Log Riders Demo

Physics engines have evolved tremendously over the last decade, especially after Valve used the brilliant Havok in their equally brilliant Half-Life 2. Granted, realistic physics engines are quite widespread nowadays, since everyone can access SDKs and tools like Unity or Unreal Engine 4 to develop a variety of games or prototypes featuring realistic simulations.

Log Riders is a first-person platformer in which your only goal is to avoid falling into the water and make it to the end of the level at all costs. As of right now, the game is still very early in the development stage, which means that it lacks a lot of features, and, most of all, it lacks content. However, it’s a pretty engaging formula once you start playing and see just how difficult it is to keep your balance.

In essence, the goal is to jump from one log to the other as you are trying to go down the river and to the island that awaits you at the end. These logs are not very stable, on the other hand, which means that they start to shift or even sink if you stay on them for too long. Hence, it’s important that you either keep moving or jump to a different one to avoid falling into the water.

Although the level itself doesn’t change, given the fact that you always have to navigate the same river and reach the same little island, it’s the road to the island that changes as you move from level to level. Hence, more obstacles make an appearance, and you have to do your best in order to quickly change lanes and watch out for the walls that try to block your progress.

As for the graphics, the game is actually quite smooth and colorful, but don’t expect anything too nice either. In fact, there’s very little to admire at the moment, although maybe that’s also because this is an early Alpha version. Thankfully, at least the controls are responsive and accurate, at least most of the time, because there are situations where they feel a bit imprecise and laggy.

Log Riders is bound to acquire some fans in the future, at least if the final version is going to be more polished and feature a greater variety of levels and landscapes. Hence, it’s definitely a good idea to keep an eye on it in the future.