Robotry! (v2022.11.28)

A tiny robot’s legs become the entire challenge in this cheerful, physics-driven platforming adventure. Robotry! turns basic movement into a hands-on puzzle, asking players to guide a wobbly newborn machine through colorful planetary experiments run by a crew of upbeat orange astronauts. The mood stays playful and absurd even when a simple ledge becomes an embarrassing obstacle, with every stumble, flip, and accidental face-plant feeling like part of the comedy. Rather than relying on precise button combos, it makes learning to move itself the central adventure.

Each analog stick on a gamepad operates one of the robot’s legs while its body handles its own balance, creating a control scheme that is immediately strange but increasingly satisfying. Alternating foot placement produces a walk, pushing hard against surfaces creates jumps, and the same physical system supports climbing, kicking, grabbing objects, tossing them, and operating machinery. Story stages steadily introduce opportunities to turn clumsy movement into deliberate parkour, from carefully crossing hazards to launching into acrobatic somersaults. Progress comes less from upgrades or stats than from genuine player improvement: early sections feel like learning to stand, while later challenges demand timing, momentum, and confidence.

What separates Robotry! from conventional platformers is its commitment to direct limb control without making failure punishing or grim. Its expressive physics give it some of the slapstick appeal of Human: Fall Flat and Gang Beasts, but the focus is more on mastering locomotion than solving large environmental puzzles or brawling. Local multiplayer adds another excellent layer of disorder, allowing two or three players to share control of one many-legged robot and coordinate—or completely sabotage—every step. It suits patient players who enjoy unusual control experiments, goofy co-op, and platforming that rewards persistence, while veterans looking for strict speedrunning precision may need time to adapt to its intentionally unruly movement.