“Yes. We expect hate mail.”
[editor's note: This post was written at GDC, but put under embargo until now.]
This direct quote from Fresh Tone Games is going to prove true once all those people who don’t read descriptions in the app store play One Single Life. Matt and I agree that this game is definitely the most unique game we saw during GDC. Nothing like this has ever been done. Period.
You play as a shadowy man who apparently likes to jump from roof top to roof top. The goal of the game is to complete 10 levels (this number is subject to change) by jumping from one rooftop to the other. You tap the screen once and your character begins to run. Then you tap the screen again when you want to jump. The catch is, you literally have one life. Hear me well: you buy the game, and once you die, you can no longer play the main game. Once you’re dead, you’re done. When the game was placed in my hands, and I was told that the game ended when I died, and the first thing I said was, “Wait, I literally have one life?” Yep.
Each level allows the player to die as many times as they want in practice mode, but once they play the level for real, you either reach the other side or you don’t. Just thinking about falling made my hands start to get sweaty. Here is a game I can only play until I fail. What’s even more nerve racking is the fact that the game tells you the percentages of those who have/will die on each level. 12% die on level 1, 22% on level 2, and so forth. I died on the the 6th level, on which 66% of players lose. You do get to play bonus levels throughout the credits, but that’s it. Once you’ve died, the only levels you can play are the ones within the credits. As far as I know, you can replay the credit levels. However, I know for a fact that once you have died in the main game, you can no longer play the main levels without purchasing the game with another account.
You may ask, “Who would pay for a game you can only play once?” But that’s just it. The lure of playing and possibly beating a game in which you can’t replay is what attracts those thrill seeking gamers. People enjoy a challenge because they love the thrill that comes from defeating a challenge. But this game is more than a challenge; it’s intimidating. The nervousness that comes from taking that first jump is enough to get you blood pumping and your hands sweaty. At first, I thought this game was going to be a piece of cake. Jumping from building A to building B can’t be that hard, can it? I think the demise of most people who will play this game is that they think it is too simple. They will go for it and lose. Or, if they are like me, the will psych themselves out half way through and then die.
The moral of the story is this: read the description in the App store before you buy something. Check out the game for yourself in the attached video. Good luck and happy jumping.
Fresh Tone Games, the twisted minds behind this project, have released a short teaser trailer showcasing the intensity of what appears to be one of the most difficult jumps in the game. (The description reads that 96% of players will die here.)
