A compendium of four local multiplayer games: Johann Sebastian Joust, Hokra, Barabariball, and Super Pole Riders.
Report an error
Platform PSN, Win, Linux, Mac Publisher Die Gute Fabrik Developer Die Gute Fabrik Release Date N/A

Features

Latest Forum Activity View all posts

No forum activity yet. Start a discussion about Sportsfriends

Latest News

News
6 Comments

Super Pole Riders' two extra players turn the game into a frantic, strategic sport

By Griffin McElroy on Jun 15, 2013 06.15.13

The experience pitched by the Sportsfriends bundle, a Kickstarted package of four local multiplayer indie games for PS3 and PC, can be seen in a single match of Super Pole Riders, QWOP creator Bennett Foddy's contribution to the package. The game's un-Super version is already free to play on browsers, and serves as the mechanical backbone for its sequel. Track-suited athletes carrying vaulting poles attempt to kick a ball hanging from a rope overhead to move it into their opponent's goal. Like Foddy's best games, it's purposefully cumbersome; your pole rarely plants where you want it to, leading to gleeful accidents and frantic jousting. You can eschew kicking altogether, attempting to sweep the ball into the goal by holding your pole straight up and running alongside it. You can also...

News
0 Comments

Rumpus Royale MMXIII brings 'indie game world championship' to GDC

By Dave Tach on Feb 21, 2013 02.21.13

Rumpus Royale MMXIII, Wild Rumpus' self-billed "indie game world championship," will be held March 25-29 during the Game Developer's Conference, according to the event's website. Featuring daily tournaments, a training arcade and indie games, Rumpus Royale will take place on the first floor of the west hall in San Francisco's Moscone Centre. The games will include contortionist running simulator QWOP, minimalist sports game Hokra as well as rotating puzzler Super Hexagon and bullet-limited local multiplayer game Samurai Gunn. The self-described "multiplayer indie game event organizing bunch of roughhousers" at Wild Rumpus are also hosting a Tumblr-sponsored event called "All other parties are still trite and dull" on March 27. It will also feature indie games, with the addition of...

News
1 Comment

MAGFest 11 to host its own indie game showcase this weekend

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 02, 2013 01.02.13

MAGFest, a yearly convention held in Maryland celebrating video game music and culture, will host its own indie games showcase this weekend during the convention's running hours, according to a post on the event's official website. The MAGFest organizers extended an invitation to all indie developers earlier this year, offering free exhibit space for studios wanting to display their games. From Thursday, Jan. 3 to Sunday, Jan. 6, MAGFest attendees will be able to view and play the organizers' selected submissions from a broad group of developers. Games on display at MAGFest's indie showcase include retro-style fighting game BaraBariBall, one of the titles featured in the Sportsfriends compilation that took to Kickstarter last November, and Mighty Rabbit Studios' episodic iOS title S...

News
8 Comments

Sportsfriends Kickstarter gets funded on final day

By Samit Sarkar on Dec 10, 2012 12.10.12

The Kickstarter for Sportsfriends, the compilation of local-multiplayer-focused indie games featuring Johann Sebastian Joust, reached its $150,000 funding goal this morning with little time to spare. A major chunk of the project's funding came in over the weekend — as of last Friday, Dec. 7, the Kickstarter drive had not yet reached the $100,000 mark. According to developer Die Gute Fabrik, "A proper response [is] coming later today," but for now, the company said, "We're totally floored. We did it! You did it! Thank you all so much!" The Kickstarter drive will conclude at 4 p.m. ET today; its current total is just over $154,000. Sportsfriends consists of Douglas Wilson's Johann Sebastian Joust, Noah Sasso's BaraBariBall, Bennett Foddy's Super Pole Riders and Ramiro Corbetta's H...

News
0 Comments

Sportsfriends developers' love of split-screen gaming influenced their collaboration

By Dave Tach on Dec 07, 2012 12.07.12

In an Ask Me Anything on Reddit today, the four indie developers behind games like QWOP and the Sportsfriends Kickstarter project discussed their shared love of local multiplayer and how that influenced their not-yet-funded collaboration. "The thought process was along the lines of: we each really care about each other's games, but we are not sure what's the best way to release them," Ramiro Corbetta, developer of Hokra, wrote. "What if we get together and do a compilation around this idea of local multiplayer games that we really care about? Yeah, good idea, let's do it! In terms of innovation, it's hard to argue against [Johann Sebastian] Joust. I mean, it won the Game Developers Choice Innovation award, beating out Portal 2 and LA Noire ... fancy stuff!" Doug Wilson, developer of...

