
I feel like I totally missed the boat on the battle royale phenomenon. This relatively new genre within games pits a large number of online players against each other, with only one competitor or team left standing at the end. It's a great idea, and with a majority of people connected, it makes total sense to take advantage of the online space in such a way. But you probably don't need an explanation as to why battle royale is cool, and how it's become this extremely popular form of play with both players and viewers. Personally, I tapped out early and have mostly kept away -- until Fall Guys arrived.
If you want to know how I feel about this new game from developer Mediatonic, I completely agree with our review. There's a reason this thing is the new hotness; it brings something totally fresh to the table, combining physics-based platforming with battle royale in the format of a gameshow. It's such a good concept, it's a wonder it hasn't been done before. Despite some early server issues, the game has exploded in popularity thanks to its charming presentation and capacity for hilarious hijinks. It's wonderful, and far too addictive.

The game is also a fantastic gateway into battle royale for newbies or people just looking for something different. The genre is popular, but it's also heavily dominated by shooters. Obvious examples like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends are all great and all iterate on the idea in unique ways, but there's a clear barrier to entry. Drop into a match in any of these games and you'll likely have your arse handed to you. To stand a chance of winning, you need to build up a high level of skill. As someone who's attempted to play all three of the aforementioned titles, I don't find it fun to run around in search of a weapon, run around in search of a target, and wind up dead because someone with a thousand hours of playtime one-shotted me from a mile away. That's not to say these games aren't well made, it just feels as though they ask a lot of me for what I get in return -- which is, more often than not, abject failure.
Fall Guys doesn't so much lower this skill barrier as push it into a vat of pink slime. Yes, some dexterity is necessary to make it through each round, but the game smartly puts everyone on a level playing field. Each of the 60 players in an episode controls a clumsy, unfit-for-purpose jellybean. Everyone waddles forward, easily knocked over by obstacles as well as each other, and it's not only joyous to watch the carnage -- it means everyone has a better shot at qualifying for the next minigame. The fact it's a basic platformer also makes it more accessible; all you can do is run, jump, dive, and grab. No one is at any significant advantage. There are micro-strategies you pick up on in certain rounds, but nothing really gives you a meaningful edge over others. Heck, I've even won a few times.

The result is that, for me, this is the first battle royale title I truly enjoy playing. Putting aside that I love the presentation, the silly outfits, and the fun obstacle courses, Fall Guys makes the last man standing structure approachable and consistently engaging in a way I've not seen before. I sincerely hope its popularity isn't a flash in the pan, because it's doing something truly unique with a genre that had previously felt a little played out. In the battle royale of battle royale games, Fall Guys comes out on top for me.
Do you agree with Stephen's assessment? Is Fall Guys your favourite battle royale experience? Don't rock the seesaws in the comments section below.
Comments 29
I can't say I have made a determined effort to play it, but I have tried to log in on 5 different occasions but have been unsuccessful, I am only willing to click 'retry' so many times before I move on to play something else.
The servers seem to be a right mess.
I’ve dabbled in most Battle Royale games - I was part of the first Fortnite wave before it even got huge but never clicked with them. If this gets proper meaningful new content each season, it could be a real winner.
Fall Guys and Apex Legends are the two Battle Royals that hold my attention.
Fall Guys has my kids laughing their asses off as we take it in turns to fail miserably on the courses though, so it surely wins in my book.
This is exactly how battle royale games should be made, I've played enough multiplayer shooters to last a lifetime and just adding more people holds no interest for me. This though is great fun and something truly different
I'm curious to see how this game evoles over the months. As it is, I'm enjoying a few rounds a day for simple fun.
It's a fun game to play with friends for a few rounds but it's definitely not up there with apex or warzone. The simplicity while awesome at the beginning begins to wear thin after a while and my friends and I usually move on to something else after a half and hour or so. I don't quite get that "one more round" feeling like I did with say rocket league
It's a rare case a Royale game holds my interest too, and once I started partying up with friends we can lose hours to it. Very excited to see how this game expands moving forward. Maybe playlists built around only obstacle courses, or only team games, etc?
Definitely! Even when you lose it’s a laugh and it’s so quick jumping into another game it really doesn’t matter you just go again. I’ve never liked battle Royale games but this ones a winner, it’s just so fun!
