If you’re the type of player who relishes in getting defeated over and over again then do I have a new game for you. Ratalaika Games and developer The Bworg have just recently released their new frantic 2D platformer TEN – Ten Rooms, Ten Seconds and it’s all about putting your through some tough challenges that will likely result in you dying, a lot.
TEN is available on all the major platforms currently and won’t cost you but a few dollars to punch your ticket to punishment. If I had to compare it to another one or Ratalaika’s games that they’ve published I would say it is similar to Zero Zero Zero Zero which as you may know was a platformer that put you in dangerous levels that required a lot of precise movements. There isn’t much of a story to speak of in TEN but the gist of it is you play as some kind of creature who has to survive floors of rooms that are full of things wanting to kill you. Every floor in the game is made up of ten rooms with the tenth one always being a boss fight. Once you conquer each floor you move onto the next one and repeat the same process. Each room is full of hazards like saws, projectiles, and laser beams that will kill you and you have to avoid them for ten seconds before the exit door opens for you to move onto the next one. Some rooms will have a different objective than just surviving like having to defuse all the bombs before the ten seconds expires.
The game is very punishing and the cost of death is steep. Should you die, regardless of what room you were in, you’ll be sent back to the first room on that floor and have to start all over. Considering how short each room is though it’s not like you are losing a ton of playtime but if you aren’t careful you can easily end up making a mistake and dying again long before you get back to where you were the first time. You can make life a bit easier on yourself by gaining new upgrades along the way by gathering up coins in the rooms before they disappear when time runs out. You can then spend these at the shop for more health, faster movement speed, and other upgrades. Another way to make the game easier is by enabling an invincibility accessibility option. This takes away the challenge but I’m glad the team included it as an option for those who want it.
TEN’s visuals are pretty basic as they come but they do at least have some color to them instead of just being purely black and white. I’ve played so many of these games from Ratalaika at this point that very few of them stand out visually and TEN is no different. That same thing applies to the soundtrack in which the electronic tunes here are pleasant but nothing I’ll probably remember. Trophy hunters will of course find 12 trophies here including a Platinum. If you want to play the game the way it was designed this will likely be a somewhat challenging list but if you turn on invincibility then you’ll have them all in no time at all.
TEN – Ten Rooms, Ten Seconds is a brutal 2D platformer that has no qualms about punishing you over and over again. It will require you to make precise movements and memorize room layouts in order to conquer all that it has to offer. That admittedly isn’t much as the game is fairly short but considering it’s only a few dollars you should get plenty enough out of it for that.
*TEN is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. PlayStation 5 version reviewed. Review copy provided by the publisher for this review.
TEN – Ten Rooms, Ten Seconds
$4.99
Pros
- Brutal 2D platformer that will test your reflexes
- Offers invincibility option if you just want to see it through
- Good art and soundtrack
Cons
- Fairly short
- Very difficult game
