It feels like the second half of 2020 has been the period of viral games, with the likes of Among Us and Phasmophobia doing huge numbers online on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. We’d include Among Us in these Game of the Year celebrations, but it didn’t actually launch in 2020, so that’s immediately out. Let’s instead talk about the game that started the viral trend: Fall Guys.
Mediatonic and Devolver’s slapstick take on the battle royale genre, Fall Guys is an addictive and wonderful multiplayer experience that took the world by storm when it launched back in August. Achieving incredible viewing and playing figures in the first month of release, it felt like Fall Guys was all anyone was playing. No matter where you looked, all you could see were Beans falling over, and it was glorious.
A physics-based game that drew heavy inspiration from over-the-top game shows like Takeshi’s Castle, Ninja Warrior, It’s A Knockout and Unbeatable Banzuke (there’s a deep cut for you), 60 players compete in a variety of minigames until there’s only one player left standing. Fortunately, Fall Guys is a little bit more forgiving than Takeshi’s Castle in that someone is guaranteed to win at the end, so that’s something.
The beauty of Fall Guys comes in the fact that there’s a wide variety of chaotic rounds, which ensures that victory and defeat are never certain. While there is a skill gap in play when it comes to the platforming elements and the timing to avoid certain obstacles, the random nature of the physics and the players you’re competing against means that anything can and will happen on a regular basis.
The variety of levels you can encounter in Fall Guys also means that players naturally favour certain levels over other ones. Personally, I’m of the belief that team games can get in the bin, and that See-Saw brings out the worst in human nature, while other rounds are much easier qualifications. Once you manage to get your ideal show, or blag your way to the finale for it to be your preferred round type, there’s a huge amount of satisfaction.
Fall Guys is a game that doesn’t sit in the middle. The highs are incredibly high, while the lows are some of the most frustrating they can be, they’re usually not enough to stop you from hitting the ready up button for another go. Unless you’re me, who gets saltier at video games than they really should. There were a few moments during Fall Ball that almost caused me to yeet my PS4 controller through the TV, but the feeling of snatching a team win from the jaws of defeat is unparalleled.
It might be said that Fall Guys is a bit of a fad game, considering Season 3 has arrived, and the game hasn’t quite managed to retain the same level of popularity since it launched, especially given the rise of Among Us on YouTube and Twitch, but Fall Guys is far from a dead game. If nothing else, it’ll go down in history as one of the most impactful and influential games of the entire year.
Fall Guys is available now on PC and PS4.
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