It’s important to note the subtitle of this one: NOT A Troll Game. See? It’s telling you right upfront, this game is not trolling you. It even says in the description that this is a “nice, pleasant game with no surprises" and that its 80 levels will “make you happy" and that its “beautifully rendered graphics" will “make your heart sing". It also promises “guaranteed good feelings after playing" and that the game includes “buzzsaws but they’re nice buzzsaws." Ok, that’s the whole description, and by now maybe you’ve figured out that developer Unept’s Level Devil is NOT a troll game. So don’t be scared, fire this one up. Play the first level. It’s just a cute retro-inspired platformer, what’s the worst that can happen?

Ok, enough shenanigans, Level Devil is most definitely a troll game, but in the best way. It is indeed a retro-style platformer with single screen levels that you must run and jump through to reach the exit. I mean, the exit is RIGHT THERE in front of you, how hard can this be? Well, you might think that until out of nowhere, just as you’re about to reach the exit, a pit opens up in the ground and swallows you up. You might think “Aha, alright you got me, but I’m ready for you now!" and on your second try you go to jump over the pit (that you’re now expecting) only to have a wall spring up from the ground on the other side of the pit that you then faceplant into it and fall down into the pit anyway.

This is Level Devil. It is constantly pulling stuff like this, and I’ll be honest and say that a huge part of my enjoyment of the game so far is seeing just how ridiculous all the different traps and setups are. I don’t really want to spoil any of them, but be prepared for hazards that start moving out of nowhere, invisible platforms, changes to your jump physics, changes to how the controls themselves work, and so much more. Everything is so cleverly layered in that the game sets some traps for you, but then pretty much knows how you’ll react to those traps on subsequent tries, and then sets traps based on THAT, and sometimes traps based on those traps. It’s trapception and it’s endlessly amusing to me.

Mechanically Level Devil is fine, if not a little on the easy side. Well, I’m only about halfway through the game, so we’ll see if that changes, but it seems to me that it’s more about showcasing the traps and trolls than about testing your platforming prowess. There is some puzzle-like challenge in how to actually reach the exit in each level, but really I think this one is more about appreciating the design and the trolling. It’s so good. It’s also very easy to just check out for yourself, as Level Devil is free with ads and there’s a one-time IAP to disable them that’s just a dollar. I would totally do that too, unless you enjoy spending 60 second chunks seeing the King in Royal Match get killed over and over again. Go on, try Level Devil, let it deceive you like a jerk and then laugh in your face about it. Good times!