Foddy bluntly says, “I created this game for a certain kind of person. To hurt them.” It’s the kind of player who feels entitled to make progress and eventually win—an expectation Foddy delights in thwarting. The goal is to climb a mountain of rocks and garbage, but the character attempting it is awkwardly stuck in a cauldron, and the game’s controls are infuriatingly—deliberately—clumsy. Players cannot save their progress; mistakes can tip the character down the mountain, back to the beginning. This near-futile exercise prompts reflection on what we expect from a game, and what keeps us playing.
Gallery label from Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design, September 10, 2022–July 16, 2023
