James Pero

Gaming

The 'Fall Guys' phenomenon explained

Here's what you need to know about the buzzy battle royale game everyone is playing and none of us can avoid online right now.

If you've been online at all lately, you've likely come across references to Fall Guys — a battle royale game developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital.

And if you're not already on the Fall Guys train, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about and whether the game's chaotic, cartoonish races are worth the hype. We're here to get you caught up.

Fall Guys is part of a growing wave of games in which dozens of players (in this case 60) compete against one another in the same online arena.

In Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, players toggle between 25 different mini-games which can be broken down into four main categories: races, survival, hunting, and logic. In each round, players are eliminated along the way and the last player (or, more accurately, jelly bean) standing wins.

Though the mini-games vary in their construction and objectives, most are cartoon-like obstacle courses that task players with running, jumping, and dodging their way to the finish line... and with it, victory.

Some games also involve cooperative play and team you up with would-be competitors in an effort to outlast other groups.

Battle royale games have become increasingly popular due to the massive success of franchises like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), and Fall Guys is without a doubt riding that wave. In this case, however, the gameplay has more in common with other mainstay multiplayer games like Mario Party than first-person shooters.

CHRIS DELMAS/AFP/Getty Images

The game does borrow some critical elements from Fortnite and other popular mobile games. Among them is a robust (and paid) character customization feature that lets you deck out your jellybean avatar and set it apart from the rest of the horde.

120,000+

'Fall Guys' recently peaked at 124,000 players on Steam, making it Devolver's most successful launch yet.

So, what's the big deal?

It's difficult to boil down what's made Fall Guys so wildly popular in such a short amount of time other than the obvious: which is that the game is just downright fun on top of being challenging, comedic, and customizable.

If you're a fan of classic party games and have $20 to spare, Fall Guys is a pretty safe bet for your next purchase. For now, the title is only available on PlayStation 4 and Steam, but there's already talk of plans to bring it to Xbox and the Nintendo Switch.

Where to buy...

Fall Guys is now available for $19.99 on Steam and Playstation 4 and is available for free if you're a PlayStation Plus user.

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