Law Mower Demo

Some activities are somehow more fun in video games than in real life, probably because they do not require as much effort. Most Minecraft players would dread actually having to dig holes and tunnels into real dirt and rock, but then again the real world is not made out of neat blocks. Hence, it wouldn’t be so far fetched to say that mowing the lawn would make for a great video game idea.

Law Mower is a top-down action game designed with fun in mind, in which the goal is to outsmart your enemies by running them over with your mower. Although a full campaign is planned for the full release, this demo only features the multiplayer component, on the other hand, and you can only play with bots. However, the underlying idea certainly has merit, so it’s worth a try if you are on the prowl for something new and exciting.

The multiplayer matches are fairly straightforward, but at least there are multiple game modes to choose from, including classics like team deathmatch, capture the flag and free-for-all. You can also play in co-op with a friend, as well as customize the matches beforehand by choosing the map, maximum number of points and the time limit. You can also choose whether to spawn NPCs and play in the “dark mode”, which features a mostly dark map that makes it much harder to move around.

Not much can be said about the mechanics, given the fact that you only have to move around the map and make sure you touch enemies with your lawn mower. A head-to-head collision ends with both players dead, so there’s a fair bit of tactic involved if you want to come out alive. In essence, the goal is to hit the players from the back or the side, but doing so requires plenty of movement and good reflexes.

The controls are not bad either, especially since you can use a gamepad if you want to, but the movement is a bit slow, especially when you have to turn around. This is by design, on the other hand, because you are supposed to have a hard time turning your character. The retro graphics are decent as well, even if the maps are a bit too small sometimes.

In the end, Law Mower promises a riveting single player component in the full version, which should make matters a lot more interesting. Other than that, the gameplay is quite addictive, and it’s nice to see some nice ideas for a change.