Games sometimes get a bad rep. I am not talking about Super Mario or Sonic, the titles you remember fondly playing as a kid and where the worst thing that can really happen to your character is you fall down a well, and then re-start the level.
I am talking about the games you played as an older kid, involving guns, assassination, the stealing of cars, robot genocide, lopping off alien heads with a chainsaw attached to your arm (and so on). Those games continue to exist; and have seen a surge of popularity around the battle royale genre.
For the uninitiated, battle royale games tend to involve around 100 people duking it out until the last avatar standing. Think of the Hunger Games movies, with less people called silly names like, ‘Katniss’ and ‘Peeta’ and more people called silly names like ‘I_PWN_N008s’. And with games like Fortnite, Warzone, and Apex Legends counting their players in the hundreds of millions, it’s clear these types of games aren’t going anywhere.
But what of the wholesome gamer? Someone who wants to participate in the last-man-standing genre, but minus the blood, guts, gore and fragging of 99 other poor players? Well, that’s where Fall Guys comes in. The game became a bit of a darling in the games industry during the pandemic; signing up millions of players thanks to its addictive gameplay, and lack of wanton murder.
The premise of Fall Guys is simple; 60 cute, cuddly little characters line up and compete in a variety of obstacle courses. These courses are rather simple; some are straight up races to the finish, while others see you try and steal a tail from another character. In fact, the worst thing you can do to another player – and is a mild inconvenience at best – is give them a bit of a cuddle.
This month sees the launch of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which comes with more cutesy characters and costumes, new obstacle courses and new challenges. More importantly, it’s free across all platforms – which means you’re about to see significantly more players in the game. Free cuddles for all!