Friendly Bomb Demo

Video games are not meant to be taken seriously, or at least the majority of them aren’t. They are designed to allow the players to have fun without worrying about consequences or bad decisions, which is exactly the opposite of reality. Hence, as disturbing as it might be to watch someone play Grand Theft Auto, no one is actually taking notes on how to act in real life.

Friendly Bomb is an arcade platformer with a very simple idea at its core: kill as many people as you can by detonating on their heads. As you may have gathered so far, you play the role of the bomb itself, which means that you have a front row seat to the massacre. Granted, the game features low-resolution pixel graphics, so the gore is nothing more than a bit of red splashed across the screen.

There’s not much of a story either, given the fact that this is a demo of a jam game, but it’s the kind of experience that works even without a thrilling plot to drive it. As such, it’s enough to know that you are a bomb and that you must explode. However, there are a few other gameplay mechanics that help you have fun along the way.

Just like most other bombs, you have a limited life expectancy, which is expressed in seconds to live. When the timer reaches zero, you explode for good and the stage must be restarted. However, you can bypass this restriction by collecting additional time, which requires you to perform double jumps and reach various power-ups spread around the stages.

Speaking of which, the level design is not bad at all, although it is a tad repetitive at this point. You can use various objects to climb higher, such as cars, street lamps or even buildings, but it’s not always clear when that’s an option. The graphics quality is pretty decent as well, especially if you are a fan of retro gaming and you do not mind the pixelated landscapes.

When it’s all said and done, Friendly Bomb is still a long way from a complete game, but it has the potential to become one. Hence, you can certainly give it a chance if you ever find yourself in the mood for a challenging platformer.