Developed by Terror Dog Studio, Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends is exactly what it sounds like – an ever punishing, precision platforming adventure title where you’re trapped in the fiery (and icy) pits of Hell and have to escape…. by constantly jumping upwards (and often falling downwards) through the nine circles (a la Dante’s Inferno). Sounds easy, right? However, your patience is about to be tested in a whole array of different ways.
A Fresh Launch for a Familiar Face
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends isn’t a stranger to MyGamer, of course. Back in 2024, our esteemed editor covered the game for its launch on the Nintendo Switch. Last year, the game was released on the Switch with Diamond Hands in an aptly named “Rage Quit Bundle”. The terrible twosome formed the perfect package for those with a penchant for self-inflicted pain and misery.
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends a Retrotastic Journey Through an Atmospheric Hell
Visually, the game leans into the kind of pixel art that I love (being a “gamer of age”) with some hellish background visuals like skeletons in cages, tortured souls and, at one point, even what appeared to be a koala bear flaying some unfortunate damned beings. Furthermore, the retro-style scenery does a phenomenal job of reinforcing those Hellish vibes as you make your ascent.
The music and ambient sound perfectly complement the grim environment, with eerie tunes and the tortured screams of your character as he (or she) falls back down through to the lower stages. However, those constant cries can quickly drive you up the proverbial wall – thankfully, Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends comes with an option to disable these once they start to annoy.
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends – Simple Controls, Brutal Execution
The controls really couldn’t be more straightforward: left, right and the “A” button for jumping, with the length of your jump being dependent on how long you hold it down. However, dialing in the right jump power and direction feels frustratingly fiddly – there’s no mid-air strafe and it often feels like you’re launching your little demon bloke (or blokette) in the hopes of making a landing, it’s very trial and error.
Platform types vary with the usual biomes – solid stone, sand that collapses, and slippery ice are all there to add to the challenge. To make matters worse, some of the platforms are so small, you basically need to land on a singular pixel to pull off your next near-impossible leap of faith.
Suffer Alone or Bring Friends to Your Hellstuck Journey
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends lets you tackle Hell alone or battle it out with up to nine friends in co-op, or even enjoy the carnage of split-screen local multiplayer. However, while Mario-style collisions don’t exist (phew), the real draw is watching your mates plummet into the abyss – it’s pure, chaotic fun, or bang-your-head-against-a-wall frustrating, depending on how you look at it.
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends – Fun, Frustrating, and Fading Fast
I think anyone that’s played Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends will agree with me when I say it’s both exasperating and entertaining. While the game provides a good dose of fun, it can start to feel a little repetitive after a few hours, with no real storyline or upgrades to keep the experience fresh. It’s one of those games where many will play a few sessions and then move on to pastures new. It’s a flash-in-the-pan indie that more than lives up to it’s name. I, personally, can see myself giving Hellstuck a real go and persevering. It’s got those challenging qualities that spark determination.
Summary
Hellstuck Rage With Your Friends is a pixel-perfect title that you will grind until you eventually snap. It’s very design is to invoke rage, but in a somewhat welcome manner – if that makes any sense. It’s retro, it’s unforgiving, but it’s also immensely atmospheric and there’s no denying that it’s stupidly fun (that is if you either have the patience of a saint, or the company of a sinister friend).
If you have a glutton for punishment, or enjoy a challenge, you will find a lot to love about Hellstuck.
RATING
OUR SCORE - 5
5
SCORE
Like Diamond Hands: To The Moon, Ragestruck isn't a bad game - it is just a super hard one (by design). Some will appreciate the challenge, some won't, but the difference is black or white.