MINDWAVE - The Trippy Warioware for PC I've Always Dreamed Of
I grew up with some of my favorite games being Mario Party DS, Rhythm Heaven, and WarioWare Smooth Moves, I lived and breathed the Microgame genre due to the creative freedom it offered for different games, styles, characters, and more. Having learned about this game through a Discord I was in and some friends on Twitter, I knew I had to try it.
Created by HoloHammer and creatively directed by Megalo224 or Michael Herndon, MINDWAVE is self-described on their website as a "Cerebral Microgame Frenzy where you play through collections of rapid-fire microgames formed from the minds of multiple colorful opponents in this cerebral story-driven take on games like WarioWare."
Upon launching the game you're immediately hit with views of the world, Blackout City, and a wavy main menu with a catchy theme to boot. When starting the story we're introduced to our main character and contestant, Pandora, waiting one of many lines packed with other contestants to get into the MINDWAVE Tournament hosted by Mindscape Co. for a $10 million cash prize.
The tutorial for the game is implemented super well, with it being used as a calibration system to enter the tournament, teaching you the different motions to complete games with mouse, keyboard, arrow keys, and different combinations of those methods.
In this process, we learn the MINDWAVE games are about linking our mind to the minds of others, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and memories of them in the form of microgames.
We finally get through the line and past the terminal to reach Floor One, linking up with our friend Smalls who snuck into the games and past security without a ticket. We're given the opportunity to talk to some of the other contestants and pick at their brains to see what's coming next.
On my playthrough, I spoke to a player named Roxy, who is a varsity MINDWAVE player at their school, talking about the headaches the game causes and other side effects, I didn't get much else besides that.
I then met a musician named Dom, who had us listen to his beat on his phone before our characters Pandora and Small also mentioned they're musicians, and agreed to link up and play at the Mindscape Co. tower until they're kicked out before parting ways and beginning the games. Disappointingly I didn't get to talk to everyone else and see what they had to say, but I suppose it adds the interesting mechanic of needing to pick who I really want to talk to the most.
We enter an elevator pod, insert a cable into our Neural Port, have our identity confirmed, and begin. The first floor's games we play have us linked to the mind of an energetic, emotional girl with a teddy bear named Addie, who I missed talking to the first time around.
Upon beginning the first microgame I was hit with a cheery, upbeat, and kinda catchy track (produced by Dorkus64 of HoloHammer, listen to it here!) that continued as I played some more of the cutesy-themed games, with graphics of the girl Addie in-between, displaying my lives counter.
I grabbed frantically running around cats, rushed at and hugged someone who appeared to be my friend, transformed into a magical girl, sorted some stuffed bunnies, and plenty more that really made me feel like I was in this character's mind.
The game added some difficulty by introducing a mechanic called "Brain Fog" as it progressed by speeding up and adding little boxes similar to pop-up ads you had to click the x on to remove. I finished the games and was told I passed and was moving onto the second floor, where I'd get off the elevator and assumedly mingle with the other contestants while I waited for the next games.
Finishing the story mode demo, I unlocked the "Mind Select" option on the menu, where I could endlessly play Addie's set of games, but more interestingly an endless shuffle mode, which featured more than just her microgames, like one where I had to strum a guitar, exit a creepy room, or find a present, along with a new soundtrack to accompany the mode.
I had such a blast playing the game demo that I immediately went and backed the game on Kickstarter, which has surpassed its $40,000 goal all the way to $340,000 at the time of writing this at its $40 artbook tier. I'm excited to see the full release!
Don't forget to check out the game and give them support on their Kickstarter, try the demo on their Steam page, follow them on Twitter, and take a look at their own website!
(All photos belong to HoloHammer and were sourced directly as screenshots from MINDWAVE or their social media. I claim no ownership.)
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