fail games

[the_antithesis]

I've noticed an emerging genre of video games that, for lack of a better term, I'll call fail games. These are games that do not test any relevant skill of the player but are purposefully set up so that the player is likely to fail and elements are set up so that they fail in a spectacular way because this is the actual point of the game.

First game of this ilk that I had noticed was Happy Wheels.

[youtube:12aqk6q4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5pngEYuNPk[/youtube:12aqk6q4]

In this game, you choose from a selection of characters that are rag dolls on some sort of vehicle that handles like a cow on roller skates and the rag dolls take damage if put under enough stress so that limbs and other body parts fly apart with spurts of bright red blood. The object is to make it to the goal at the end of the level, but really, that's not really the point. The point is to fail to reach that goal in as spectacular a manner with spraying blood and screaming. The closer you are to the aforementioned goal when you completely fail the better. Although the dead and manged body can still fall into the goal and win you the level anyway. Most of these levels are user-made with a high degree of unfairness on top of the shitty controls and fragile player characters.

I've since noticed at least one more game in this genre, Enviro-Bear 2000 with similarly terrible controls and frustrating gameplay.

I don't know what these games mean for society as a whole. It could just be an extension of the punishingly difficult games of the 8-bit era, only on purpose. I just find the idea of a game where the purpose is not to win but to fail and fail big time is interesting.

[Alaric I]

This shit is funny.

[Plu]

It's basically "Jackass the video game". People seemed to like that show as well.

[Davka]

*splat*

[overlord fombax]

But Anti. Happy Wheels is worth a little more than that.  I've gotten the hang of the controls pretty well and some of those ridiculous levels can actually be a good fair challenge... The level editor is the big draw for Happy Wheels anyway.  Stuff can get pretty creative... Someone once made a really extensive parody/ replica of the first few levels of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that kinda blew my mind.  It all depends on what levels you find.

[the_antithesis]

Happened upon a couple more fail games, a term I'm determined to hammer into common parlance.

[youtube:qlc9ow4m]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAW_AfompBA[/youtube:qlc9ow4m]
[youtube:qlc9ow4m]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9nIkSn9ouc[/youtube:qlc9ow4m]

[Sal1981]

Have you tried "I Wanna Be the Guy"? Should be up your alley.