I found a totally free, really sweet little game! In Upcreek, I was collecting trash from a lovely park and putting it into a trash can. But there’s so much more to it than that!
Fun Games That Won’t Break the Bank: Upcreek
This game was developed for a game jam in January of 2026. A game jam is an event or competition where developers create a game from scratch. Each jam runs for specific days and has a clearly defined end time and often a specific theme. The theme for this jam was “The World is Watching” and this game definitely fits the theme! Because just about everything in the world of Upcreek had eyes, and they were indeed watching, but in a really sweet way!
The Look and Feel of Upcreek
Upcreek has a calm, soothing soundtrack throughout most of the game. However, there is an area with 3 large stones which has a discordant, ominous soundtrack. I never quite figured out if there was something I was supposed to do there; perhaps you’ll discover it.
The game takes place in the fictional Blue River State Park, which is a lovely place. It’s full of trails as well as campsites, a meandering river and a waterfall. When I was near the river, I heard the familiar and comforting sounds of a babbling brook, and when I was near the waterfall, there was the roar of rushing water.
The graphics are a bright cartoon style and are very colorful and cheerful. It’s a 3D open-world environment. The fact that Upcreek has so many objects with eyeballs makes it a real cool world to be immersed in.
However, the park was a mess!! People had littered all over the place, and my task was to put all 100 pieces of trash into the trash can. As each piece of trash landed in my trash can, I heard a satisfying sound of something definitely landing in the can! Thunk. The trash in Upcreek does not respawn, so 100 pieces of trash means 100 unique items. Some were hard to find, but none were impossible. It took me about an hour to get all the items, but I played slowly. I’d suggest you budget that much time, though, since there is no save feature in the game.
The Gameplay of Upcreek
Sometimes I want a game where I don’t have to think too much. Something kind of calm and meditative. Upcreek scratches that itch!! The gameplay was pretty simple for the most part: pick up trash and put it in the trash can. The fact that I was able to move the trash can where I wanted was much appreciated. There were just a few things I could do in the game. I could pick up items (grab), put them down (throw) and walk. Easy peasy!! There were also a couple of clever environmental puzzles to solve.
I played with a controller, and one thing I learned was that the command “throw” (which I got when I had trash in hand) did not really mean I should literally throw it. Instead, what I needed to do was lift it over the hole in the trash can, where it would just slide into the can. I guess the command is actually “throw away”. Also, when I began the game, I had to use my mouse to click “play” and start the game, but after that, the controller worked perfectly.
There was a wide variety of trash lying around the park; the people who use the park must be animals! I found soda cans, soft drink cups, metal buckets, foam clam shell food cases, 6 pack rings and oddly a spring or two. When I picked up an item, it had an angry, mean face and made growling, snarling noises at me. Very scary!!
But when I got the item close to the trash can, its face changed, and it became scared. It did not want to be thrown out. Too bad!!
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed my time playing Upcreek; it was just the right level of difficulty for me. I learned that most of the trash items were along the paths, although a few were hidden or not readily visible. So that was a fun challenge! Another thing to know is that when you have found 80 items, there is an event which helps you to find the remaining 20. But I won’t give away any more information about that! The game also has 10 Steam achievements, which you can try to obtain.
Upcreek was developed by Jason Winter and Joel Hemphill, along with assistance from 2 other devs. They have decided to go their separate ways, and Joel has a new game in progress, which may appeal to LadiesGamers readers. It’s a 3D adventure in which people are cursed and turned into animals, much like Aesop’s fables. It’s still in very early development, but will involve crafting and platforming. It does not have a formal title yet, so if you are interested in it, you can follow Upcreek, since he is planning to include info about it there at a later date.
There are a few reasons why they decided to offer this game to us for free, and I am very grateful that they did. You can play Upcreek on Steam. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I can definitely see myself playing it again!
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