Human Fall Flat releases on PS4 and Xbox One this spring, “just a few weeks” say the folks working the demo at PAX East 2017. It is a known commodit already though, having released on Steam last summer. And what is known, is good. Recent and overall reviews are both “Very Positive” and players seem to have one consistent complaint. There’s just not enough game. They want more. And after playing the demo at PAX, so do I.
Human Fall Flat appeals to passersby because of its chubby, rubbery ragdoll avatar. Gamers familiar with Gang Beasts know the style instantly, it’s somewhere between claymation and Stretch Armstrong. And the physics contained in those wobbly limbs drives a puzzle game that is one part frustrating and two parts triumph.
The frustration is rooted in the rubberband energy you have to generate to do mostly everything. Outside of pushing buttons, players are dragging items to weigh down switches or pushing boxcars on a track to bridge a gap. Your character doesnt just lock on and go, but rather oozes and jiggles as you apply pressure to things. The only commands are jump and grip, with left and right grip operating independently. But in those few commands a surprising amount of depth emerges.
Human Fall Flat nurtures this with a good tutorial system. It instructs players who have trouble grabbing an item to “blame your head, not your hands” to emphasize the importance of looking at an object to target it not just smooshing your mushy fist in its general direction. There are also small yellow bricks that appear if you get stuck for too long that offer helpful hints when you pick them up. But largely the game runs on feel, and you’ll be leaning a lot on the analog sticks trying to twist your guy into the right position.
As we said up top, Human Fall Flat is set for release on consoles this spring, and when it launches it will come with new levels for the PC too. It’s bound to make some of the more vocal critics happy and, hopefully, bring a unique puzzler to a console space that could use the variety.