by Amr (@siegarettes)

• Russian Subway Dogs
  
• Developer- Spooky Squid
  
• Publisher- Spooky Squid
  
• PC (itch.io,Steam), PS4, PS Vita 
  

Russian Subway Dogs is pure arcade joy. It’s nothing more than a series of levels where you scare train passengers out of their food and watch a combo multiplier go up. What makes it work is the way you juggle items, and the increasing complications each new stage introduces. It’s tricky and taxing, and while it sometimes gets tough, it’s a clean design that makes the endless score chase appealing.

The basic loop consists of positioning yourself behind subway goers then barking to scare them into tossing their food or vodka into the air. Food is worth double points while airborne, and the multiplier on each item increases with each successive juggle. Even better, you can juggle the dangerously flammable vodka and let it splash on food to cook it, increasing its worth even more.

Soon new variations of passengers show up, each with their own patterns. Hamburger eaters rush through the screen and need to be barked at before they reach the other side. Passengers with groceries will scream and toss veggies–and a single bottle of vodka–into the air. And Grandmas with massive fish will smack you as you approach and need to be disarmed by dropping vodka on them and grabbing their roast fish.

The variations continue to be introduced with each successive level, and there’s a lot of fun in trying to juggle food and deal with the patterns of each character. Enemy animals also appear, waiting to snag your food and depleting your score if you fail to keep them at bay. Like a lot of the best arcade games the core loop is simple, but scoring well requires you to be on point.

This loop is supported by a lot charming animations and artwork. Russian Subway Dogs leans into the Soviet era caricature, but it feels earnest and lighthearted, giving it a positive vibe. Situations get increasingly absurd, and there’s definitely some that made me smile. The writing helps too, and keeps it from turning into the eye rolling nonsense that depictions of Soviet Russia often leave me with.

Honestly, there’s not much else to say here. Russian Subway Dogs is a wonderful score attack game that can easily be revisited over and over. It makes a great coffee break game, and if you’re still rocking a Vita you should definitely keep this one in your pocket.