvement that makes the game so appealing.”

And the phrase “self-improvement” is key. Snake Pass’ advanced mechanics are never taught to you explicitly. The tutorial gets out of the way very quickly. Which leaves you to simply play around, experiment, and practice. And over time, you’ll learn a whole repertoire of moves and start to understand, intuitively, how to make all sorts of complicated manoeuvres that would never be possible in another game. You also get two safety nets.

You can hold the left trigger to grip Noodle’s body more tightly for greater friction. And you can hit Y to have your Hummingbird friend Doodle pick up your tail. Neither of these are necessary to get around, but they are helping hands if you need them. And, ultimately, it’s up to you how hard the game really gets. You can just focus on the three key stones in each level - or you can find the blue bubbles and gold coins which require exploration and extra climbing skills.

Up to you, really. Once you’ve got some of these advanced moves down, Snake Pass obviously gets much harder. In the same way that a platformer can ramp up the challenge by increasing the space between platforms, there are lots of ways to increase the challenge in Snake Pass. Like, by removing the end caps on these bamboo rods, it’s easier to slip off the end. The space between bamboo, and the different angles, can cause problems.

And while early puzzles are over safe ground, so falling off is just a set back, later climbing frames will dangle over spikes, fire, and thin air. Moving platforms are also introduced. And these are a nightmare at times. You don’t just need good timing to get on and off the platform, but you’ll often need to get your snakey body in a position where Noodle will be safe when the platform goes upside down. Woof. But Snake Pass also shows that not every new mechanic needs to add to the challenge.

Water is, actually, not that much of an obstacle and Noodle can - for the first time - move easily and freely through these lakes, giving you a brief respite from oh my god help me I’m gonna die. So, this is Snake Pass. One of my favourite games of the year, and definitely the most inventive game I played. And I think there’s some really key takeaways from this game. One is to look for inspiration from outside the world of games.

Sumo certainly borrowed ideas from 3D platformers like Spyro the Dragon and Banjo Kazooie, but the core idea came from the real world. Seb actually had pet snakes in the past, and he used to be a biology teacher, so he had the knowledge to make a game about snakes. So it’s beneficial to look for inspiration beyond other games. It’s been a key thing for Shigeru Miyamoto who has turned real world hobbies like music, pets, gardening, and beating up gorillas into games.

And Lucas Pope has said that Papers, Please was inspired by real-world passport checks he encountered when travelling. Takeaway two is to think about the consequences of removing things. Designers shouldn’t always add and expand, but also consider what unique outcomes will arise from ditching stuff. For Snake Pass, not having a jump mechanic meant entirely new gameplay was possible. Takeaway three is to look for interesting sources of danger and conflict.

Way too many games go for the obvious solution of adding enemies who can kill you, which leads to a combat system and - well, it’s now like every other game in existence. But having something like gravity, or your own body be an enemy can lead to new gameplay and new ways of thinking, And I suppose the final takeaway is, if you do something bold - not everyone is going to love your game. Snake Pass is a divisive game, with as many people calling it a frustrating mess as there are people calling it a fantastic challenge.

That’s the price you’ll pay for trying something bold - but I think it’s worth it. Original games like Snake Pass keep the hobby fresh and exciting, and give us something truly new to play with. Thanks for watching. I want to give a thank you to Chris from Sumo Digital who answered my questions about the game, and SplitHareGames on my Patreon who did the artist’s rendition of the rope in Unreal Engine. But I really want to say thanks to all my Patrons who have supported me at any point in 2017.

You’ve made this year’s videos possible - plus, the game jam, boss keys, speaking at events, and more. And also thank you to everyone who has subscribed to the channel, commented on a video, shared my stuff with their friends, or sent me lovely tweets and emails. You’re all brilliant. Have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you’re into it, and I’ll see you in 2018.