WHY I LOVE
Night in the Woods’ arcade minigame.
Night in the Woods is a deeply human story about an anthropomorphic cat, Mae Borowski, who dropped out of college to return to her hometown of Possum Springs. It’s full of surprises, and is easily one of my top games of 2017. Perhaps most surprising is that I found another favorite within it—the minigame Demontower. Its full title, Ancient Doom Spire: Demontower Part IV—Slaughter of the Blood Thief, is a string of dark fantasy clichés. You gain access to it after Mae’s tech-savvy friend Angus does her a solid by getting rid of the embarrassing adware on her laptop. He installs the game as a bonus and promises to, “Talk Demontower sometime. It’s really cool!” He’s right.
When developers spend extra effort creating a breakaway experience, it can feel like a gift, adding variety while offering reprieve at the same time. At times, you’ll find homages to other games you hold dear. In Demontower’s case, that’s Hyper Light Drifter, an action-RPG I fell in love with last year that itself pays homage to A Link to the Past.
The Climb
Demontower could easily fit as a location in Hyper Light Drifter’s beautiful but punishing 2D world. Playing as the Palecat, who’s slowly dying from a mysterious affliction, you must ascend nine floors while fighting through procedurally generated rooms. You start with nine heart containers, but lose one at the beginning of each level, knocking down your max health permanently. You’re also trying to adapt to tougher enemies and bosses, each with new attack patterns. As the game gets harder, you become more vulnerable, and it’s essential that you aren’t hit.
You have a sword that slashes in a wide arc and a dash to be used for strategic evasion or luring enemies into traps. You can only slash twice in quick succession, thus slowing you down. Dashing will recharge your attack and restore your speed, but it also has to recharge, so it should be used strategically in tandem with your strikes.
I spent a couple of hours playing Demontower, all told, attempting to get both the good and bad endings— how many minigames do you know of that have multiple endings? When I was finished, I had to take a moment to separate myself from it mentally and remember that I was still playing something else entirely.
Demontower is a testament to the attention to detail paid to Mae’s world, which is meant to mirror ours. It’s a game I would choose to play on my own, and booting it up was one of the many salient moments in which I could have been Mae—sitting on my unmade bed with my laptop, trading reality’s overwhelming chaos for pixelated mayhem.
In a way, Mae’s favorite game reflects her state of mind. She’s given up on college, struggling to deal with the expectations of people, and unsure of her path through life. The Palecat is visibly tired, struggling to RIGHT: Demontower’s simple controls belie its punishing level design, which requires patience and precision. make it to the top of the tower, and unsure what awaits her. Mae often feels trapped by her own mind, but taking time to focus on small victories can mean the difference between hope and defeat.
Coming Home
Night in the Woods is a meditation on small town living and a look at how time can chip away at something you thought was solidly built—whether it’s your education, career, friendships, or hometown. It’s about coping when it feels like life has delivered punches to the gut far more than it has pats on the back. Vignettes of life in Possum Springs play out over the course of the game. You get to know minor characters and become invested in their struggles
Night in the Woods rewards you for digging deeper and spending more time with it, and Demontower is the most obvious example of that. The upheaval in Mae’s life teaches her to be patient, adapt, and learn from her mistakes. Demontower does the same. It’s made more impressive by the fact that it sits inside and enhances another great game.
I had to take a moment to separate myself from it mentally