Sportsfriends to bring roughhousing, mayhem and camaraderie in a fortnight
You have two weeks to rearrange your living room.
Sportsfriends, the collection of enhanced versions of such stellar indie games as Johann Sebastian Joust, Super Pole Riders, BaraBariBall, and Hokra is coming to PS4 and PS3 on 7th May for €13.99.
North Americans will receive it the previous day for $14.99.
For the uninitiated, all four of these games are easy to learn, but hard to master delights. BaraBariBall is like a minimalist Super Smash Bros, Hokra is the simplest blend of football and King of the Hill you've ever played, and Super Pole Riders is the latest four-player physical comedy spectacle by QWOP creator Bennett Foddy. You can play the original two-player version, Pole Riders, for free on a browser.
The most unique game in the bundle is easily Johann Sebastian Joust, a modern rendition of a physical folk game that doesn't use the TV. The idea is simple: you jostle your opponent's controller through physical contact and they're out - something signaled by their controller vibrating and flashing. Get too aggressive, however, and you'll sabotage yourself by swinging your controller too fast.
J.S. Joust was originally developed with the PlayStation Move in mind, but it will also be compatible with the DualShocks 3 and 4. These aren't quite as intuitive to grip with one hand (and no wrist strap, so be careful!), but the DualShock 4's bright LED light and speaker make it a reasonable substitute for those who don't own Moves. The DualShock 3 isn't quite as up to the task, but the PS3 version allows up to seven-player support, while the PS4 version caps it at four, which developer Doug Wilson noted in a comment on the US PlayStation Blog was due to a hardware limitation.
As a special bonus, those who download Sportsfriends on PS3 will be able to upgrade to the PS4 version for free whenever they save up enough to buy new hardware.
Sportfriends began life as a Kickstarter project, which narrowly surpassed its $150K Kickstarter goal with $152,451 in December 2012. "We literally couldn't have made Sportsfriends without all our enthusiastic Kickstarter backers and fans," Wilson stated. "We're super proud of what we've made, and we don't think it'll disappoint."
Get a glimpse at how these oddball games operate in the new Sportsfriends launch trailer below.
