Screencheat

Leave it to small studios to think of a basic element that’s been in games forever and turn it into something magical like Screencheat. It’s a shooter that goes back to the days when shooters were played in splitscreen and every annoying brat gamed the system by looking at their opponent’s window. In this game, peeking is exactly the goal, which makes for some surprisingly ridiculous antics.

A round is divided in windows of up to four players. Each participant starts in a random part of the specifically colorful world, divided into coated sections. Seemingly random furniture and other fixtures are thrown around otherwise flat locations, but for good reason. These tones and shapes will be the only guidance available in the uncontrollable chaos that ensues.

No character model in Screencheat is visible while in play. Ergo, running around the map won’t show any activity directly. To kill others with an assortment of weapons, it will be necessary to look at an opponent’s screen. Don’t worry though, they need to do the same, so everyone’s actually on a level playing field by having their gaze wander.

Doing so, however, is much more difficult than it would first appear. For instance, other players can’t be centered to take in their location, so their shifting field of view needs to be deciphered on the fly. Meanwhile, other screens may be looking back. Certainly with more than two players, this makes for an intriguing dynamic where it’s never fully possible to know what all other opponents are doing. Hunters could simultaneously be prey. There’s always that extra bit of tension present during a round that comes from that unknown element. In the two player case, however, there’s the knowledge that the counterpart knows exactly where the other one is. That might be just as frightening. It also demands a completely gameplay style, as now hunters and prey are always equal.

As if things weren’t difficult enough, Screencheat offers a set of weapons that can be switched freely upon spawning. That needs to be taken into account as well. Does the other have a cannon that takes a while to shoot or is that a horsey in their hand that speeds forth? Keeping things original, most weapons have a specific quirk, such as bear bombs that hop through scenery. Here, the design ingenuity comes from tells weapons leave when activated. Each item comes with some sort of residue, whether it’s a straight bullet line or a fading flame. Since this gives away the exact location of players, it’s best not to get to trigger happy, if that’s even possible, as reload times vary according to stopping power.

Multiple maps and game modes can further the wild shenanigans. Aside from having just a set few kills, some objectives can ask players to meet up on a certain spot, limit reload time and so on. It sounds like regular scenes, which they are, but when it’s never quite certain where enemies are, there’s a whole new dimension of tension. Moreover, locations can have pitfalls that are easily slid into when looking elsewhere. Even if it’s just a difference in elevation, multiple tiers work both as alternating aiming needs and a way to force someone to keep track of where they’re going. Midst the clownesque silliness of this game, there are a lot of aptly put details. It’s strange to say, but it’s actually the barren presentation that hides the complexity buried within.

There are, sadly, a few lesser technical implementations in Screencheat as well. For one, it doesn’t have the necessary custom controls to support all audiences, which is a critical flaw for the amount of reflex and skill necessary in this shooter. A controller can serve as an alternative, though it can’t be as optimal as a mouse and keyboard.

Additionally, filling a server with just four players can be torture. If any players are left waiting at all, there usually isn’t a convergence of four people showing up at the same time. Screencheat doesn’t support bots and requires two players to at least start a round, so it’s rarely running at optimum and dropping out is too easy to do to not have it happen often. Given the exponential nature of the game’s tension dynamic through extra sets of eyes, it’s a damn shame that it rarely happens to come together smoothly.

Regardless of foibles, there is a ton of entertainment value to be found in the wacky shooter that is Screencheat. Looking at an opponent’s screen and trying to collect that kill with a weird weapon, while another player might be doing the same, is exhilarating. It’s so simple yet genius. Moreover, some clever refinement in multiple design facets solidify that this is more than just a silly venture. There’s a potent game to be mastered behind the humorous veil as well.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed (@Daavpuke)