So much so that when I play Super Hexagon, I can hear its maker loud and clear. This continuous point of revelation-that place where the player and the developer have a real honest moment of communication-is what Super Hexagon gets right. While the game still remains incredibly challenging, Super Hexagon understands to a remarkable degree how players progress to that tipping point. Soon enough I was a synchronized swimmer gracefully gliding through the sea of mazes and obstacles. Only once I fell into its trance did it begin to make sense to my hand-eye coordination. I had to give up trying to control the game in the way I wanted it to be handled and give into Super Hexagon’s peculiar logic. But it only happened once I gave in to the sensations of the game.
I struggled until it finally clicked in my brain like a kid balancing on a bike for the first time. I could feel the game’s blistering pace forcing me into a struggle against the controls and the obstacles being thrown at me. My brain didn’t know what to do with the patterns being thrown at me. When I started out and only made it to 3 seconds, the controls made me feel like a fish out of water. The game also lives and dies on the extremely sensitive touch controls that you’re given as a means of survival. It’s a world boiled down to its simplest Platonic elements: lines, points, triangles, hexagons. Of my three commercial games, Super Hexagon is currently the most. The hexagon in the center pulsates to the pounding electronic drum beats of the music as you stare into the rotating kaleidoscope of patterns and color. So theres that extra layer of gratitude as a game developer to see a kid get so. Rotating left and right around a hexagon is the only action possible, as patterns and obstacles moving in sporadic motions come hurtling toward you.
In Super Hexagon, you control a small triangle trying to survive in a world full of shapes, sounds and colors that would love to engulf you. No overarching themes or convoluted storylines to get in the way-just a game that lives and dies on a single refined mechanic. Everything in Super Hexagon is minimalism at its finest. I suppose it’s fitting then that Super Hexagon was made entirely in one day by its single creator, Terry Cavanagh.
One thing is for sure, though: That 30 seconds will quickly turn into hours if you’re not careful. The game is that hard and sessions are that short. While it's well-known that platforms like Steam have algorithms that hurt indie games, big companies like Nintendo are offering more and more opportunities to independent developers, and the net result has been an incredibly strong few years for the genre - especially 2019, which say games like Disco Elysium come out of nowhere to challenge for game of the year awards.When you first play Super Hexagon you’ll probably make it through ten games in 30 seconds. Additionally, retro games are simpler to develop, so they can be a way for indie developers like Cavanagh to kickstart their career. People who were kids in the '80s still love playing games that remind them of the Commodore 64 graphics they grew up with. VVVVVV's success demonstrates that the retro video game genre is increasingly popular. Then, Cavanagh will create a round-up post on Distractionware, highlighting the best fans had to offer and celebrating the game even further after a strong decade that helped launch Cavanagh's career as a game developer. Using the game's Make and Play edition, the fans will be able to create their own levels and submit them to Glorious Trainwrecks until January 30. Also, game developer Sergio Cornaga announced a contest on Glorious Trainwrecks to celebrate VVVVVV's 10th anniversary.