Stonefly

Stonefly is another action game from the independent American studio Flight School. The developers gained the support of MWM Interactive, which previously helped the developers release their debut work: the warmly welcomed Creature in the Well.

Plot

Annika Stonefly is a young, naive girl working as an inventor on a distant planet. Like all the people in this world, she is not taller than the insects that threaten her. Despite this, Annika embarks on a long journey to reclaim her lost heritage. She is not defenseless, because she travels the planet in an insect-like mech.

Mechanics

Stonefly uses an top-down view to show the game world, which we explore like in a 3D platformer, following the story and discovering new locations. In these we find a variety of insects that act as enemies and differ in size, abilities and ways of fighting. This enforces the use of different tactics, be it knocking the opponent on his back or attacks from the air.

Personalisation of Annika's mech plays an important role in the game. We can not only make the robot look more stylish, but also replace or modify the hull, legs or antenna, as well as install useful accessories. This will allow us to better cope with subsequent challenges, be it enemies or difficult conditions in a given location. However, to produce new parts we need minerals, and these are a tasty morsel for insects. So each upgrade involves defeating insects in battles, which are a variation on the King of the Hill mode.

Game modes

Stonefly features a single-player campaign, in which we learn the story of Annika and many NPCs we meet. In addition to the story mode, there are two more types of missions: patrolling (read: exploring) designated areas and difficult time challenges.

Technical aspects

Stonefly developers used 3D hand-crafted graphics, inspired both by the natural world and the mid-century modern (MCM) style of the mid-20th century. The visuals remind us of Creature in the Well, an earlier work by Flight School Studio.