Channel your inner Donkey Kong Country with the demo for this 2025 pixel platformer
Xwitter's "Your game is too much like..." thread is well worth a browse
Given the sheer quantity of games releasing on Steam these days, having a neat little elevator pitch for your game can be vital in helping it stand out. For example, if I get an email saying a game is like "Obra Dinn meets such and such" or "Into The Breach but a deckbuilder", that's like personal catnip to me, and can be a handy indicator of whether I should investigate further - maybe watch a gameplay trailer for it, say, or see if it's got a demo. Case in point: this is exactly how I stumbled upon the upcoming Donkey Kong Country-esque platformer Windswept last week, although instead of an email, I saw it on the growing "Your game is too much like..." thread over on Xwitter - which is definitely worth a browse if you have very niche interests in need of a good scratch.
Indeed, sometimes a game doesn't have to be "X meets Y". It can just be "really, really like X", which is exactly what the (slightly unwieldy) thread of quote Xweets of "Your game is too much like..." is all about. There are plenty more I want to check out when I get a moment, too, such as Dungeon Drafters (as a too much like Slay The Spire-like), Berserk Boy (too much like Mega Man), and Cataclismo (which says it's too much like the battle of Helm's Deep). Yes please and thank you.
For now, though: Windswept, which is being made by Australian developers WeatherFell. It's not coming out until 2025 according to its Steam page, but this Donkey Kong Country-esque platformer already looks and feels very polished indeed based on its current Steam demo. In it, you play a very cute duck and turtle duo as they hop, skip and slide through a storm-torn forest. In true DKC-style, each animal has their own strengths and weaknesses for tackling the myriad of platforming challenges they'll face, and you can both swap between them at will, and opt to carry your partner on your back (which will no doubt be a vital tool for helping pals through tough spots in its real-time local co-op mode).
Hoiking your partner up onto your back has other advantages, too. Duck can throw Turtle out onto the ground or float them on water to use them as an impromptu bounce pad, for example, while Turtle and chuck Duck up in the air to give them both an extra lift up to higher platforms. The Steam demo puts both of these skills to great use in its early crop of stages, although at this point in time, I'd say there are maybe, maybe, one too many button presses involved for it to all feel completely seamless and second nature for my liking (especially after coming off reviewing Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown last week). Still, the devs have said on Xwitter recently that this particular demo is over a year old now, and that the game is now "leaps and bounds ahead" of what it was, so I'm crossing my fingers for the final release. And hey, Windswept's stages aren't timed or anything, so there's no real pressure to get things done quickly anyway.
So, thank you Xwitter thread for the good find, and for yet another game to keep an eye on for our most anticipated list next year. Find out more (and play its demo) over on Steam.