If you like to get extremely angry at video games, you might be disappointed with how Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy failed to spawn a whole genre of masochistic climbing games. Your disappointment is shared by the solo dev behind a new game that attempts to keep that Getting Over It spirit alive.
A Difficult Game About Climbing is, well, a difficult game about climbing. You use the mouse to control the hands of a dude in a loincloth, carefully grabbing bits of the environment to slowly drag your way up intricate levels filled with tricky gaps to cross. Slip up and you'll go careening back down, potentially losing minutes - or more - of hard-won progress.
The game already has 92% positive reviews on Steam, many of which boil down to something like, "I hate this game. 10/10." It's a perfect concept to support a Twitch stream, too, and it's already rocketing up the charts there with more than 87,000 viewers as I write this. That makes it the ninth-biggest category on Twitch this particular Thursday afternoon, sandwiched right between Fortnite and Elden Ring.
"This game was created by one person, me (hello)," A Difficult Game About Climbing's developer, who goes by Pontypants, says on the Steam page. "This game is inspired by Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy which in itself is a homage to an even older game, Sexy Hiking by Jazzuo. I was certain that Bennett's game would spawn countless of new types of games in a similar fashion that would present unique, focused and yet simple challenges. I was disappointed to see that trend not materialize fully and so took it upon myself to make this game, hoping to contribute to the spirit of a 'Foddian Type' game genre."
I could link a trailer here, but I think your time might be better spent watching the dev log video above, which manages to be very funny while offering some legitimate insight into what it takes to build an indie game of this scope. Pontypants explains that, "while most other rage games are frustrating because they're intentionally designed to be frustrating, Getting Over It was sort of like learning how to ride a bike. Frustration is just a part of learning something new, which makes it fun. And then you realize that it's not hard, you just sucked at it."
It seems Bennett Foddy himself is impressed, too. Last year, he responded to a trailer for A Difficult Game About Climbing with a simple "looks fun!" on Twitter. Months later, now that the game's out, he says it "turns out it is fun!" You can't get a better seal of approval than that.
turns out it is fun! https://t.co/53hwhQPCQJMarch 7, 2024
Check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming indie games for 2024 and beyond.
