6. VVVVVV
In VVVVVV you play as Captain Viridian, one of the 6 people that got lost into an alternative dimension. The main task is to find the other 5 people: Professor Vitellary, Doctor Violet, Doctor Victoria, Chief Verdigris and Officer Vermillion.
Resembling a lot a game from the Commodore 64 era, VVVVVV is a simple jump’n’run (or more like change-gravity’n’run)… at least in mechanics and controls anyway. The game is split into dozens of rooms that are separately named and colored each with its puzzle or pathway.
Almost each room contains a checkpoint so you will never lose too much progression whenever you die. The second good thing that counteracts the extreme difficulty of the game is that you have no limited amount of lives, so you can try that hard and annoying puzzle over and over again till you just press Alt + F4.
Fast Reflexes Required
Instead of the jump mechanic, the developer placed a gravity change mechanic, allowing you to hang head down in order to pass through the rooms. The game can sometimes require fast or timed reflexes in order to pass a zone, like the need to land on a moving platform or pass an enemy that moves vertically/horizontally.
Since there’s no jumping mechanism, there are no keys as up and down, only left, right and the gravity-change button existing in the game. Once you find the people and the hidden artifacts, the game pretty much ends.
Overall, VVVVVV is a great nostalgic-inducing game for those that used to game in the 80’s. It’s simple mechanics but hard gameplay ensures at least a few hours to waste in.
5. Speedrunners
Speedrunners is a multiplayer-focused parkour-styled game set in a 2D environment. Still in Early Access, Speedrunners manages to deliver a solid gameplay and hours of fun.
Gameplay
The mission of the game is simple, outrun and place some distance between you and your opponent or opponents (up to 3 opponents), 3 times in order to win. The means to do that is quite harder: from having to learn the maps, to attack your opponents through various weapons that may affect you as well (don’t worry though, there’s an achievement for that if you manage to screw up).
If there are more than 2 players, once the last player is considered too far away from the first to continue playing, he is eliminated, and the field of view continually diminishes until the other opponents are removed from the competition as well or the one most in front is deemed the winner by the game. The longer the time taken to finish the round, the harder it becomes due to the continually reducing field of view.
Leveling System
The leveling system of the game allows the player use more weapons, unlock new maps and characters. The characters are purely cosmetical and does not affect the skill of the player. The weapons can be gathered by picking up power-ups scattered across the map.
From those close to realism like grappling hook and rocket launcher to those weird like launching a huge fireball or use a freeze ray that will stun opponents for a certain amount of time. Some other weapons are less destructive like the one which allows you to place cubes on the floor, tripping the one behind you if he doesn’t jump on time.
Due to the game being parkour-ish in concept, you can double jump, slide, walljump repeatedly, use grappling hook to ease up the travel. The grappling hook though can only work on white surfaces.
Steam Workshop allows the players to create and share their own maps as well as rate it. Some of the maps become popular enough to be played in championships.
Besides the multiplayer, there is also a career mode where you use running skills for good, like disarming bombs, but honestly, you just get from point A to point B in a time attack mode. But since it is in beta, it deserves a second chance.
Overall, Speedrunners is a nice competitive game to ruin some friendships with or have an extreme laugh, complete with tears and stomach aches from the amount of laughter that takes place.
4. Limbo
Limbo revolves around a nameless boy that wakes up in a forest. Since your elder sister is not with you, your main quest becomes to find your sister.
Usually nothing is ever easy in any jump’n’run game and Limbo is no exception from it. The game revolves around you failing at least a few times until you find the right solution. Some people even called it ‘trial and death’ type of game since the death count can rival the one from the Dark Souls series.
Game Features
Like in VVVVVV there is no limited amount of tries with the progress being saved by various checkpoints placed in the game. So, again, you can keep trying until you either succeed or hit the Alt F4 buttons.
Various enemies and traps (some of them being obvious only when directly encountered), will make your search for your sister extremely difficult. Some enemies will cling to you and force you to go towards a certain direction, or spiked razors will make you time your jumps carefully. Besides basic movement, you can jump, as previously mentioned, as well as climbing and pulling/pushing objects.
Length and storywise, a high number of people claimed that it is too short, and the story ends too soon, while the others claim the length is appropriate and the story fits the game’s atmosphere. But as an advice that I have learned on my own, never listen to others when it comes to trying art, be it music, games, movies or books.
Overall, Limbo is a nice hardcore experience, for those that enjoy the likes of Super Mario Bros and Super Meat Boy on Hellish difficulty.