I Played This Indie Game and You Should Too!

Has there not been any discussion here of Thumper??

I’ve had my eye on it for a long time, and it’s on sale this week, so I finally grabbed it.

It’s a game about… uh… a beetle? Seems like a very angry beetle. It rockets along this long track surrounded by surreal symmetrical tentacles and geometry. And there’s loud music, and you have to hit buttons and turn at the right times our you blow up in a violent burst of red light. And sometimes there’s a goofy looking giant head you’re attacking.

So it’s a rhythm game, is what I’m trying to say.

There’s not necessarily a lot to the game, but the presentation is pretty remarkable. Particularly the feeling of speed and impact, which is really what the game is all about. Or to collapse it down to one word, it’s about “intensity.” The game is intense. The music isn’t pleasant–it’s harsh and clangy. Your little beetle certainly isn’t cute. It doesn’t have any personality. It just flies along the track, vibrating, and slamming into walls. And occasionally flying over things.

I think @tomchick compared Thumper disfavorably to Aaero. And Aaero definitely has a lot more variety of things to see, hear, and shoot. But somehow Thumper has gripped me a lot more than Aaero did. I didn’t care for Aaero’s music, and never did get the hang of shooting things (despite my Rez bona fides).

Thumper is one of those rhythm games where you sometimes hit a flow state and find yourself doing these amazing combinations of moves without even thinking about it. That’s really satisfying. And I think the tone of almost-horror the game gives off is really unique and extraordinary given how little there is that goes into it.

I believe there was some talk about Thumper in one of the VR threads but I could be wrong. It’s a really fun game in VR, though the gameplay is exactly the same.

Thanks for the write-up!

Despite being knee-deep in Aaero right now, I still have Thumper in my wishlist as well.

(In Aaero, I’m tantalizingly close to unlocking Master difficulty, but am stuck on one song in Advanced difficulty that I just can’t get past).

I’ve put off playing this for months because setting up my VR rig is annoying and I want to play this in VR. Then I set up my VR rig and play Superhypercube for hours instead. Though I am worried that my reflexes aren’t up to task for this game anyways.

I can only imagine what this is like in VR, when you’re completely immersed and feel like you’re moving a gajillion miles an hour…

There was a racing game on the Dreamcast that used to do that to me. I’d get all tense and really pull hard on the right trigger to accelerate all the time.

Virtua Tennis. Ah, a racer you said!
That controler was evil.

It was. I know it was the prototype basically for all the Xbox controllers to follow, but man, those triggers were painful to use. And the thumbsticks were painful to use too.

Did I hear someone saying something NEGATIVE about the Dreamcast?!

Hey, I’m love the Dreamcast too, but those controllers suh-huh-huh-hucked. Super hard.

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Could you guys convert those Gifs into a format viewable on the VMU, where I prefer to consume such content.

Ok, here goes!

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Machiavillain is out, and on sale for 16 pieces of gold pressed latinum.

Looks like a mashup of Oxygen Not Included, Dungeon Keeper, and Prison Architect.

Now…who’s gonna take one for the team?

Gold-pressed latinum. I’m pretty sure you just broke one of the Rules of Acquisition or something.

You’re right, of course. Aging sucks.

…but latinum lasts forever. #102. ;)

Me? Alrighty, then.