Well, I was planning to be done for the year already, but another game snuck in right before the end of 2025. I say that as if I stopped playing games over the holidays, which I haven’t. Though, of the things that I’ve been playing during these final weeks, Sliding Hero was the only game for which I was approached about a written review.

Developer(s): Silent Chicken
Publisher(s): Silent Chicken, WhisperGames
Release Date: November 20th, 2025
Released on: Windows
Reviewed on: PC (Win)
Copy Purchased, but a Review Copy was provided after I'd bought the game

Those of you who’re keeners will remember Sliding Hero as one of the titles that I covered in Demo Dive earlier this year. As such, you’ll have to forgive me as I’m about to repeat myself while describing the game for any newcomers.

That said, what is a Sliding Hero? What makes it unique from the host of other games that you could be playing right now?

The short answer is movement. 

The far longer answer is that Sliding Hero features an almost wholly unique movement style that mirrors what was utilized by another of 2025’s best Puzzlers: Slip ‘n Slime. Basically, your character slides along the floor in a single direction until they collide with something or someone. In essence, players don’t have the ability to stop, or change direction whenever they like. Instead, they’re reliant on piecing together a path of collisions that’ll allow them to reach their destination. The result is movement that feels tailor made for some thoughtful puzzle solving.

That said, Sliding Hero isn’t your typical Puzzle game as it’s also a Metroidvania. Instead of choosing puzzles from a menu, players will explore an interconnected world where most rooms are puzzles to be solved. There’s also a few unlockable abilities, which necessitates exploring alternative routes (and solving different types of puzzles) throughout the game. It’s all very standard Metroidvania fare, sans the emphasis on puzzle solving which isn’t typically associated with this subgenre. 

At first brush, Sliding Hero may sound a little annoying since you’ll constantly come across puzzles you won’t yet be able to solve. However, the game is fairly good at communicating when players need to return once they’ve found a new ability. For example, the overwhelming majority of the game’s unlockable abilities cause these armed statues to bestow temporary weapons for the player to use. As such, there’s a very clear indicator for whether you’ve unlocked all of the constituent pieces of a puzzle before you actually attempt to solve it.

That said, there were a couple of puzzles that I was able to solve without unlocking all of the necessary powers beforehand. I’m not entirely certain this was intended, but finding the odd alternative solutions to a puzzle was enjoyable even if it (likely) wasn’t intended.

It also bears mentioning that Sliding Hero features accordion world design with regard to its different powers. That is, after completing the tutorial, players are able to find a few different powers simultaneously, which increases the odds that they’ll find something by simply choosing a direction to travel in, and sticking with it for long enough.

Personally, I really enjoy when Metroidvanias are designed in this way. As already mentioned, it increases the odds that I’ll find something interesting, which makes the act of exploring feel rewarding. Plus, it addresses the often cited reason for why many players tend to bounce off Metroidvanias in the first place. It’s a lot harder to feel lost, and like you’re making no progress when you’re actively unlocking new abilities, and solving puzzle after puzzle while exploring.

On a somewhat similar note, not all of the puzzles within Sliding Hero need to be solved to roll credits. The actual level of difficulty varies fairly wildly, but many of the puzzles that I found on the harder side were off the critical path. Though, there isn’t an easy way to identify if a puzzle is optional short of giving up, and exploring in a different direction whenever you find yourself stuck.

Though, taking a new path is made relatively easy with a smattering of well placed fast travel points throughout the world. That made it a breeze to shift gears during my own playthrough whenever I became stuck, which I was really grateful for.

I also remember mentioning it in my Demo Dive, but the atmosphere in Sliding Hero is top-notch. From the game’s onset, it’s implied that you’re trapped in some kind of purgatory, and the music does a lot of heavy lifting to make Sliding Hero’s world feel as such.

Having said all of that, I do need to share a handful of nitpicks that I had with the game as a whole. None of them stopped me from playing through Sliding Hero in 4 to 6 hours stretches though, so they are all things that I’d consider minor.

Firstly, I was a bit bothered by the lack of an undo button. There is a reset puzzle button, which even has a few mechanical uses for solving certain puzzles (very cool), but that’s all you’re equipped with. This means that any minor mistakes will feel unnecessarily punitive as you’re forced to reset the whole puzzle, and solve it from scratch. I found that to be a little tedious, and also felt like it discouraged experimentation since I couldn’t easily approach the same problem from several angles before deciding on, or discovering the solution.

Secondly, Sliding Hero does have a handful of minor bugs at the time of writing. I’ve actually passed everything I found during my playthrough along to the developer, so I assume they’ll be fixed in the near future. 

However, here’s a snapshot of what I found so you have an idea of what I mean by minor bugs:

  • An NPC would mention quest markers appearing on my map, and then nothing appeared on the map (the quest was still active, and could be completed though)
  • I was awarded 1 of the achievements prematurely
  • I took damage from a boss attack after defeating them while I was stuck in a cutscene following the fight

In my mind, all of these are small potatoes, but it was more than I typically run into while reviewing a game. As such, I wanted to mention it so you have a clearer picture of what my time was like with Sliding Hero.

And, to reiterate, I passed all of this along to the developer (which I normally do while actively reviewing something), so I’d hazard a guess that it’ll be fixed at some point in the future. Ergo, I don’t view any of this as being a hang-up, but obviously everyone has a different tolerance for this sort of thing.

So, where does that leave me with Sliding Hero?

To answer in short, I wouldn’t have played Sliding Hero in long, uninterrupted stretches if I wasn’t having fun. I won’t profess that it was the most polished thing I’ve played (as outlined above), but all of the weirdness I ran into was minor in the grand scheme of things.

What I’ll actually remember when I think back on Sliding Hero months from now is the fun I had bouncing around its world solving all of the different available puzzles. That, and quietly exploring long stretches of the game world while slowly finding new abilities, and doubling back to areas I’d earmarked to check once I’d found new abilities.

Mix all that puzzling goodness, and Metroid-y backtracking with some sufficiently creepy visuals, and a moody soundtrack, and I think you’ve got a winner on your hands. For my money, Sliding Hero is worth checking out entirely for the novelty of its core concept. It’s unlike anything else that I’ve played before, and I think that’s worth its weight in gold.

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