Fraymakers is a Super Smash Bros-inspired platform fighter starring iconic indie characters

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Slay the Spire, Downwell, Ape Out, Getting Over It, and many more make an appearance

Fraymakers is a new Super Smash Bros-style platform fighter from the makers of Super Smash Flash 2, the most popular Smash fan game in its heyday, and it features dozens of characters from new and classic indie games. 

The Kickstarter for Fraymakers has been running for some time, and with just over a day to go, it's already raised nearly seven times its funding target. Developer McLeod Gaming, which consists of several contributors from the Super Smash Flash 2 team as well as supporting artists and musicians, plans to launch the game on PC via Steam Early Access in early 2022. 

Fraymakers is an unabashed Smash clone with several big twists. Firstly, you play as characters taken from new and old indie games. The current roster includes Welltaro from Downwell, Orcane from Rivals of Aether, Ultra Fishbunjin 3000 from Slap City, the Watcher from Slay the Spire, Octodad from the titular game, and CommanderVideo from Bit.Trip. Thanks to the game's mega-funded Kickstarter, three more characters will also be added, with another to come in post-launch DLC. 

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Each character has a stage or two based on their original game, and there are tons of assist characters pulled from other indies ranging from Machinarium to Ape Out to CrossCode. The cherry on top is that Fraymaker will launch with its own suite of development tools, aptly named FrayTools, which will enable players to "build your own characters, you can also create assists, stages, menus, modes and more using a program that’s designed to make the experience as efficient, user-friendly and versatile as possible." 

With this being a Smash fan game at heart, Fraymakers is very much plugged into the nitty-gritty details of competitive platform fighters. McLeod Gaming is promising robust rollback netcode, air-dash combos, reworked shield mechanics that enable wave-dashing and parries while allowing for plenty of counterplay, and wild items (including fan-made ones) for players looking for a more chaotic experience.

Not sure what games, accessories, or peripherals to gift this year? Here are the best gifts for gamers this season. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.