While when it comes to genres I’m pretty good at being a generalist, willing and capable of playing and enjoying just about anything you throw my way, I’ll admit to having some soft spots. While a solid twin-stick shooter or an exciting roguelike of some kind will always get my attention, off to the side I’ll also gladly admit to genuinely loving games that dare to be different, the weirder the better. Thankfully, this generation on Switch has provided plenty of games within that vein, but none of them has been quite like Cricket Through the Ages.

Part wonky QWOP-like action, part bizarre retelling of history through an odd and specific lens, part Olympics-style multi-sport extravaganza, and part what almost feels like an absurdist Monty Python sketch, Cricket Through the Ages is a love-it-or-hate-it weirdo proposition. You’ll have the option to tackle it solo, which is doable, but given the odd controls and objectives I’d say that’s a tougher and less enjoyable route to take, that it’s absolutely best played with someone else. Whether you’re re-enacting historical events through the lens of them being settled through some weird sporting variant, or simply fighting for life, you will always be adversaries, pitted against one another on either side of the screen.

Your objectives are often vague, but thankfully given the very limited controls you have, working with a left and a right button to trigger a variety of actions, you typically have very few options. You can perpetually assume naked aggression and simply killing your opponent is an option, though there are times when the action is more sporting in nature. Regardless, you’re always in some sort of competition with one another so it’s best to play against someone you’re well-matched with. As you make progress new game modes and variations will unlock, though many of them are more about advancing the oddball overall retelling of history while the general actions remain the same, even if the specifics of play change. In particular, the game’s take on Olympic events are often the most inspired since they often push for you to try to develop actual skill, despite the limited and quite unreliable controls. If you can choose to see it all as the goof it is intended to be this can be fun, but if you’re expecting even a veneer of seriousness you’ll likely be disappointed.

Wrapping things up on the game I’ll share this. While playing it with my much more normal and less oddball wife, she was consistently wondering what the hell was going on and why we were still playing. Meanwhile, I was laughing my head off at the audacious silliness of everything I was seeing. It won’t be a game for everyone, or probably even the majority of people, but for the other weirdos out there it’s an enormously good time.