Hamsterdam hands on — Save the town and rescue your grandpa as a martial artist hamster

Race through your home city as Pimm, martial artist and hamster, as you reclaim your town from corrupt chinchilla and ruffian rats.

Hamsterdam, from Muse Games, follows the story of a tiny hamster hero fighting back against a town taken over by mobster rodents to save his town and grandfather. It’s designed to be a touchscreen game, quick to pick up and play, but from what we played at EGX Rezzed it turns out that it’s also extremely hard to put down.

Speaking at the event, Wendy Fritscher of Muse Games explained that the fast-paced fighting title — which can be played with just one finger — was originally an internal project devised to be the opposite of Muse Games’ flagship series, Guns of Icarus. Where Guns of Icarus (and Guns of Icarus Alliance) were team based in play and steampunk in appearance, Hamsterdam would be a quick, colourful game which required no mastery to progress.

Below is a gameplay video from developer Muse Games’ Youtube.

Controlled simply by tapping and swiping, Hamsterdam is a series of rapid quick-time events which play out as enchanting, cinematic fight scenes. Swipes, taps and presses perform rapid combos, charge attacks, counters and more. After you’ve persevered for long enough, you also unlock a KO bonus, a little button you can drag onto any enemy (including ones you are not currently fighting) to deliver a deadly attack.

As we said earlier, the combat is fast and frantic, however it is most definitely more like a dance than a brawl. Enemies can rotate from the background to the foreground throughout the fight, and even if more enemies do appear, Hamsterdam is structured in a way that you are never overwhelmed even if outnumbered.

There are breaks from the fighting, that said. Among each of the districts are levels where you race along platforms, as well as a big boss battle where you must dodge projectiles while waiting for a chance to counterattack. These were well placed within the demo I played, with the platforming sections separating districts of the town as Pimm journeyed from area to area.

Visually, it’s a gem, with each of the enemy types quirky and unique, the animations avoiding repetition and the user interface and visual tips easy to follow. Due to its simple, one-button controls, wonderful visual style and action-packed cinematics, it was an especially hard game to walk away from.

Hamsterdam is currently in development for mobile platforms; it currently does not have a release date. You can find out more about the game by following the game on Twitter at @HamsterdamGame