Oddman is a pretty simple concept, done with a bunch of polish and consideration. This mobile game sees you trying to stay on the screen while attempting to knock everything else off.
Playing as a funny, little yellow creature — until you unlock more costumes at least — you must move around the screen and knock people out of frame or into the water below until you are the last one standing. That’s the simple (sounding) goal of Oddman. While it might sound simple, and in concept it is, the game itself is much more challenging. All movements are propulsion based, so you don’t simply walk in a direction, you fling yourself there. Moving and switching directions takes the form of swiping in the opposite direction, as well as hoping you’ve got enough momentum to hit something to slow you down.
Knocking hot-dog-looking or llama-looking creatures off is the simple goal, but each arena has a few other things happening in them too. You’ll see bombs that you can either use to your advantage or just avoid to stay alive, swinging bits of rock that can hit you or push and unstable rocks that you can end up knocking loose or rocking out.
Oddman very much feels like those ‘one more level’ type of games, even if you do fail instantly by falling into the water or flying off of the screen.
Everything looks pretty bizarre, from the other creatures fighting to the land you are, right through to the titular Oddman. I do like how you don’t need to land back on the level, or stop yourself from dying, you can be inches from death but as long as the last enemy died before you, you’ve won. Oddman also has bosses that fight back quite intensely, providing a real challenge.
I got the chance to play a demo of Oddman while at Develop: Brighton, where I joined mid-level and just tried to get as far as I could. Despite the initial learning challenges, the game itself is quite addictive and fun.
There currently isn’t a release date for Oddman, but you can keep an eye on the developer, Set Snail, through their Twitter.
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