FURTHER PLAYING - A Game Design Vocabulary - page 201

QWOP (Bennett Foddy, 2008) and
GIRP (Bennett Foddy, 2011)
Verbs, Resistance
These two games from the same creator are worth mentioning together because they both
explore the relationship of the player's controls to what games often systematically depict as
a simple, intuitive verb: “running” in QWOP and “climbing” a wall in GIRP . In QWOP , rather than
pressing a single button to run, the player must use the four keyboard keys represented in the
title to control the left and right calf and thigh of a runner. Despite simulating the muscles used
in actual running, this process turns out to be vastly more difficult than intuitive control of your
own legs. In GIRP , each handhold in a vertical cliff-face is represented by a different alphabetic
key, requiring the player to hold one key down while choosing another, higher handhold to
reach for. This often means stretching your fingers across the keyboard in a manner that feels
akin to the strain of real climbing.
In both games, losing control over the precise pressing of keys means falling down and starting
over. GIRP is made even more frustrating by the presence of a bird that starts to perch on some
of the handholds, making them inaccessible until the player can flail their climber's limbs across
that area of the screen and scare it away. Despite the simple representation and behavior of
the bird, the role it plays in GIRP 's system makes it one of the most frustrating “enemies” ever
encountered in a game.
Platform: Web (both games), iOS ( QWOP ), Android ( GIRP )
Price: Free (Web) or US $1 (iOS, Android)
QWOP: http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html
GIRP: h t t p : / / w w w . f o d d y . n e t / G I R P . h t m l
Spelunky (Derek Yu, 2008)
Verbs, Resistance, Story
A platform game that draws on many of the techniques used by roguelike games, Spelunky puts
the player in the role of an archaeologist exploring an ancient temple full of dangers. Unlike
traditional roguelikes (see the entry on NetHack ), verbs and objects in Spelunky interact with the
game's real-time verbs of “running,” “jumping,” “climbing,” and “predicting” enemy movement
to “avoid” or “eliminate” them, making a complex and challenging system of emergent possi-
bilities. Each level in Spelunky is created in a semi-random process that results in a different lay-
out every time but also follows certain rules to shape the player's experience consistently. The
player starts at the top and must eventually make her way to an exit somewhere at the bottom.