PixlBit

Do Not Fall is a top-down platformer filled with cute fluffy bunnies, jolly pigs, adorable snowmen, and all things in between. Don’t let their innocent demeanor fool you—most things aim to knock you to your ultimate demise. The game takes your trust and turns it against you when the snowmen become murderous and the ladybugs become killer. Not to mention the hawks that dive-bomb your position and the bulls that suddenly take you for a matador.

It’s the type of game that offers up the most basic concept (it says it right in the title!), and then does everything in its power to make sure that you fail. You are sent on a quest to gather various drinks on each level, which you complete by rushing around on platforms suspended in the sky. It’s a pretty dangerous job, especially considering the fact that most of the ground that you walk on starts to crumble and fall apart as soon as you step on it. There are various ‘safe blocks’, but they are few and far between. The top-down perspective and the completely analog movement make for an interesting setup, but gods, it is so frustrating.

It is definitely in your best interest to plan out the most effective route before you take your first step. Oftentimes, you will find that you must dash to one side of the level to grab a key, but then run back to the opposite end to complete your challenge. While the steps will eventually rematerialize once you step on them (so you can backtrack), if you aren’t careful, you will find yourself in a troublesome situation. You have a couple of skills at your disposal—the most effective of which is the dash skill. You are able to dash through certain objects and enemies…however, you cannot rely on this skill to help propel you through each level. You have a dash meter which has to refill completely before you are able to utilize it once more.

It is impossible to forget that you may fall to your doom at any time throughout each level. This is especially prevalent because this is the type of game where there is danger everywhere; at first, there are no sides to the platforms. Then, to make matters more difficult, at you progress through the story, there are new enemies that are introduced as well. These adversaries are constantly trying to knock you off of the platforms, and they are quite skilled at doing so.

That’s the only problem with this game. While it gets difficult at later stages (as games are known to do), but this game just increases in difficulty exponentially with each passing. The developers made this a difficult, cutthroat game, with no hope for average gamers. Only the most skilled will be able to traverse through each level completely, including bonus rounds and challenge missions. You have to adapt quickly and engineer precise paths and jumps (the jump skill is almost always worthless) if you want to have any hope of beating the game. And the hazards aren’t the only difficult part, once you combine that with the timer set for each level, you suddenly have a large amount of pressure stuck on your shoulders.

Do Not Fall will lure everyone in by the bright visuals and promises of fun. They will love the look, and think that they have found a simple game to simply pass the time. Why not? It has a simple concept, and an incredibly simple story. That’s when the developers’ evil plan ensnares you, and you realize too late that you have purchased an increasingly difficult and frustrating game. While you are able to play with up to three friends online or locally, the jumble of bodies gets too difficult in later levels. Don’t forget to frequently take breaks while playing. If you’ve decided you like cute things, and enjoy extreme anger, then you, my friend, have found the perfect game.