Daniel Linssen’s library is one packed with quirky games and concepts, often ones that play with the form and functionn of familiar genres. In the vein of the border-manipulating vampire-hunting puzzler Windowframe to the multi-game platformer HopSlide, his latest is Help Hurt Hopp, a three-player precision platformer where one player tries to leap through a challenging gauntlet while the other two players try to help and hinder the first.
Played locally, with three gamepads or two gamepads and a keyboard, Help Hurt Hopp pits one player Hopp against a randomized labyrinth of spikes and hazards in classic wall-jumping precision platforming fashion. The other two players see the stage through a level editior; Help’s goal is to place level tiles that assist Hopp in completing the level, while Hurt’s goal is the opposite, trying to kill Hopp by adding hazards to the level.
Earning five points (whether by causing death or survival) results in a win, turning Help Hurt Hopp into a hectic push-pull of shifting map and frantic platforming, as roles shuffle across rounds. Help Hurt Hopp isn’t the first game to tackle a concept like this – 2016’s Ultimate Chicken Horse also turned platforming into a player-guided multiplayer challenge – but Help Hurt Hopp‘s tight maps, quick pace, and simultaneous gameplay make it stand out among similar works.
Help Hurt Hopp can be downloaded for free from Linssen’s itch.io page.
