Hoplegs

Hoplegs (2021) is a bouncing and hopping traversal game where you struggle to get a box with four legs to the finish line. You play by pushing yourself off the ground with each leg, using walls and ceiling to propel yourself forwards. It sounds simple, but takes some skill and timing to get past the various obstacles, up walls and over long jumps. It's different to most other platform games because of the limited ways you can propel yourself.

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Play involves controlling a four-legged square's limbs with four buttons on your controller. You use this propulsion and the ability to rotate while in the air, to get through each level. Unlike other platform games, this makes accurate jumps and guiding movement towards the flag tricky. Add to this the rugged terrain and obstacles and things get really challenging.

As you work through each of the game's 30 levels, it gets even more difficult as obstacles become harder to pass. Along the way you can find secret areas that unlock cosmetic items for your box character. The result is a tricky, sometimes frustrating, game which is satisfying to master. The peculiar movement combined with your character's weird facial expressions and wacky outfits gives the game a charming and eccentric feel.

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Our examiner, Joe Eaton, first checked Hoplegs 17 months ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 17 months ago.