Library Gaming: TowerFall!

Lindy Liedl from the Rice Lake Public Library returns with her monthly column on all things gaming to help you connect with your teen patrons!

Image credit: Polygon.com and their article: 
Towerfall might be the best multiplayer game on Nintendo Switch

Here’s a game that’s been a huge hit at our library recently: TowerFall! It’s available on PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox1.

Made by an independent creator and her company, this game was suggested by a local teen at our weekly Teen Game Night for grades 6-12, and they all beg to play it every week! It’s a multiplayer shooter, which wouldn’t normally be allowed to be played in-house at our library, but we make an exception for this because it’s not very graphic at all. Characters basically melt into a pixelated lump when they’re struck by arrows from opposing players. The art style is fantastic, the sound design is great, and it makes for a very fun, inclusive game for one player or groups.

Favorite game features: 

·        Rapid-fire rounds! Once players get the hang of it, they'll start bouncing around the creatively-designed stages, narrowing players down to a last-player-standing, then points are distributed, and it’s on to the next round with all players again. There’s not a lot of waiting once you’ve been eliminated, and it’s fun to watch others finish out the round quickly if you’re out.

·        Up to 6 players at once! We play on the Switch, and games like Mario Party, Switch Sports, and Mario Kart can only be played by 4 players at a time when you only have one Switch console. So this is great when we have 5+ teens at Game Nights!

At this time, Towerfall isn’t available as a physical game to feature in library collections, but it can be downloaded on consoles if you have a gaming space in-house. I hope they come out with a physical copy soon. It’s so fun!