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Trombone Champ deserves to toot its own horn

Enjoy this collection of choice cuts that've been tickling our ears and ribs

Indie rhythm game Trombone Champ is one of the funniest games of 2022.
CJ Wheeler avatar
News by CJ Wheeler Former News Reporter
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Indie rhythm game Trombone Champ released on Steam last week, and it deserves a round of applause for its sheer commitment to the brass majesty of the ‘bone. Maybe it’s the selection of classic bangers such as Old Grey Mare and Take Me Out To The Ballgame, or perhaps it's the constant prompts of NASTY and PERFECTO, but devs Holy Wow seem to be on to a winner. If you haven’t already witnessed the game in action then please do yourself a favour and watch the trailer below.

Is Trombone Champ a game of the year contender?

Trombone Champ was actually announced two years ago, but its release date trailer is just hysterical enough to have caught the imagination of the Internet over the past few days. Cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer got things rolling with a, uhh, beautiful rendition of Beethoven:

Let’s get one thing out of the way though – some people are genuinely good at this game. I’m not sure that’s the point, but congrats to them for mad trombone skills:

In a darker turn of events, Cursed To Golf dev Liam Edwards may be plotting some kind of supervillainous plan against Holy Wow. He did praise the game as “god tier”, however. Please rise for the national anthem:

Even Valve designer Lawrence Yang’s got in on the trombone action, using the Steam Deck’s gyro controls to play:

Best of all though, custom controller maker Rudeism has already crafted a trombone accessory for the game:

And to reiterate my post about how graphics aren’t the first thing finished in games from yesterday, here’s some footage from Holy Wow showing what Trombone Champ looked like in 2018:

If I don’t seem to be taking trombones seriously then I do apologise to anyone who rocks brass, but they are some of the most innately daft instruments. I should probably be more sensitive to brassism as someone from Yorkshire, but anything and everything from the simple cornet to the mighty sousaphone just brings a smirk to my mush. Sorry. It’s not because they sound like farts.

Trombone Champ is on Steam for £11/$15/€13. It might be the best thing I’ve seen all year. You can read the game’s phase one roadmap here.

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Trombone Champ

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Comedy Holy Wow Studios Indie Kids & Family Rhythm
About the Author
CJ Wheeler avatar

CJ Wheeler

Former News Reporter

CJ used to write about steam locomotives but now covers Steam instead. Likes visual novels, most things with dungeons and/or crawling, and any shooter with a suitably chunky shotgun. He’s from Yorkshire, which means he’s legally obliged to enjoy a cup of tea and a nice sit down.

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