[SGF hands-on] OMUT is a game about dying, a lot, over and over, until we die again

Dying is believing in Madame Cyclone’s new game OMUT

“The average is about 150.”

“Oh. Uh. Oh.”

The conversation at Megabit’s demo station for OMUT at Summer Game Fest revolved around one thing: how many times will I die in this one particular boss fight? The average attendee was hitting around 150 deaths in this fight alone, which makes me believe that the final death count in a typical playthrough could figure in the thousands.

I was at 67. All I had to do was aim my gun upward and prevent a boss from touching the ground, like a sadistic balloon that we keep in the air. I don’t know how many shots it would take, but the more I hit the demon the more it starts to speed up and let out projectiles that inhibit my capabilities.

75.

87.

99.

By the time I hit 100 deaths I had an idea about how to take it down. I had figured out the pattern. I JUST had to stay in pace with the creature.

107.

118.

131.

The little counter continues to move up, unabated, sometimes immediately and sometimes after 10 seconds, which feels like an eternity.

136.

139.

OMUT is a game about death, about the occult, about a child learning to deal with things against a dark, dark backdrop. It has influences from Western culture, Eastern culture, Slavic culture. It’s the kind of game that you probably don’t want to tell your priest that you’re playing.

140.

142.

145.

It’s a 2D sidescrolling pixel platformer, with minimal things to do, but a maximum amount of things to say. Why am I handed a gun right away? Who is this person telling me what to do? Where am I? Is this a forest? Is this hell?

146.

147.

Dying in OMUT isn’t because things are actually challenging. The meta narrative of the game seems to be that we ourselves mess up, that we make simple aspects of life more complex, that we can do things if we just take the time, catch our breath, and focus. We’re the creators of our own chaos. I die and die and die at this boss because I fuck, because I was getting ahead of myself, because I stopped paying attention or keeping an eye on the pattern. Just keep an eye on the pattern, Dali. Just pay attention. Just do the steps. Just use the analog stick to point up. Just push the button to shoot. Just don’t move around too much. Just do the steps.

148.

149.

“I’m done. Thanks. I’m done. My time is up.”

I didn’t beat the boss. I might have, on the very next turn, turn 150. I was in the zone. I had the hang of it. But I also might not have. I may not have beaten it until turn 200, or turn 500. I didn’t want to be a person who didn’t hit that 150 average. I’d rather not know, at least not now.

OMUT seems like the kind of game that will constantly ask us to find out, to know if we are at the collective limit, or our own limit. It’s going to be fantastic for speed runs, and I imagine there may be a long tail draw to it on Twitch and YouTube as people want to how others are failing or succeeding. It’s also going to be fantastic on a Friday night, at home, in the darkness of a living room, with no one else watching, as we die 149 times fighting one boss until that 150th time when we finally defeat it and do a silent fist pump. No one will be watching us then, but at least we’ll know.

OMUT doesn’t have a release date yet. It’s currently available to wishlist (and play this demo) on Steam.