Hey Gamers!
As part of the Rapid Games Prototyping module, we are tasked with reviewing a peer's game every two weeks. The challenge is to analyse a game built in just one week, so here is my first review!
The theme for this week was From A to B with the modifier Off-screen: implement a real-world element into the game". The result? Rat with a Gun (LifeIsForLego, 2026), a physics-based platformer where you must use the recoil of a gun to propel a rat through the air.
First Impressions & Onboarding One of the strongest aspects of the prototype was that no tutorial was needed. All controls were explicitly displayed on-screen. This approach, similar to The Binding of Isaac or many Ubisoft titles, is incredibly valuable in a Game Jam or prototyping setting. When there are dozens of games to test, time-to-fun is a huge factor, and this game respects the player's time immediately.
Mechanics as Difficulty Sliders The reloading mechanic was particularly clever, it "spices up" the gameplay while acting as a hidden, organic difficulty slider. As discussed by GMTK (2024), games like Super Mario often include elements that allow players to adjust the difficulty through their own playstyle. In Rat with a Gun, bullets reload one by one when you touch the ground. If you want an "easy mode," you can simply wait for a full reload. However, for a "hardcore" experience, you can wait strictly for the necessary bullets and speedrun the level. This execution was simple yet profound.
The "Juice" and Emergent Gameplay It is impossible to ignore the pigeons. They explode upon death, which is both satisfying and hilarious. During our feedback session at the university, the entire room laughed when the explosions triggered.
However, since the core mechanic is physics-based, a strong addition would have been to apply directional force to the character from these explosions. This could introduce emergent gameplay, allowing players to use enemies to reach previously inaccessible platforms or add chaos to the movement.
Visuals & Polish There were a few minor issues regarding clarity. The colour contrast of the spikes made it difficult to see how many bullets were left in the UI, and there were issues with some platforms, so that they seemed that you could go below one platform, but in fact, your movement was locked with the platform from above. However, the overall aesthetic was cohesive, and nothing felt out of place.
Reflection: How this influences my work Analysing Rat with a Gun has shifted my perspective on my own prototyping process. I tend to focus heavily on complex systems, but seeing how much enjoyment players got from the simple "pigeon explosion" feedback loop reminded me that "game feel" (juice) is just as important as the code behind it.
Inspired by the effective simplicity of Rat with a Gun, for my next prototypes, I plan to shift my focus toward the creative process, such as 3D modelling and 'game feel', instead of prioritising complex algorithms. While I feel confident in my technical implementation skills, this review reminded me that I should explore aspects where I am less experienced to become a more well-rounded game developer.
Conclusion The ending was hilarious, and the inclusion of a second gun showed great potential for progression. While it doesn't radically reinvent the "From A to B" theme, it is a fantastic execution of a user-centric idea. You don't play this thinking, "How is the theme integrated?" but rather, "This movement is cool!"
From my perspective, with more time, this game has the potential to become a really good Rage Game, like "Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy game type", "Golfing Over It with Alva Majo" or "I wanna be that guy", which are platformer games with the idea is get as high as possible with some difficult controls or physics. With more levels, it can be a successful speed run game
GGs, WP! 👾👻
References
- Brown, M. (2024) Super Mario's Invisible Difficulty Settings. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkvyYTSKTQY (Accessed: 9 January 2026).
- LifeIsForLego (2026) Rat with a Gun [Downloadable game]. Available at: https://lifeisforlego.itch.io/rat-with-a-gun (Accessed: 2 February 2026).
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