That's insane! You're in the middle of a hail of bullets and can't even defend yourself. There are no weapons. At least not in the classical sense. Instead, your spaceship shoots out of the tail fully automatically, while you orbit the small asteroid or whatever it is supposed to be. A tiny problem: The rock is not very big. And so the projectiles released backward soon come towards you - from the front, from the side, often surprisingly. What can be done about it?
Perhaps someone remembers Pacifism, that game mode in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, where you also had to dodge hazards but couldn't shoot. It feels very similar here. Except that it's significantly more varied to the point, because you're not always dodging the same objects, but firing very different things out the back. In the beginning, you fire straight shots, shortly after that circular patterns come out and later even circles encompassing the whole asteroid or formations racing over it with changing speed. At the latest, when several types of projectiles are on the playing field, you need good nerves and a steady hand to maneuver the ship safely through the dangers.
At least you have a boost at your disposal, which you can use to dodge projectiles - but you have to be careful not to run into the next predicament. And another action is available: triggering a blast that destroys all objects in the immediate vicinity. The trick is that each destroyed projectile has its explosion radius so that with a single blast you can trigger a chain reaction that empties the entire asteroid.
Now you could leave such fireworks to chance - good luck! But it is better to set off the patterns in a targeted way so that as many projectiles as possible are right next to each other afterward. And this can be trained. Because the patterns do not change at any time, but after each explosion. So you always know exactly when which formations appear. Sometimes it even helps to leave one wave almost completely, so that you do relevant damage in the next one.
Or you place the patterns very close to each other and delay the blast as long as possible so that there are enough objects in their blast radius. This makes maneuvering more difficult, of course, but would have the added benefit of recharging the energy for the following blast more quickly - which is helpful if you want to finish particularly challenging waves as quickly as possible. So, it's the combination of tactics and dexterity that makes Terror Squid stand out and make you rise or fail on both a daily and permanent leaderboard.
Conclusion
Terror Squid isn't a big game, not one you'll play in a long evening - but one you'll sink into now and then for quite a while, because it's as challenging as it is motivating. And it's quite amazing how much you can tactic and experiment in this manageable test of skill, while even quick deaths are never frustrating thanks to the quick restarts and precise controls. It would have been nice if one's ship could perhaps gain new abilities as the minutes progressed. But even so, this literal retro shooter is a decidedly cool test of skill.