I think it's fantastic, it's such an easy game to jump into and it's a great laugh. I think if the devs are smart this could be bigger than Rocket League. Really looking forward to seeing what they add to it in the coming months.
Never liked a battle royale game before, and I completely agree with this article. The learning curve for most is painful, you enter combat relatively infrequently, so it takes a lot of in game time to actually become competent. Not to mention getting shredded by players because they have better loot than you in something like Apex, makes the game feel like a waste of time.
On the other, Fall Guys is very easy to get into, allows you to constantly be in the action, and its lightheartedness makes me laugh at failure instead of be frustrated. Luck is a given in any of these games, but its done differently. As I mentioned earlier, on Apex I just feel cheated when I spend ages looking for loot and die because a team with much better weapons/armour get the drop on us. On Fall Guys, the only real luck based mechanic is starting position which has a very minor effect. Even when I lose to getting flinched by other players or obstacles, its at least amusing and I don't feel like I've wasted my time.
This game is ridiculous and ridiculously good fun!
Not really big on battle royale games, but this game is a load of fun. It’s a silly game full of laughs.
I’m pretty excited to see how the game evolves in the future because this game is a real winner.
I’ve never really got COD multiplayer. Who not have everyone up to a certain rank playing together and you only play better players when you rank up? That way at least you only play the best players when you have unlocked the best guns etc. Baffles me why it’s not staggered.
Can’t wait to have a blast at Fall guys though.
I think it’s ok. The visuals are a bit flat making it tough to see ledges or gaps, the controls are slow to respond, and the team games are a tad blah. But I definitely enjoy it more than the likes of Fortnite
Well we've being doing battle royales since the 18th century, though I first heard it used in WWF as a kid. Does seem odd that it took so long to be done as a videogaming genre. Grimwood's right that it's basically King of the Hill - but the technicality is that that was a mode not a genre. Lots of FPS would have it as a mode but I don't think it was ever the fundamental gameplay of the entire game.
The scope for new content is huge. I'm hoping for a Christmas special come December
Played fall guys for a bit last night and its a lovely bit of lighthearted fun! My daughter loves it, could be huge with the kids. I hope someone from Sony is taking note and has the idea to start collaborating regularly with some indy or third party developers for decent multiplayer games. They could launch as a plus game every 12 -24 months. If you gave it away as a plus game over multiple months in addition to other games to help drive subscriptions higher. The developer would benefit as well as more people would play the game and pick up things like cosmetics. If those games, like a rocket league, takes off amongst influencers then you also get a lot of publicity and increase reasons to get your hands on a new sony console when ps5 comes.
I love the game! They just need to keep adding things and tweaking some levels (Like the crown one) to make this better and better
This game is fun, I laughed quite a a few times playing it, and in video game terms, Im a cynical old geezer at this point...
Love the game, but servers are more often down than not. That's a shame.
Ive never won a match and i love the game. Not something I can play for hours though. I wish it was something i could play for hours as i too agree with the article that the other heavy hitters in the genre of battle royale do have ask to have a high level of skill. That's why i loved Splatoon so much on the Wii U. I wasn't skilled with shooting, so i always went with the roller. I could play for hours knowing i was an integral part of the team covering space with ink without the need for skill based shooting.
I still want to give it a try. It's literally the first battle royale like game I want to try.
One of the only games that I don’t mind losing over and over again, really simplistic with a lot of charm and fun
I have never played a Battle Royale game because I don't really like online multiplayer games - I just get bored of them pretty much straight away. I tried this because it looked fun and silly. And it was fun and silly. But after like an hour I was a bit like... well, I've seen everything?
Just started playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I can see why the game is popular and I haven't deleted so I might have a go every now and again but it's not something I'll dedicate much/any time to.
Simple, fun , all out mayhem - other console gamers screaming for it , other developers looking for tie ups for skins - this game is gonna be huge - first class effort
I won a game last night!! Awesome, I've never come first in a large player game before, very nice.
What other battle royale games are there that aren't shooters? Am I missing an obvious one?
I 100% agree. Finally an enjoyable battle royale game. Best new mutiplayer game since Rocket League.
@PretendWorking You clearly know nothing about video games! It a definite 10/10 game!
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