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[Wozman23]

THOTH is a challenging twin-stick shooter you can conquer alone or cooperatively with a friend. Each stage is handcrafted to test coordination and puzzle-solving skills. Colorful minimalist graphics combine with an intense unnerving soundtrack, making for an exciting mix of art and arcade.

Release Date: October 7th, 2016
Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: $9.99​

Carlsen Games is named after Jeppe Carlsen, the lead puzzle designer at Playdead who worked on Limbo and Inside. In 2013, he released the minimalistic rhythm platformer, 140.

Both THOTH and 140, which was recently re-released on consoles, were published though Double Fine under the Double Fine Presents label.​

THOTH is an innovative and intense new entry in the twin-stick shooter genre. Though it’s deeply rooted in the arcade tradition, THOTH also brings something unique to the table. Each stage in the game is specifically designed to require both puzzle solving and finesse to get through. Players constantly need to think about positioning and timing while making sure to both dodge enemies and avoid collisions.

Aesthetically, THOTH is a vibrant rush of colors, shapes, and patterns accompanied by a brutal soundtrack by electronic music pioneers Cristian Vogel & SØS Gunver Ryberg. The imposing aesthetics and the relentlessly demanding gameplay eventually induces a trance-like state in the player.

Players can experience THOTH alone, or with a friend via 2 player local co-op. Each way presents it's own challenges. In co-op when one player dies, they become another hazard that must be avoided.

Sixty-four levels of increasing difficulty are broken into chunks of four levels, each of which concludes with a 'boss level'. New enemies and hazards are introduced. Gameplay is frenetic and brutal. A single hit kills, returning the player to the start of the most recent chunk of four.​

Double Fine Presents THOTH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCYXmnno3S0
THOTH Co-op Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqeJD34FqSI
​

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/510620/
Humble Store: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/thoth
Jeppe Carlsen's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/CarlsenGames​

140 is a challenging minimalistic platformer with abstract colorful graphics. Rhythmic awareness is required to overcome obstacles controlled by an energetic, yet melancholic electronic soundtrack.

It's $4.99 and can be beat in under an hour.​

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/242820/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9zMVc1TKQc
Website: http://game140.com/

“140 is a masterful, mentally stimulating platformer with a distinct visual and aural style” 8/10 – IGN

“140 is a magnetically moreish experience: delicately balanced and well thought-out.” 8/10 – Edge

"140 is distilled bliss, a masterclass in minimalism, and one of my favorite hours in all of gaming." 10/10 - Me, Wozman23​

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[Wozman23]

THOTH is now up on Steam.

 

[More_Badass]

Definitely checking this out tonight

This is an interesting article
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/thoth-a-trippy-deconstruction-of-arcade-shooters-w443624
Thoth has been gestating for over a decade.

In some ways, Thoth is the game that Jeppe Carlsen has wanted to make his entire career. When he initially applied to work at Playdead, he brought along a rough build of a twin stick shooter on his laptop to demonstrate his talents.

 

[Ionic]

Hey, this was also in today's Humble Monthly. I'll be playing it this weekend.

 

[r3n4ud]

Hey, this was also in today's Humble Monthly. I'll be playing it this weekend.

Damn ya. Perfect timing!

 

[More_Badass]

This is really great so far. I'd actually compare it to N++ more than another dual stick shooter. Besides the structure of the campaign (blocks of four levels), mastering the mechanics is everything much like N. You can't dodge and weave and shoot mindlessly like other shooters. You move faster when you're not shooting, and killing enemies can change the level layout, so deciding when to shoot, where you shoot from, and which enemy you shoot at, is all crucial.

 

[Ionic]

I just beat the first main game or whatever you might call it. Quite enjoyable and there are a lot of good gameplay ideas involving the enemies that shakes things up every four levels. It doesn't take very long to get that far, but it's enjoyable the whole time.

 

[EVO]

140 is so damn good. Can't wait to check this out.

 

[Wozman23]

Sat down to spend like 10 minutes with it, which turned into a 47 minutes. Made it up down to level 8 before I started having some difficulty and decided to call it a night. It definitely throws you some curve balls in the later stages.

I'm enjoying it, but it's tough to rival the perfection of 140.

 

[Sparrowhawk]

Knew from the screens that it was related to 140. Looks pretty interesting.

