Badblood reminds me a little bit of playing Manhunt in the woods as a kid, except for the part where I got brained with a hammer.
Created by Winnie Song as her thesis for the MFA program at the NYU Game Center, Badblood is a split-screen game that drops two players in the same field armed with various weapons, and asks them to stalk and kill each other.
Since you’re both lurking stealthily in a grassy field, you won’t be able to see your opponent, at least on your half of the screen. Although you’re encouraged to peek over to their side and track them down, your screen orientations are different—your north is not their north, so you’ve got to compare landmarks on both sides and use your spatial reasoning to figure out exactly where they’re hiding.
You can choose from four different characters like “mechanic” and “hitwoman”; each one comes with their own advantages, like flashbangs or a dog who will help you sniff out your target. If your opponent moves too quickly you’ll see the grass rustle slightly, and they’ll appear as a dark shadow when they’re about to strike. It only takes one hit to kill, but attack with care, and don’t bother button-mashing. If you miss and they aren’t in the square you’re aiming for on the grid, you’ll have to pause for a few moments and catch your breath.
It’s a tense game, particularly if (like me) you don’t have fantastic spatial reasoning, but well worth your time if you’d prefer to digitally assault your friends by stalking them in the tall grass to deliver a single deadly blow, rather than punching them fifty times in the face.
Badblood was recently greenlit on Steam, and will be released later in 2015 for PC and Mac.