Unless your name is Todd Anthony Shaw, there’s no such thing as being Too Short. What about a 10-minute game, though? If that’s not too short for you, you’ll want to keep an eye on recently-announced first-person shooter Tamashika.
Billed as a “fast-paced arcade style corridor shooter,” Tamashika comes from quicktequila, the developer behind Lovely Planet. Originally released in 2014, Lovely Planet also fit the description of a surreal FPS in its own way, with a simplistic, low-poly pastel aesthetic that belied its speedy and frantic shooting.
Tamashika is similarly swift. As for its visuals, well, take a look for yourself:
Also like Lovely Planet, Tamashika doesn’t really seem to give a rip about stories and cinematics. The description from quicktequila promises that there are “NO Checkpoints, NO Unlocks & NO Cutscenes.” This paints the picture of a brazenly bare experience that does exactly what it promises in the frenetic trailer. You have a single weapon in your semi-auto pistol, and a tanto blade as your sole side-arm. There’s one procedurally generated level with a layout that changes daily. There is one achievement. Get out of here with your pitiful demands!
Considering how deliberately opaque and borderline stream-of-consciousness the synopsis is, it’s kind of hard to tell how much of the info about Tamashika is just quicktequila being cheeky. For my money — however much the price tag ends up being, at least — “The developer predicts this game could be described as difficult & repetitive” is a decent selling point. “Total playtime is approximately 10 minutes” is the next frame of the Vince McMahon Reaction meme. “Hand-drawn animations”? Ya got me hollerin’ like a dog.
With reminders to CONCENTRATE and a refrain chanting ATTENTION IS ALL YOU NEED, maybe it’s all just one big mindfulness exercise. We’ll find out what, if anything, awaits at the end of that dizzying corridor when Tamashika launches via Steam sometime in 2025.
Published: Sep 4, 2024 09:37 am