

Archery combat arena game TowerFall descends exclusively onto the OUYA June 25. In frantic fights to the death, 1-4 players will have to ration their few arrows, retrieve them from the walls or bodies of fallen foes to take out their opponents, or risk going for the treasure for powerful arrows, shields, wings, and other goodies to win the battle. And that’s just one of four game modes.



Developer Matt Thorson (Planet Punch) tells me that the current single player mode is a puzzle/time trial mode similar to Break The Targets in Smash Bros, and he has plans for more single player content after release.

To enjoy TowerFall at its finest, the local-only four player mode, you would theoretically have to spend more than the price of an OUYA itself ($100) for three extra controllers ($150). Ouch. Fortunately, TowerFall supports Xbox 360 controllers, Matt told me. He also said TowerFall doesn’t use the OUYA touchpad at all, so no one misses out on anything with the swap.

Using the Xbox 360 controller versus the Xbox controller seems to be a trade for responsiveness, though. Matt tells me that the OUYA D-Pad is better, but the OUYA triggers aren’t as good. Maybe it’s all a matter of preference that will be sorted out when the co-op battles start next month.

Speaking of co-op, Matt has had some assistance in TowerFall’s creation, including graphics by Studio Miniboss (Deep Dungeons of Doom, Out There Somewhere), music by Alec Holowka, and sounds by Power Up Audio.

Matt lastly clarified the exclusivity for OUYA, stating that no other console will have TowerFall for six months. When asked about a PC version, he said he wanted to but didn’t have anything lined up presently, as his focus is on the OUYA launch.