 

[barik]

Loved 140, so I picked this up yesterday and finished the main game after about 80 minutes. Still working on the levels after that, but looking at what's ahead, I might not be able to complete it because some of it

Spoiler

clearing 64 random levels in a row without dying?

just seems ridiculous. The main game is great though, beautiful presentation (much like 140), great controls/handling, fun mechanics, and challenging without it being unfair or frustrating.

 

[More_Badass]

A longer review

Your typical dual stick shooter is all about chaos. Victory comes from overwhelming non-stop firepower and evading waves and hordes like a madman. Erase your enemies from the screen as fast and fiercely as possible. From Geometry Wars and Assault Android Cactus to Binding of Isaac, relentless offense is the best defense. Not firing only gives your enemies time to surround and corner.

Thoth is nothing like that. Sure, you have an effective means of attack - a dual-stream of bullets - and can weave and dodge with ease, and there are fierce enemies that crowd the screen, but relentless firepower will only hasten your destruction.

Much like Carlsen's previous effort 140, Thoth is an exercise in minimalism. It's dual stick shooter distilled, from your single attack to the stark aesthetic and single-screen rectangular arenas. Your vessel is a mere circle, your enemies an array of other shapes. There are no upgrades or power-ups or loadouts or other complexities of the sort.

From this foundation, instead Thoth laser-focuses on the gameplay and exploring its mechanics. It's a game without a tutorial, where you learn through play rather than text. Your movement and shooting are the tools that teach you how enemies behave, and thus every new enemy and mechanic evokes a moment of tension, another unknown variable to master and overcome.

But once you do understand the varied actions of your geometric foes, you realize that Thoth is not exactly a shooter. It's a puzzler, and shooting and movement are how you solve these spatial conundrums. When to shoot, where you shoot from, which enemy you shoot at, in what order, all must be considered. Your circular ships moves faster when not firing, and each enemy requires sustained fire to drain them from existence, so positioning and timing are perhaps the most important aspects to assess while playing Thoth.

Positioning becomes more more critical when you realize that the arena itself is linked with the enemies you face. From changing the available space to swapping the barriers that divide the stage, killing an enemy can hinder rather than help if done at the wrong time and place. Mindlessly firing without considering your location will more than likely see your ship trapped and cornered. Across the game's 64 levels, you're constantly introduced to twists and elements, forcing you to adapt regularly and wringing surprising variety from a seemingly simple format.

Although...it may be a misnomer to say you kill enemies in this game. Enough bullets, and your colorful foes become structures of negative space, empty portholes into endless abyss beyond the arena, that pursue you even more aggressively. It's yet another puzzle piece to consider while dodging and weaving. Thoth's otherworldly droning soundtrack complements the imagery of that cold void wonderfully,

Much like the abyss hidden behind its minimal aesthetic, Thoth's distilled approach to the dual-stick genre hides a unique action puzzler behind the veneer of hectic shooter.

 

[Messofanego]

Made it to level 53, man this is intense!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM98-fatMZM

Love the simple risk/reward of not shooting to get manoeuvrability but shooting to destroy the blocks fast enough before they recharge.

 

[ghibli99]

When I first started this, I was just moving around avoiding the two red boxes. I had no idea I was supposed to be shooting, because I had zero context as to what the game was about. LOL

Made it 8 levels in. I get it, I just don't know if it's really my kind of game. Might give it another chance this week.

 

[Voidguts]

edit: key is gone

 

[Johndoey]

steam key hidden in quote <3

I grabbed it up, thank you Voidguts.

 

[More_Badass]

When I first started this, I was just moving around avoiding the two red boxes. I had no idea I was supposed to be shooting, because I had zero context as to what the game was about. LOL

Made it 8 levels in. I get it, I just don't know if it's really my kind of game. Might give it another chance this week.

Much like Limbo and Inside and 140, you learn through play. So you can't play it like a typical shooter. Shoot a bit, observe, see what happens when you can kill an enemy, etc.

 

[Stoze]

Neat game, took about an hour to get through all the main levels. Now I'm trying to beat 16 randomized ones without dying which is pretty tough. If you like the idea of a thinking man's twin stick, try it out. The audio and art design is really cool as well.

The co-op mode is interesting in the fact it acts like a hard mode if you're just playing it by yourself, but introducing that tiny bit of chaos into well designed and structured levels is a little too frustrating for me though.

 

[Messofanego]

Man, just getting to level 34 was an achievement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWt_FR0jKcA&feature=youtu.be

Sweating, need to take a shower!

Neat game, took about an hour to get through all the main levels.

How are you all so good and not uploading your strats to youtube?