GDC 2013: Towerfall brings all the boys to the yard

013 is the year for the local-couch co-op play renaissance. Developers are embracing the personal open forum of pummeling their friends within inches of each other. Matt Thornsen has been developing a title that’s poised to lead the charge out of the pack with his work on Towerfall, a four-player arena fighting game that takes elements from a variable palate of ideas and makes for an indefinable label but potentially excellent slobber knocker. We had the pleasure to hang out and play Matt’s display at the Indie Mixer, and here are our thoughts.

As the stage sets in with the four of us placed in our separate corners and we await the countdown, the marker was off and the frenetic action immediately set up the stage. The objective to kill everyone dead filled everyone as profanity littered the air about us. Towerfall sets out to create a tension that influences how a player strategizes their victory, and coats the apprehension with the unpredictability of the stages and random perks that are available to you and the players around you. Each player has a bow and arrow containing three and only three shots; you’ll have to make strides to collect them back from your fallen foes or the walls when they didn’t make their mark.

The arrow play definitely had a learning curve as it meticulously emulated the arc and pull of an aimed shot along with the changing trajectory of your shots depending on pressure. However, the real kicker is how all players have the ability to perform an invulnerability dodge a la Smash Bros. that renders most arrow shots in vain. But if you’re left without the chance to recover your squandered bolts, then you’re left with the most retro action since you can stomp your 8-bit feet on top of any of your opponent’s 8-bit craniums. It all depends on how aware your target is in all of the madness, and that’s what makes Towerfall from the start. Meanwhile, it only gets more hectic as you continue.

In every round that declares a victory, players then descend into the lower level of the tower with different platforms and architecture that’s reminiscent of Bubble Bobble or Snow Bros. that breaks up turf advantage and refreshes the next chance for players to get even with one another, yet the vicious power-ups still remain.

As we hit our third round, treasure chests began appearing on the playing field, and one of them contained bomb arrows that had a blast radius to wipe out all of us. We struggled until the bastard who grabbed them was dead. The one player who did survive found wings and began playing the waiting game until his foe depleted arrows. And with a few dodge lunges and fast flight, he came back with a vengeance.

With each round, playing the game resonated with us more and more. Our actions felt intuitive to the different stages we encountered while naturally seeking out ways to terminate our fellow players, which concluded with the satisfaction of watching it unfold through an instant replay at the end of the round. The intense competitive nature of Towerfall may elicit comparisons to its peers like BariBariBall and Hokra, but unlike those two games, it’s a very cerebral and intensive game that should be on the radar of everyone looking to host a party with a couple of controllers.

Be on the lookout for Towerfall later this year.

Comments

[Ben Bizzle]

This looks like something that we'd have a blast playing together. What platforms are they developing for?

~Biz~

[GeorgieBoysAXE]

It's hitting Xbox Live Indie and PC, not sure if he's trying to Greenlight it for Big Picture mode but that would also be totally rad.