Downstairs in the dark vaults of the Tobacco Dock at EGX Rezzed, we stumbled across quite possibly one of the strangest and most unique games on display at the expo; Line Wobbler, a one-dimensional dungeon crawler.
Unlike everything else on display, Line Wobbler won't be coming to a console near you any time soon, because it's not based on any commercially available platform, but is rather a wonderful mix of a five meter LED strip, a shoe tree, and Robin Baumgarten's ingenuity. The premise is simple, the player controls an adventurer (represented by a green dot) who must traverse his way across the dungeon's ten stages, defeating enemies (red dots) by wobbling the controller, and traversing lava pits (orange dots) and force fields (white flows of dots).
It's an incredibly simplistic design but is absolutely stunning in its purity, reminiscent of early 80s arcade machines - simple graphics, sound and control. The emphasis is on the experience, the fun, the game in the traditional sense of the word. We spoke with Robin to find out his inspiration for this unique game.
All it takes is a brief glance over Robin's Twitter to see how many people absolutely adored Line Wobbler (and we met many other enthusiasts on the day). Though Line Wobbler may not be coming to a platform near you, we can hope that maybe its design ethos will.