Hidden Gems of Game Design Vol 34

Plenty of amazing games go unnoticed and are not played widely for various reasons. Maybe it’s a diamond in the rough, or the marketing wasn’t there, or it could be a game ahead of its time. For this monthly series, I’ve asked my fellow writers on SUPERJUMP to pick a game they think is deserving of a chance in the spotlight. Let us know your favorite hidden gems in the comments.

Josh Bycer

Betrayer (2014)

With the sad closing of Monolith last month, my entry is a game from former members of the studio who wanted to create a different kind of FPS with Betrayer. Taking place in the 17th century, you arrive at a colony in Virginia to find that the place is deserted, ghosts and monsters roam the land, and you will need to explore and figure out how to set things right.

Each level takes place in a massive area with points of interest, resources, and challenges to complete. Your general path is to explore each area, looking for colonies and important points from which you enter a kind of dark world to cleanse it of enemies. The game emphasizes that you can sneak by enemies, and the wind can hide your footsteps. There are also additional weapons and upgrades to find while trying to avoid packs of enemies.

What separates Betrayer from a lot of FPS is that you are not going to be running and gunning here. With weapons from the 17th century, you'll be standing, hoping to hit, and then taking a while to reload your weapon. Like Hunt: Shutdown, there is something special about using weapons where one bullet is a huge deal. Miss, and you must either switch to a backup weapon or run away and hope to get a reload before the enemy catches up to you. Conversely, when fighting someone with a gun, if they miss, you know you can charge in and try to take them out.

The game switches between a colorful world and a monochrome one for the dark sections. When you are running around in the dark world, there is this sense of eeriness to the surroundings, which reminded me of the game Mundaun (another game you should check out).

What hurt the game in terms of the market was that if you were hoping for amazing AI enemies or unique gunplay like FEAR, you weren’t going to find it here. The general path through each level became samey after a while, and at times, Betrayer felt like a tech demo for something greater. Sadly, that something greater never arrived; the studio closed and the game is currently only available on GOG after being delisted on Steam.

Long before Hunt: Showdown brought some excitement to old-time weapons, Betryaer was making an interesting concept for a survival horror game with them, and if you are looking for a slowed-down shooter, this one is worth playing.

Bryan Finck

Pyre (2017)

Supergiant Games is one of the industry’s most beloved and dependable indie studios. Their catalog is filled with titles that have been critically and commercially acclaimed, with nary a misstep to be seen.

With the likes of Bastion, Transistor, and the massively successful Hades games as brethren, the title often forgotten is 2017’s Pyre, very different in structure and mechanics from the other three. So today I want to highlight this forgotten gem, in hopes that others will no longer bypass it on the Supergiant Highway.

You begin the game in The Downside, the game world’s version of Purgatory. The crux of the game, known as the “Rites”, is the competition by which exiles can earn their freedom from The Downside and a chance to return to a life of comparative luxury in the Commonwealth.

The Rites are the most unique and divisive aspect of the game, as they represent the bulk of the action but technically do not include any actual violence. Rare are the games that utilize a system like this and do it successfully, but I believe this is where the game shines brightest. A cross between soccer and basketball, each team has a Pyre, a flame that must be extinguished by the other team in order to win. Each Pyre has a point value assigned based on the strength of the team, and every time a team manages to put their Orb in the sacred flame, its strength is reduced until nothing is left. The team that extinguishes the other Pyre first is the winner.

As you defeat each team that opposes you, some of their members may wish to join your crew, and you will also find additional companions in the course of your travels through the game. Thus, you will build a roster of players that you will need to choose from for each match of the Rites, choices that affect the progress of the storyline. The RPG elements come into play as each participant gains experience through competing in the Rites, allowing their skills to increase and new abilities to be purchased. Throughout the game, you also have chances to explore the land for expanded knowledge of the lore and benefits for the group.

It’s difficult for me to understand why Pyre is the red-headed stepchild of the Supergiant lineup, but that seems to be the truth of it. Because the story is deep and the lore is never forced down your throat but is always there for the taking, it’s hard to find that as the damning aspect. Each character’s arc is well-done, and the dialogue, though gibberish to our ears, lends weight to the characters and leaves you caring for them once their story is concluded. Other games have pulled off the no-violence style of gameplay, most recently Undertale, to great acclaim, so the culprit is likely elsewhere.

I suspect the hybrid combat system, combining traditional RPG abilities and action with a sporting feel, has left fans of both genres out in the cold. The most acclaimed games from the developer are hack-and-slash action RPGs at heart, and Pyre strays far afield of that formula, apparently to its detriment. It’s a shame that it seems to be the case, as the narrative and gameplay are excellent despite the unique trappings in which they are presented. Do yourself a favor and check out Pyre, especially if you’re a fan of the other Supergiant games you’ve undoubtedly heard of; you’ll be glad you did. 