News
3 Comments

Johann Sebastian Joust getting invincibility mode and more in Sportsfriends compilation

By Dave Tach on Dec 05, 2012 12.05.12

Johann Sebastian Joust, the PlayStation Move-enabled motion game played without a screen, will include new features like invincibility mode as part of the Sportsfriends compilation, according to a post today by developer Doug Wilson on the PlayStation Blog. The new mode allows players to become invincible for a few seconds at the press of a button. Wilson explains that knowing when to press offers a tactical advantage in situations like surprise attacks. He also plans to add other features that he's not yet revealed. "I want to add a whole bunch of new features..." "I want to add a whole bunch of new features, so that each group of players can mix and match rules to find their own preferred version of the game," he writes. "Like any good playground game, [Johann Sebastian] Joust is...

News
2 Comments

Sportsfriends' Hokra shoots for sports game appeal to non-sports fans

By Samit Sarkar on Nov 29, 2012 11.29.12

Hokra creator Ramiro Corbetta took to the PlayStation Blog today to describe his "minimalist sports game," one of four games in the Sportsfriends compilation on Kickstarter. Hokra pits two teams of two against each other as they vie for control of a ball and attempt to hold it within their respective goals. The premise is simple, but the mechanic of passing the ball between teammates, and the fact that your avatar can only sprint when you're not holding the ball, both add a significant layer of strategy to the frenetic local multiplayer experience. "I wanted to make a game that is fun both for people who are into sports games and for gamers who tend to look down on sports games," Corbetta said. If the Sportsfriends Kickstarter gets funded, Corbetta plans to further tweak the...

News
0 Comments

BaraBariBall developer details features as part of the Sportsfriends compilation

By Dave Tach on Nov 21, 2012 11.21.12

BaraBariBall, developer Noah Sasso's quirky take on a fighting game, is headed to PlayStation Network as part of the Sportsfriends compilation, and the developer detailed its features today on the PlayStation Blog. The game tasks players with defeating each other, but offers a few twists to standard fighting game mechanics. Rather than scoring points by fighting each other directly, two to four players jostle for control of balls, which they can dunk for points on each side of the screen. Players are also limited to a certain number of jumps, as conveyed by floating balls that surround each. You can read detailed rules of the game alongside some amazing animated GIFs on the game's official website. The retro-styled fighter will join Johann Sebastian Joust, Hokra and Super Pole...

News
4 Comments

QWOP multiplayer included for Sportsfriends backers $60 and up

By Alexa Ray Corriea on Nov 15, 2012 11.15.12

The Sportsfriends indie game compilation will include a multiplayer version of Bennet Foddy's QWOP for backers who pledge $60 or more to the Kickstarter project, the game's creator announced on the project's page. The version of QWOP included in Sportsfriends will use the same code for its iOS version but with tweaked controls. Players will use the PS3 controller's (or compatible PC controller) analog sticks and the gamepad to move their noodle-limbed runners. Up to four players can participate in races "where some players run like Usain Bolt and the rest run stumble and fall like... well, QWOP," according to Foddy. Sportsfriends is planned for release in fall 2013 as a downloadable PlayStation 3 title and for PC, Mac and Linux. The bundle includes sporty indie titles Johann Sebastian...

News
5 Comments

QWOP developer crossing pole vaulting, kung fu and multiplayer in Super Pole Riders in Sportsfriends compilation

By Dave Tach on Nov 14, 2012 11.14.12

Super Pole Riders, a twisted take on pole vaulting, is a cross between the sport, kung fu and multiplayer deathmatches, developer Bennett Foddy wrote on the PlayStation blog. Foddy, developer of the keyboard-based running simulator QWOP, credits titles like California Games as his inspiration for Pole Riders, a Flash game available on his website. Super Pole Riders is one of four games in the Sportsfriends compilation currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. With Super Pole Riders, he's developing a "better, more complete version." "When I showed the original game around the world, I would always think of little changes that could make the game better," he wrote. "I wanted the kung-fu kicks to be crunchier. I wanted the arenas to be more vertical, more interesting and complex. I...

Sportsfriends Releases
North America
  • PlayStation Network
    • Publisher Die Gute Fabrik
    • Developer Die Gute Fabrik
  • Windows
    • Publisher Die Gute Fabrik
    • Developer Die Gute Fabrik
  • Linux
    • Publisher Die Gute Fabrik
    • Developer Die Gute Fabrik
  • Mac
    • Publisher Die Gute Fabrik
    • Developer Die Gute Fabrik
tracking_pixel_5353_tracker