FOOTSIES is a game that I found somewhat recently, and is a minimalist fighting game that features only 3 buttons. FOOTSIES’ primary mechanics, the different moves a player can pull off, are incredibly simple. The player can move forward, backward, or throw out one of 3 attacks – a low kick, a knee, and a long horizontal kick. Each attack has a range, windup time, a time where the move deals damage, and a recovery time, and the characteristics of each move end up defining their use cases and shaping how they interact with each other and the system at large.
The knee has a short range but it comes out fast, so if a player can get close, it will beat out the other two. But in order to get close, they have to move in. The opposing player can then stop that by throwing out a longer range move, the low kick, that covers the space up close to prevent that situation. However, because the low kick has a longer recovery time, if the player misses, the opposing player can hit them while they are recovering. If a player is waiting for their opponent to throw out a move first, they can use that opportunity to get in close, completing the loop. However, this rock-paper-scissors dynamic is fluid and constantly changing – certain game states and player positions naturally favor certain strategies. However, the fact that both players are aware of the game state at all times allows for another layer of the game involving prediction and conditioning of the opponent. These dynamics create fun in two ways: competition (as described in Extra Credit’s video) and expression. For competition, it allows for players to beat each other on the basis of skill, either mental (predictions) or physical (reaction speed, timing), and leaves little elements outside the players control. For expression, the fact that a breadth of playstyles can all be successful means that players can emphasize which skills they most value: a player who wants to show off his smarts can go for plays where he cleanly predicts where his opponent will go, or a player who wants to show off his reaction speed and technical skill can play towards baiting his opponent into reactable options. FOOTSIES’ mechanics heavily demonstrates the core fundamentals of every 2D fighting game – the push and pull of the risk and reward of every potential player action.
Gameplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8PNb-U4g7s
