At the gamescom, dozens of games are presented every year, and some of them turn out to be unexpected gems. MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus has found such a game and is convinced that especially Twitch streamers will be thrilled.
What kind of game is this?
- The Mind Twisting Quadroids was created over a period of 2 years by a single developer.
- You play as an alien emperor who decides that he wants to take over the universe. Just what one does on a weekend.
- The gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Lemmings, but quickly becomes so complex that you need to use all areas of your brain.
What makes Quadroids special: At first glance, the game looks quite simple. A pixel platformer where you have to get one or more little creatures from A to B. A bit of jumping, and that’s it. There is even essentially only one button, the jump button.
The special thing about Quadroids is that the screen is divided into 4 areas: each is controlled by a different button. This means that depending on where the character is located, you need a different button to jump.
However, that’s not enough, as the path from one screen to another is always different. There are hints, but you have to interpret them correctly first.
To make it even harder, there will soon be more little aliens that you want to control simultaneously. They run automatically, but they only jump on command. And: they all jump together on one screen.
The game becomes exponentially harder, and if you think at first: “Oh, this can be done with a little brainpower,” you become frustrated quite early.
I sat with a colleague in front of Quadroids, and the first level in the second area took us 10 minutes.
Twitch loves it when streamers suffer
The boss explained to me that Quadroids is actually more of a casual and puzzle game that is meant to engage speedrunners in the long term. However, I see a completely different target audience: Twitch streamers.
The game has all the characteristics of games that seemingly go viral on Twitch by chance:
- it’s catchy and easy to learn; every player understands what to do after a few minutes
- Quadroids quickly becomes increasingly difficult, so almost every player has to think early on
- the game is ideal for giving smart-alec tips from the sidelines and enjoying how silly the streamer is, because one could do it much better
Good examples of such games that function similarly are Getting Over It and AltF4. Both games exploded on Twitch and attracted over 90,000 viewers at times (via sullygnome). Some other games only experienced this years after their release.
How it will work with Quadroids remains to be seen. The game will be released soon, although no date has been set yet, but it will be available on all common platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Steam Deck, as the developer told me.
On Twitch as well as YouTube, such games work well because their high frustration factor leads to strong emotions, which are well visible in a live stream. Or in short: the viewers love it when streamers suffer.
