Awaria is a new free game from the developers of Helltaker about kissing ghosts.
Some people rack their brains in difficult games for glory or loot, but I’m just trying to survive. Malfunction so I can kiss another ghost. Lukasz “Vanripper” Piskorz, developer of the cult hit Helltakeris back with even more cute girls to dangle in front of you in a game designed to make you work for it.
Malfunction is free on Steam and Itch.io, but winning a kiss from one of the ghost girls is definitely not. Like Helltaker, Malfunction looks deceptively simple: you’re a quick little mechanic stuck in 2D rooms with machines that need fixing. WASD controls move you around, getting the right parts to the right machines. And then ghosts appear to try to kill you, and suddenly you’re dodging attacks like you’re in a shooter from hell.
Your job would be pretty easy if it weren’t for the ghostly ladies trying to roast you. Malfunction reminds me of the game Digested. Machines are hungry clients begging for the right object to satisfy them, and you must feed them. But you’re just a fragile little girl who falls to her knees when one of those evil girls touches you, so the machines have to wait while you lure the ghost girls and dodge their attacks. Anyone who was forged in fire Undertale Boss battles will thrive here. I wasn’t and probably would have given up if each level didn’t end with a statement that you’re “READY TO KISS.”
These victory scenes provide a glimpse into what happens to each ghost girl and how they react to a quick kiss on the cheek. Zmora, whom you meet on the first level, is completely confused. “Next time the shields fall, you’ll pay for it,” she threatens as the tsundere alarm goes off. Cutwire leans closer and promises you that he will return to “stab you in the back.” And Nikita towers over you and calls you tiny. Malfunction there is something for everyone.
Eventually the girls decide that torturing you is actually fun and team up to make you squirm. I wasn’t prepared to handle both at once and gave up after completing a few levels. You can lower the difficulty to easy and take a few more hits, or you can turn it up higher than normal and see how long you can last with a tighter time limit and constantly breaking cars.
Helltaker gave you a secret ending for finding hidden keys in your levels, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more Malfunction than it seems. There were no dialogue options or branching options in what I played, but the list of achievements suggests that the most nimble players may be rewarded for their efforts. I’m really excited to see what it is, if only because the game is so quick to play. Level restarts are instantaneous, and the pulsating soundtrack from Mittsies brings you back every time.
Every ghost girl is destined to be someone’s favorite, even if I don’t find their character designs as personal as the demon girls in Helltaker. maybe I just didn’t find it Accidents equivalent to Cerberus, and I feel sorry for all my friends on Discord who expect me to talk about something else if this happens. I guess I’ll have to let these women boss me around again for a little while longer to find out.