spriteloom

Footsies Ladder

A fighter with a short move list where spacing and reads decide matches, and a ranked ladder that rewards learning matchups over memorizing combos.

32% of Competitive Fighting games found an audience, yet few came out lately. 36 of 86 judged games reached 1,000 reviews, and 13 came out in the last three years.

What it feels like

You win by out-thinking the person across from you, one step in and one step out at a time.

The core loop

  • Space: Move in and out of range to bait a whiff or a mistake.
  • Read: Guess whether your opponent will block, jump or attack and pick your answer.
  • Punish: Turn a correct read into a short, clear damage sequence.
  • Climb: Finish the set, see matchup notes and move up the ladder.

One sitting

A sitting is a handful of ranked sets of about ten minutes each, with a quick look at matchup notes between them. You can finish one set or play an evening.

What sets it apart

  • A short move list per character means a new player can learn a full roster entry in one sitting, unlike the deep lists of Tekken 7 or Mortal Kombat 11.
  • Ladder progress is tied to matchup knowledge, with in-game notes showing what you have learned against each fighter.
  • Frame data, hitboxes and training tools are free and built in, which answers the complaints about paying for them in Tekken 7.

The first playable

Two boxes on a flat stage with walk, dash, one poke, one throw and block, played locally against a friend or a simple bot. Check if a few minutes of spacing already feels tense.

Scope

  • Two placeholder fighters
  • Walk, dash, block, poke and throw
  • One stage
  • Local two-player mode
  • Six to eight fighters
  • Online ranked ladder with rollback netcode
  • Training mode with frame data and hitboxes
  • Tutorial covering spacing and reads

Art

Bold flat-colour silhouettes with strong outlines and one accent colour per fighter, so each reads clearly in a small Steam capsule. Keep the animation count low and make each pose clean.

Risks

  • Online play with desyncs and cheaters wrecks a small player base, as reviews of Mortal Kombat 11 describe. Build rollback netcode first, keep the sim deterministic, and add report and block tools at launch.
  • Few fighters came out lately and the player pool is small, so queues can be empty. Add a bot ladder and local play so the game works with no queue, and use short region-wide matchmaking.
  • A stripped-down move list may look shallow next to big roster hits. Show depth in the matchup notes and trailers, and make every move have a clear job.

Price

$10 to $20: Most games in this band found an audience, and a small roster fits it better than the higher band.

Competitive Fighting games that found an audience

The other idea

Twin Stick Duelists

More room