While a bunch of AAA studios are parading around how “woke” they are by giving their fictional female characters Caliphate-compliant cosmetic makeovers and decking them out in burqas while allegedly underpaying their female employees and stockpiling sexist behavior against real women, there are indie developers focused on making fun games that normal people can play where it doesn’t take them two minutes to complete a 20 second tutorial.

One such indie dev that’s bringing game back to the old-school pastures where success is measured in skill and rewards are doled out via sexy splash screens featuring hot damsels in distress, is Nexile. Their recently released game is Jump King, which is kind of a play on Yacht Club Games’ Shovel Knight. You play as the the muscle-bound and very masculine Jump King. He’s tasked with reaching the top of a tower where there’s a smoking hot babe that is in desperate need of rescuing.

Jump King is entirely skill based, but not only that it’s absolutely punishing. It’s like a pseudo 16-bit version of Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy, from Bennett Foddy. You can see just how tactically fluent in the art of finger-fu you have to be in order to beat Jump King, thanks to the video below, which demonstrates all the platforming hardships the game will throw at you, courtesy of horheristo.

Visually the backdrops remind me a lot of Ska Studios’ Salt and Sanctuary.

There’s this dark, Gothic vibe that runs through the DNA of the art in Jump King. It’s not just some 8-bit wannabe platformer – you can tell that time and dedication and a sense of passion was actually instilled into this game.

Anyway, the concept seems pretty simple but the execution of it is duly difficult. The challenge comes into play with trying to properly measure the timing and jump power to make a leap of faith from one platform to the next without smacking into the wall and falling down. The thing is, in Jump King when you fall it throws you back down a long ways to the bottom, creating an almost permadeath-style approach to the gameplay. As I said, it’s very much like Getting Over It in that regard.

It seems like such a simple thing: to jump to the top of a tower. However, as the developers point out on the description page, the only enemy you have in this game is yourself.

You’ll need to utilize the Jump King’s big muscles and masculine prowess to navigate through the environments, reach the top of the tower, and rescue the hot princess with a harness full of chivalry. You can get your hands on Jump King right now from the Steam store for just $12.99.

I’m sure the pro-masculine and pro-feminine themes in the game that hearkens back to an age where normal people weren’t inundated with clownishness on a day in and day out basis will trigger the easily offended in the gaming media. But what else would you expect from the Era of the Clown?