I’m not sure how I, a committed Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy fan, managed to miss A Difficult Game About Climbing. It is, like its obvious inspiration, a difficult game about climbing, but here you’re using your arms independently to grip and hoist yourself rather than hooking and swinging a pickaxe. It is, also like its obvious inspiration, frustrating and moreish, like a scab you keep picking at.
Watch this trailer:
I’ve only played ADGAC for about 30 minutes so far which, given its nature, means I am at precisely the beginning of the game. That’s because any misplaced hand or failed leap will send your climber tumbling all the way back to the start.
What prompts me to try again immediately after each failure is two things. The first is the fundamental satisfaction of using the triggers on a controller to independently grip your arms, which is as fun here as it is in something like Jusant. The second is the knowledge that each repeated segment of the climb will be a little easier to complete next time, now that I know how. It’s a game that demands absolute mastery, but in which your incremental progress on that journey is so tangible, even within just a few minutes of play.
Is it perhaps too much like its inspiration? I don’t think so, personally, and I found this statement from the developer on its Steam page very winning: “This game is inspired by Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy which in itself is a homage to an even older game, Sexy Hiking by Jazzuo. I was certain that Bennett’s game would spawn countless of new types of games in a similar fashion that would present unique, focused and yet simple challenges. I was disappointed to see that trend not materialize fully and so took it upon myself to make this game, hoping to contribute to the spirit of a ‘Foddian Type’ game genre.”
I think that’s fair, as someone who also wants more of these types of games. Getting Over It is a masterpiece, elevated by Foddy’s narration, the music, its sense of humour. A Difficult Game About Climbing does not seem like a masterpiece, but it seems like it sits comfortably in the shadow of one.
It launched back in March and you’ll find it on Steam for £8.50/€9.75/$10.