The latest SpongeBob platformer, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide, looks like a bright, family-friendly 3D adventure about ghostly chaos in Bikini Bottom. Underneath that, the game hides something far less expected: a direct visual nod to Dark Souls buried in one of its bleakest levels.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide overview
Developed by Purple Lamp and published by THQ Nordic, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is a single-player 3D platformer releasing on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. The core setup is simple: a clash between King Neptune and the Flying Dutchman unleashes ghosts across Bikini Bottom, and it falls to SpongeBob and Patrick to restore some version of normality.
The game leans on a few key ideas:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Character swapping | Lets you switch between SpongeBob and Patrick and combine their platforming skills. |
| Ghostly story | Puts King Neptune and the Flying Dutchman at the center of a new conflict. |
| Boss fights | Pits you against the Flying Dutchman, King Neptune, Hibernation Sandy, and other large-scale encounters. |
| Iconic locations | Returns to places like Neptune’s Palace and Mount Bikini. |
| Full voice acting | Brings back the show’s original cast for cutscenes and banter. |
The result is a fairly traditional 3D platformer: collectible-focused level design, environmental puzzles, and character-specific moves such as Patrick’s new grappling and burrowing abilities. It’s framed as a ghost story, but structurally it sits near earlier SpongeBob games like Battle for Bikini Bottom.
Where the Dark Souls reference appears
The Dark Souls homage sits roughly halfway through the game, during a visit to the catacombs beneath Atlantis City. The rest of Titans of the Tide is saturated with Bikini Bottom color, but this stretch deliberately shifts the mood. It’s one of the gloomiest spaces in the game, with stonework, cages, and a more oppressive layout than the open, playful earlier stages.
As SpongeBob and Patrick progress through the catacombs, they eventually enter a large chamber dominated by a huge cage in the center. The room is already a tonal break from the rest of the level, with its scale and framing hinting at something more foreboding than the usual ghost gags.
On the floor near the entrance is the key prop: a sword planted vertically into the ground, surrounded by a circular stone structure that reads as a fireplace or brazier. Moving up to this sword triggers an interaction prompt. Activating it lights the surrounding flame, sending up a glow that is immediately recognizable to anyone who has seen a Dark Souls bonfire.
Why it reads as a Dark Souls bonfire
The homage doesn’t need explicit labeling. It uses a set of visual cues strongly associated with FromSoftware’s series:
| Element in Titans of the Tide | Parallel in Dark Souls |
|---|---|
| Sword stuck upright in the ground | Swords driven into bonfires at many checkpoints |
| Compact, circular stone firepit | Bonfire base geometry and framing in key hubs |
| Interaction prompt to “light” the fire | Interacting with bonfires to kindle and rest |
| Placement in a cavernous, somber chamber | Bonfires in catacombs, hubs, and boss approach arenas |
Lighting the flame in Titans of the Tide does not recreate the mechanics of a Souls checkpoint. It doesn’t restore health, refill resources, or function as a respawn point. It’s a self-contained Easter egg: a short interaction that completes the visual joke and then lets you move on.
That restraint is part of why the reference stands out. The game borrows the imagery without trying to retrofit SpongeBob’s platformer structure around Souls-like systems. It’s a visual wink, not a stealth genre pivot.
How unusual this is for SpongeBob
SpongeBob SquarePants has been threaded through popular culture for decades, but the show’s early years largely avoided direct nods to specific movies, games, or other franchises. The humor leaned on absurdity and character dynamics instead of name-checking other media.
Over time, that changed. Modern SpongeBob leans much more comfortably into overt references and winks, especially in cross-promotional moments or one-off gags. Titans of the Tide reflects that shift. The game is full of callbacks and cameos that sit far outside the original series’ narrower focus, from the presence of David Hasselhoff to collectible costume sets that remix familiar outfits.
Even so, direct homages to specific video games have been relatively rare in SpongeBob games. They usually stay wrapped in their own universe: Bikini Bottom locations, characters, and in-jokes. Dropping a Dark Souls-style bonfire into the catacombs of Atlantis City cuts through that pattern. It’s one of the clearest, least ambiguous gaming references the character has carried into his own interactive world.
What the Easter egg says about Titans of the Tide
The Dark Souls moment doesn’t change how Titans of the Tide plays, but it does say a lot about who the game is thinking about. SpongeBob remains a children’s property, and Titans of the Tide is rated Everyone 10+ with comic mischief and fantasy violence. At the same time, a significant part of its audience will be older players who grew up with Battle for Bikini Bottom, Cosmic Shake, and the show itself—and who now also play series like Dark Souls.
For those players, the catacombs bonfire reads as a quiet acknowledgement that the team knows who is holding the controller. It uses a shared visual language from one of the most influential game series of the past decade and drops it into a Nickelodeon platformer without comment.
It also lines up with the game’s broader tone. Titans of the Tide frames its plot around ghostly mayhem, boss fights with the Flying Dutchman and King Neptune, and a “Dynamic Duo” hook that has you swapping between SpongeBob and Patrick. Gloomier spaces like Atlantis City’s catacombs create room for a visual vocabulary that would feel out of place in sunnier levels such as Mount Bikini—making this one of the few spots where a Souls-style altar doesn’t immediately clash with the environment.
Platforms, availability, and where this fits in SpongeBob’s games
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide is available now on:
| Platform | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | November 18, 2025 | Single-player 3D platformer |
| Xbox Series X|S | November 18, 2025 | Same feature set as PS5 |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | November 18, 2025 | Portable version with the same story and core content |
| PC (Steam) | November 18, 2025 | Supports Steam achievements, trading cards, and Steam Cloud; listed as “Playable” on Steam Deck |
The official site for Titans of the Tide at spongebobtitans.thqnordic.com details the “Standard Edition”, digital and physical “Ghostly Edition”, and a “Bikini Bottom Bundle”, along with regional store links. On PC, the Steam listing outlines the minimum and recommended specs, as well as language support for English and twelve other languages with varying degrees of voice and subtitle coverage.
Within SpongeBob’s game catalog, Titans of the Tide positions itself as a full-scale follow-up to earlier 3D platformers. It keeps the collectible-heavy structure, character-driven humor, and big licensed set-pieces while tightening movement and combat. The Dark Souls nod in Atlantis City doesn’t redefine that identity, but it does underline how comfortable the series has become in borrowing imagery from outside its usual cartoon boundaries.
For most players, the catacombs bonfire will be a quick smile before the next jump or ghost encounter. For anyone who has ever rested at Firelink Shrine, it’s a sharp reminder of how far SpongeBob has traveled—from nautical nonsense without overt references to a place where one of TV’s most recognizable sponges can walk up to a sword in a stone brazier and light it like a Souls protagonist.
