A World Filled With Love
On August 27th, 2020, a Reddit user by the name of u/MaGuishi posted a clip of two players interacting in Mediatonic’s 2020 smash hit video game, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. The clip is gone now because of Gfycat’s shutdown, so a verbal description will have to do.
In the gof, we see a pink character struggling to climb up a ledge in a section of the game, and another character, the first person player, helping them learn how to climb up.
At first, the pink character fails repeatedly, flailing about in classic Fall Guys fashion. The helper, rather than progressing and trying to qualify for the next round, sticks around and tries to teach the pink character how to climb up. Already, there is a heartwarming feeling watching these two jelly beans interact. As another Reddit user points out, the helper also didactically grabs onto the pink player in order communicate which button is required to grab onto the ledge, and eventually succeeds as the pink player climbs up.
Of course, to top it all off, both players are almost immediately eliminated from the game, which is in and of itself a funny way to the end the video, but also a perfect encapsulation of 2020 kicking everyone while they’re down. Regardless of the outcome, the effort put in by our protagonist was truly commendable and a reminder that we can all use a little help sometimes.
As many other creators have pointed out, the meteoric rise of Fall Guys, a colourful and goofy game with low stakes and a fun atmosphere, is not at all surprising in the gloomy era of COVID-19 lockdown. For many people, video games are a form of escapism or distraction from the unpleasantness in their life, and Fall Guys has managed to be play to its strengths in that regard very well.
When Fall Guys came out, I was convinced that it was merely an overhyped children’s game, but this clip has demonstrated how people can use it and video games in general to connect and have a laugh.
