I’ve written a lot about how important good feeling movement is in games. It’s one of those things that can truly make or break a game, that can carry one well enough to make up for whatever shortcomings it has. But I feel like I could now point to Hoptix instead and let it do the talking.
Hoptix from Cat Burglar Games is a 2D side-scrolling platforming playground currently in early access on Steam. Emphasis on “playground” as it’s a game explicitly designed to be about the joy of movement. There’s no goals nor challenges, no obstacles to overcome nor enemies to fight. It’s just a series of levels for you to play around to your heart’s content. It’s like playing “free skate” in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater: the space is designed for a self-directed style of play, the mechanics naturally inviting you to experiment and see what kinds of stunts you can do. The movement is the draw and the level design reflects that.
Hoptix takes inspiration from momentum platformers like the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Spark the Electric Jester. Like those games, Hoptix lets you dash through stretches of levels at top speed, running through loops and soaring through the air, grind on rails and launch off ramps. The best parts of those games are where you’re able to just zoom through a level in one smooth motion. That’s a big part of the appeal. In omitting any sudden stops or fail states, Hoptix is able to focus on the core strengths of the momentum platformer without the stop-and-go elements that often get in the way, making it easier to explore how expressive the form can be.
Well, okay – there is one thing that sort of acts as a sudden stop. Frequently there are points where the level gates progress with brief “break the targets” diversions. They serve to make it so you can’t just run all the way to the end of the level mindlessly. In lesser hands, these could disrupt the flow and slow the game down, but Hoptix instead uses them to encourage play. Each of these sections are dense with ramps and rails, letting you pull off all sorts of stunts and chain them together with ease. While the levels on the whole have plenty of spaces to do tricks, these are the most focused. The targets are placed just so that they require some effort to reach, which serves to force you to engage with the finer points of movement and in turn inspire you to see what else you can do when left to your own devices.
It’s very much a “make your own fun” kind of game to some degree. Games like that don’t always click with me because I’m not great at that. Drop me into a space with no direction of any sort and I’ll just wander around until I’ve had my fill. Hoptix at least, in being a platforming playground, makes it easy to find enjoyment. Jumping around is one of the most basic interactions in games and it’s fun for a reason. Good movement can do a lot on its own and the levels provide plenty of opportunities to demonstrate.
The ease with which I was able to look stylish just by playing naturally was surprising. I half expected to need to put some work in before I could really do anything, but it clicked immediately. Granted I’m not doing any of the fancy techniques (I’d need to put some serious time in to do that), but I don’t need to. They’re there if I ever feel the pull to explore the possibilities. I can just do what little I’m able to in the meantime and have a blast.
Which is good! I easily fall into the trap of feeling like I have to learn all the advanced stuff to properly engage with the mechanics. I want to see the game at its best! To really understand the finer points of the systems and experience what that level of play feels like firsthand. In cases like this where you make your own fun especially, it acts as a clear “goal,” something I can focus on rather than feel helplessly out of my depth. But that drive can also get in the way of enjoying a game on the level I’m able to engage with. Hoptix never specifically surfaces any of its more advanced techniques, nor does it ever expect you to learn them. They’re simply there if the drive to engage with them exists.
It reminds me of Pseudoregalia in that way. Pseudoregalia had a ton of hidden techniques you could use to really break the game open if you wanted to, but the basics were strong enough that you could still find plenty of ways to get places you probably shouldn’t and generally make every moment in motion fun. It’s a tricky line to walk to have so much mechanical depth to explore while still keeping the baseline easy to pick up. That Hoptix does it so well is no small feat.
Callum Rakestraw is the Reviews Editor at Entertainium. You can find him on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Twitter, as well as his blog.
