When it comes to the types of games that are risky to make, one-trick pony types that pick their gimmick and then ride it into the ground are high up on the list. I’ll at least give Stilt Fella credit for communicating its very narrow focus right in the title though. As you may have guessed, the action here revolves around walking on stilts, at least using some degree of physics though some of the mechanics for how you’re able to lean are obviously on the preposterous side.

In the same vein as frustrating games like the infamous QWOP, while the controls you’re able to use are limited, your ability to make the most of them is everything. Holding down either trigger will pick up your leg to either side, and then moving the two analog sticks forward and backward will move the respective stilt in that direction. The trick is finding the rhythm to first get started and then try to keep yourself moving forward without falling. Indeed, quite often my biggest challenge was consistently getting started at all, as I found that establishing forward momentum was harder than maintaining it.

Of course, once you’re able to simply move forward, it wouldn’t be much of a game if new stages didn’t continue to make everything more complicated. Whether that’s in the form of humps or holes you’ll need to contend with, or things like the nightmare of navigating stairs, every time you may feel like you’ve got a handle on things you’re sure to continue to find how little you’re in control of. The game’s hook is absolutely novel, but I’ll credit the implementation with at least mostly making sense, if anything erring on the side of being more forgiving. That still won’t change the fact that it’s either something you’d enjoy for a challenge or not even give a second thought to as you passed by it in the eShop.