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Ragdoll Demolition Derby

Launch crude ragdoll fighters through arenas full of wrecking balls and crushers, where every simulated impact decides the match, which is a fresh angle on violent physics.

32% of Violent Physics games found an audience, yet few came out lately. 18 of 58 judged games reached 1,000 reviews, and 19 came out in the last three years.

What it feels like

You feel like a stunt-show mastermind flinging bodies into heavy machinery and laughing at every crunch.

The core loop

  • Launch: Fling your fighter with a drag-and-release shot, or steer them in mid-air with limited control.
  • Collide: Bodies, wrecking balls and hazards hit each other, and the physics decides who gets hurt.
  • Scramble: Recover your limp fighter, grab a ledge or a weapon, and set up a second hit.
  • Upgrade: Spend winnings on new arenas, gadgets and silly gear for the next round.

One sitting

One sitting is a string of short rounds, each a minute or two, against bots or friends. You finish by trying one new arena or gadget and sharing a clip of the best crash.

What sets it apart

  • Matches are decided by the physics itself, so no scripted combat animations go stale like the fixed attack moves players complain about in Blade and Sorcery.
  • Each arena is a small sandbox with placeable hazards, close to the open sandbox that the best-known hits share.
  • Local and online multiplayer with a funny tone, both of which go with the hits more than the misses.

The first playable

One arena, one ragdoll fighter, one swinging wrecking ball and a launch control. Prove that a single hit feels funny and that you want to retry it right away.

Scope

  • One flat arena with a wrecking ball and a crusher
  • One ragdoll with a launch and steer control
  • Hit sounds and a slow-motion replay of the biggest impact
  • Around eight arenas with placeable hazards
  • Online and local multiplayer for a small number of players
  • Solo mode against bots with simple progression
  • Sandbox mode to build your own arena

Art

Flat, bold, high-contrast stick-figure ragdolls in bright arenas, with strong silhouettes and a single hot color for impacts. It reads at thumbnail size and is cheap for one person to produce.

Risks

  • Misses lean on Destruction and Fighting tags, so a plain brawler could blend in with games that found no audience. Lead with sandbox, humor and physics in the store page and trailer, and keep fighting secondary to launching and colliding.
  • Combat can wear thin quickly and modes can feel like reskins, as reviewers say of Paint the Town Red. Make each arena change how you play through its own hazards, and add progression that unlocks new mechanics.
  • User-made content can carry security problems, as People Playground players have complained. Delay the workshop, use data-only sharing with no scripts, and review anything shared before launch.

Price

$10 to $20: Games in this band found an audience more often than the cheaper bands, and it suits a small physics party game with content depth.

Violent Physics games that found an audience

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