The Floor Is Deadly: Hot Lava
Beta Sign-ups Open Now
Everyone here has played the game where you jump from one piece of furniture to another because the floor has inexplicably become deadly, right? In the version I played growing up, couch cushions could be thrown across the room to make stepping stones, and there would usually be an argument as to whether standing on a pair of slippers that had been left lying on the floor was allowed (if you could stand on them and be safe, couldn't you just wear them and be invincible?).
Klei, masters of many genres, are working on a game that takes childhood make-believe onto your computer. In first-person parkour game Hot Lava [official site], the floor is deadly.
There are some outlandish environments in that trailer. I immediately feel that my preference will be for the houses and schools, places in which the game would actually be played rather than enormous, extravagant versions that actually look like they might conceivably be filled with lava and acrobatic heroics. Progression is a good thing though, and I doubt I'd want to hop around a bedroom for days on end. Klei's description of the game suggests that there will be context for the larger levels:
Hot Lava transports you back to your childhood imagination. Relive those moments of excitement, joy and chaos. Traverse distinct worlds, from school hallways to the memories of your darkest fears. This is a game of dexterity and ingenuity, you will have to use all your skills to complete the treacherous obstacles that await.
Hot Lava isn't a Klei original. Mark Laprairie, who is employed at Klei, had been working on the game for some time when the studio purchased it, took it on board and added their own visual flair.
The concept instantly reminded of Cult of The Wind, the game in which you play as a person pretending to be a plane and have dogfights with your chums. What other childhood games of make-believe would make for good entertainment? I'd go for a hide and seek game with a neat twist, provided it didn't turn into Five Nights at Freddy's.
As well as playing with your childhood, Klei are working on a colony simulator called Oxygen Not Included, a title which suggests things will go very well indeed for your colonists. Beta sign-ups for Hot Lava are open now. I'm going to spend the rest of the day rolling around the house in my wheely chair - the ultimate ability in this greatest of games.