CJ Wilson

The Berlin Apartment Demo (Release Date: TBA)

While the game is not officially out, I played the demo for The Berlin Apartment so I could learn more about it. In The Berlin Apartment, you play as different characters who have lived in a spacious apartment in the city of Berlin, Germany, over the course of a century. The story is narrated by a handyman talking to his young daughter about the residents who used to live in said apartment as he fixes the place up. From the limited time I got from this demo, I was intrigued to learn more about it as I saw different clues and relics from roaming around this quaint but lived-in living space. 

I got to experience two short stories in the demo. The first level focused on a young man in the 1980s during the Cold War when the Berlin Wall was still erect, dividing the city into East and West Berlin. You get to know this gentleman as someone who likes to care for nature; you use a watering pot to water the various plants scattered around the apartment. Suddenly, you see a paper airplane fly in from across the wall, where you write a letter and then fold the letter into your own makeshift airplane by choosing which configuration you prefer.

Finally, in the second level, you play an old man who used to run a local movie theater based on the clues you find, as your objective is focused on you having to gather your belongings before you leave the apartment behind during the height of World War II. The interior decor is changed to be a lot grander as the different books and photos you find show how this older fellow lived a prosperous life filled with wonder and joy before it got taken away from him once you see his old film reels that he managed to keep after the Nazi Regime burned down his movie theater.

In many ways, this game combines the short, self-contained episodes of What Remains of Edith Finch with the same cel-shaded art style of Sable. I wish I had gotten to play more than this short 30-minute demo, but it did its job, making me want to buy the game when it comes out. That’s what I love about demos, where if it hooks you right then and there, after just 30 or so minutes, you know you have found your next purchase. 

I stumbled upon The Berlin Apartment from a Day of the Devs showcase page featuring new and upcoming games on Steam. Being a gamer has its perks; finding a game that isn’t usually covered by significant gaming publications like IGN or GameSpot ranks high on that list. I guess that is what our Hidden Gems page is about, discovering games that get lost in the shuffle, even if they are demos.             

Antony Terence

Pure (2008)

After being purchased by Disney Interactive Studios, ATV Offroad Fury developers Black Rock Studios decided to stick with what they did best: off-road racing. The result of that acquisition was Pure (2008), an original game published by Disney that put ATV tricks at the center of its experience. While most racing games task you with finishing races first, Pure’s challenges take a different route. In contrast to games like MotorStorm, in-game Quad Bikes can be pre-loaded before jumps, letting you get air time for performing tricks.

Pulling back on the left stick and pushing forward right at the edge of ramps felt exhilarating, especially since more air-time meant better tricks. Pressing a face button and moving in one of eight directions lets you perform tricks across various skill levels, feats that become harder as you fill up your Thrill Bar. Once you get back on the ground, this bar serves as a speed boost for your bike. Pure becomes a balance of mastering tricks and speeding up at the right moment to win.

Complex tricks take longer to perform and sit on the deep end of the game’s risk-reward roulette. You’ll also need to build up your Thrill Bar for them, meaning that you had to hold off from using speed boosts. In a genre that already demands quick thinking, Pure’s trick-or-treat mini-game adds depth to an engaging experience. Fortunately, its single-player World Tour events don’t just have regular races. 

Freestyle events ask you to obtain the highest trick score possible, meaning you can focus on chaining combos instead of speeding past other Quad Bikes. Your gas is limited though, a knot resolved by picking up gas and score multiplier pickups in mid-air. Switching up your moves is essential because repetition counts as “stale” moves that aren’t worth as many points. It was my favorite mode, eclipsing the three-lap Standard Races and short Sprints. 

Pure’s sense of blistering speed is best felt as you’re executing one trick after the other across the game’s stunning tracks. From the jungles of Thailand to the mountains of Wyoming and the Glamis Dunes, 48 tracks cover an incredible amount of ground across 12 locations. The game also lets you customize your nimble Quad Bike with upgrades to tackle specific challenges and rise among the ranks in the World Tour mode. 

Pure might not pack an open world or a massive garage, but its focus on mid-air Quad Bike antics sets it apart from the competition. Lay-offs forced the studio to abandon a Pure sequel when Disney leaned into freemium content back in 2011. It was eventually shut down, with ex-employees forming new studios like Studio Gobo (partnered with Guerrilla Games, Ubisoft, and more) and Boss Alien (now a part of Zynga thanks to CSR Racing). Pure remains a compelling look into where the off-road racing genre could have headed.