Try Not To Be Stinky While Saving Cats in ‘Skin Deep’, a Game So Shaun-Coded That I Could Cry

My phone buzzed at roughly 11:30 pm last night with a direct message from an old friend. “The more I played, I just kept thinking, ‘this is a shaun joint frfr’”, one of the many messages read. In the end, they were all regarding the game Skin Deep. A freeform stealth game, made with the id Tech 4 engine, the very same that powered DOOM 3? I’m already interested enough, but learning that there was a dedicated spit button, space cats, and a whole bunch of other wacky things? Skin Deep may officially be my new obsession at this point, and I need to find out more.

Blendo Games Is Going Directly After My Heart with ‘Skin Deep’. A Game I didn’t Know About Until now.

With the development of Skin Deep starting in July 2018, it’s been a while since the game was revealed. But with the massive plethora of games that are coming out, this is one that completely slipped under my radar. Maybe that means it’s too good at its job? It is a stealth game, after all. But thanks to Diego, I now know what I must do: devote every moment of my free time to trying to rescue space cats, all while sneezing and spitting on people.

What interests me about Skin Deep, however, is how it handles stealth. Environmental hazards, such as the player character just being generally stinky, can be incredibly detrimental. Literal stink clouds will follow the protagonist around, alerting guards and other creatures of their presence. Bathing, showering, or splashing yourself down with toilet water can help get rid of the smell. And you’re doing this all with no shoes on. It’s important, I promise.

You need to be genuinely careful of where you’re walking, or you could step on glass or plenty of other nasty things. It seems like Skin Deep is one of those projects that’s just incredibly ambitious, and actually sticks the landing. And since it’s running on the id Tech 4 engine, it should be playable on just about everything. Like I said before, I’m ashamed I didn’t know about this earlier. But, I’m also kind of glad: pleasant surprises like Skin Deep don’t come by very often, and I already know that this is, in fact, a Shaun joint. For real, for real.