![]() Super Hexagon has no formal social features, no “tools for virality,” but armed with their hard-fought numbers, players began jostling for position in a metagame of milliseconds. Players would tweet out their latest time, wearing it like a badge of honor. Soon after the game’s release, it became apparent that this choice just may have been the unexpected ace in the hole. An ever-present reminder of the true game at work.survival of the fittest. Far from recycling the bloated arcade method left over from the coin-op era, Cavanagh gives players only one measure of success: time. Playing Super Hexagon, it’s easy to see the way that approach informs every layer of the game. Nailing down the difference between too hard and just hard enough means understanding that systems can be complex, but that learning them shouldn’t be. That’s a big part of the game training your muscle memory and getting to know the patterns.” An important distinction, it seems. every pattern in the game is discrete and learnable. “Well I suppose that’s a lie.waves are decided randomly at the edges of the screen. In a sense, nothing comes out and surprises you.” Almost immediately, he corrects himself. ![]() “With, the sort of things that can happen in the game are very simple, very learnable. If dependability is one piece of the difficulty puzzle, it becomes clear in talking more with Cavanagh that simplicity is its interlocking mate. Blistering difficulty can still exist, but with less erratic exceptions and more dependable rules. Where once it was understood - embraced, even - that quarter-sucking games would be hard-wired for player failure, notions of ‘cheapness’ have taken over. “Put it this way: whenever you mess up in the game, it always feels like it’s your fault, and that’s really, really important.” We’re talking about his game, but Cavanagh’s first guiding principle speaks to a fundamental shift in values within the industry. It never feels like.” he pauses for a moment. “I think it really comes down to a couple of small things,” reflects Cavanagh. It’s a phenomenon that beckons the question: why is a game that’s so hard so very easy to love? What makes difficulty so satisfying? The two don’t quite go together, do they? Against all odds, however, it seems that driving people mad is what’s driven sales for Super Hexagon. ![]() It bent our brains in circles and became a surprise cult-hit on the App Store, moving about 72,000 copies since release, according to Cavanagh's last look. The latter is Cavanagh’s first iOS game a low-fi arcade gauntlet that challenges players to move left and right to survive an incoming barrage of lines and shapes for as long as possible. Particularly for somebody who tortures people.Īn award-winning independent developer from Ireland, Cavanagh has become known for wonderful, mercilessly difficult games like VVVVVV and Super Hexagon. How soft-spoken and thoughtful he comes across as. Talking to Terry Cavanagh (pictured, left), the first thing that jumps out at me is how pleasant he is.
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