Fail Hard

Fail Hard is a game in which you play as a young-looking fellow on a questionably designed motorcycle. From the start, where your haircut cuts the wind and your bike has a rocket strapped to each side of it, it's clear that this is a comedic game. If that doesn't drive the point home, then the gameplay, where your job is mostly to crash in amusing ways, and the loading screens, which tell jokes that'd make even the most dedicated punster groan, will.

Other than what was just said, about crashing and making it funny too, your goal is to collect gold coins that are visible on the game's various stages. If you can collect them while also performing a realistically fatal stunt, all the better! The goal of the game, and the method by which you unlock other levels, is collecting gold coins. Sometimes, there'll be a safe way to do that, but more often, you'll have to fly up ramps, drive down pipes, and surf over cars.

The game's difficulty isn't particularly noteworthy. Although you need to collect every gold coin to progress, the price of "failing hard" is nonexistent, and the first levels don't demand much from the player at all. In some cases, whether or not you're collecting gold coins, you'll have to try to lose. And that's part of the point of the game, so you might find yourself falling (or failing) down ramps for no good reason.

If all you want to do is beat the levels and accomplish goals, Fail Hard may not be for you: aside from collecting the coins to unlock new levels, there are no goals in the game, and there's no story!

Unfortunately, the game lacks multiplayer, online leaderboards, or anything that would help to make it a less solitary experience. Given that it was an independent game, put out there and offered for free, it's unlikely that it will see those kinds of improvements, but even if it doesn't, you might be able to have fun with Fail Hard just on its own!

Pros

• Interesting art style that blends 2D and 3D perspectives
• Quick to pick up and play, with requirements that even tablets can meet

Cons

• Lack of online functionality puts a serious damper on gameplay
• Programming is spotty in places, with occasional physics glitches and long load times
• No story; lack of things to do outside of the game's stated goal of collecting coins