Tag: Downwell

News

The tricky brilliance of Downwell’s gunboots

“Shit, this game is hard.” It was the jesting gripe heard ‘round the panel room at the Game Developer’s Conference on Monday, March 14th. A grievance that, surprisingly, came from game developer Ojiro Fumoto himself while playing a live tech demo of an early prototype of his own game: Downwell. Fumoto’s vertigo-inducing roguelike Downwell released late last year to critical acclaim, and soon became the hot topic at everyone’s fingertips. In the aptly named panel, “Polishing the Boots – Designing Downwell Around One Key Mechanic,” Fumoto detailed the many iterations his now infamous “gunboot” mechanic took on through the game’s…
News

Let Tomb of the Mask consume you with its frantic death chase

Sign up to receive each week’s Playlist e-mail here! Also check out our full, interactive Playlist section. Tomb of the Mask (iOS) HAPPYMAGENTA Tomb of the Mask brings a new perspective to the arcade game, both literally and figuratively. Combining classic Tetris (1984) and Pac-Man (1980) aesthetics, Tomb of the Mask places you in a vertically scrolling gauntlet where the goal is to eat dots and coins while the ever-present threat of an encroaching death screen threatens from below if you don’t move upwards fast enough. You can latch onto any wall in the procedurally-generated arena which, in combination with your unstoppable momentum, creates most of the game’s challenge. Along the…
Article

High Scores: The Best Videogames of 2015

Header image and artwork by Caty McCarthy 25. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base) Neon cuteness belying hardened spacefaring carnage. A manic platformer disguised as a cheerful shoot-em-up. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a lot of things, and all of those things are descending on you at the exact same time. With the evil forces of anti-love surrounding you as you save imprisoned space bunnies, Lovers works best with two players sitting side-by-side, working together against near-impossible odds. An AI-controlled dog or cat can accompany you on your suicide mission, but facing down increasing waves of enemies next to…
Review

Prominence has old-school sci-fi vibes, but it’s short on story

In January 1957, J.G. Ballard first published his story “The Concentration City” (then under a different title) in a magazine called New Worlds. It takes place in a city that spans the entire universe, where streets stretch out both horizontally and vertically, with lifts and levels expanding the city infinitely in every direction. Talk of real estate doesn’t just involve two-dimensional plots of land, but is priced and measured in cubic feet, so that even the air you breathe costs money. The biggest threat to life in this city is terrorists called “pyros,” the embodiment of a violent human impulse…
Article

The story behind Downwell, one of this year’s most delightful surprises

Downwell might be a perfect game title. Not only is it short and pithy, but it serves as a perfect summation for what developer Ojiro Fumoto has created. It’s a game in which a young boy is continuously falling down a well, avoiding enemies and purchasing upgrades along the way. But it’s not a hopeless endeavor. Armed with Gunboots firing from his feet, the boy is able to defend himself during his descent. The result is the type of sweat-inducing adventure that threatens to do water damage to your smartphone or controller, a game whose red and white character models…
News

Free fall to your heart’s content in Downwell

Sign up to receive each week’s Playlist e-mail here! Also check out our full, interactive Playlist section. Downwell (PC, Mac)  BY Moppin In most games, falling is essentially akin to certain death. Step an inch over the edge, and the void is there to swallow you up and take some of your health along with it. But in Downwell, falling is the exact opposite of an abyss. It is everything: life, death, and all else in between. In this vertical shoot-em-up, you must find the wherewithal to fight ghoulish monsters and gather resources while you free fall down a seemingly endless well…