Rage games have been carving out a small niche in the gaming community for a few years, largely thanks to Steam’s evil tagging system and our perverse gaming habits. Goop Loop is the new boy in the house, bringing physics based platforming that will make you scream. Thankfully, a cheerful developer is running dad joke filled commentary alongside you to keep you entertained.
Playing as a sticky goop inside a circular loop, you have to use your body weight to jump and smash the loop to push it in the direction you want to go. It’s a little like a hamster ball but 2D. It is also incredibly tricky to master and the entire game is based on momentum. Get up speed to climb a hill. Hit up top at the right time to make the loop jump – whilst not losing momentum. Timing is key but so is precise starting positions to make sure your jumps and rolls match where you need to jump. The best analogy I can think of is a long jump runner won’t have the power to jump properly if their last step is cut short because of the penalty line. The same principle works here.
Goop Loop starts out simple with some rageful drops back to the start but the last third of the game is downright insane. Without spoiling things too much, Goop Loop tries to bring out some arcade classic gameplay moments from other games and this is where I fell flat. I never did make it to the end but I’ve seen skilled speedrunners make the end in 6 minutes. It took me 2 hours to get two thirds of the way through. Your skill and patience will hugely vary the longevity of a game like this. Timers are available for speed runs too alongside buckets for changing your goop colour and time prizes for changing your loop colour.
What makes the rage far more acceptable is the developers commentary. Unlike other games which feed off of your failure, here the chat is like a wind on your back, not a fish slap to the face. Endearing, funny, full of situations entirely based around bad jokes and some third wall breaking too, its the shining element of the game. I’d happily play a more straightforward platformer game a dev commentary like that. Great fun.
Goop Loop plays tricks on you but the physics doesn’t and that’s what makes it a good example of a rage game made correctly. You can become good at it. You can conquer the challenge. It will just take time, skill, patience and a lot of deep breathing! It may not have clicked perfectly for me but I absolutely appreciate what it does and found myself entertained on every failure.
Review copy provided by the developer.
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