Designed to be frustrating
The set-up is simple. You sit in a cauldron, swing your hammer, and use it to pull and level yourself to the top of a mountain. But simple is not the same as easy. How many times can you fail and still keep on trying?
Learn to get over it
This game is unrelenting in its difficulty, and most people will give up soon after starting.
The developer, Bennett Foddy, feels that the ability to save progress has removed a certain frisson from the gaming experience. Getting Over It is his attempt to create something fiendishly tricky with no way to save progress. He wants to bring back the experience of gaming with no safety net.
At first glance, the game is attractive. While it offers a simple premise, the continually changing mountain environment looks great.
As you play, Bennett provides a commentary. He critiques your ability to play the game and ruminates on how games have become too easy. He also throws in some other philosophical thoughts.
There are times when you get stuck in the same place. When Bennett has completed his thoughts for that area, you are left in silence as you try and try again to advance. You are left with nothing to distract you from your mounting levels of frustration.
The control system, although simple, is sensitive, especially on your phone screen. A swipe swings the hammer, but motions are hard to replicate, making progress slow and overwhelming.
This title is an exercise in frustration. Only half the game is how well you control your hammer. The other half is how you deal with anger as you fail and lose all your progress.
Getting Over It will not suit most gamers, as often it seems unreasonable and demanding. But for those who decide to persevere, repeat the same passages of play over and over, and eventually reach the summit of the mountain -- good luck!
Where can you run this program?
The game is available for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. An alternative is Celeste -- a game with a similar set-up, namely to ascend a mountain. Celeste does not have the annoying sense of unfairness that Getting Over It has.
Our take
This game does raise some interesting ideas about how modern games lack a feeling of jeopardy. Only a few people will want to spend much time exploring it, though. One has to wonder whether the questions provoked by this game are worth answering.
Should you download it?
No. This game is frustrating without managing to be entertaining; it’s bent on making you feel inferior.
