The first thing you need to know about 10S Forever is on the store page:

"TENNIS HELL ARCADE" and "games hard and im not kidding" - owch, the developer.

Listen to owch. Take bullet hell, but instead of spewing a hot fiery stream of death at your foes from your centre, you're having to anticipate the trajectory of the ball(s) in play to hit them back at your enemies, all while dodging said hell. Swing or dive: if you miss the ball, you lose the heat. Heat increases your damage and the radius of your smash area of effect. If you can get the heat up to 10, you'll be rewarded with a heart to heal up (you have four hearts in total) and the 'Unleash' ability which... spews a hot fiery stream of death at your foes, fully depleting your heat.

That's the core loop of 10S Forever. Aside from Breakout and Space Invaders, it reminds me of Jan Willem Nijman's minimalist TENNNES and particularly Witchball with its creative mashing up of genres, unsettling atmosphere and vivid visual style. There's so much personality in the pixel art here. You'll come to hate specific enemies for their attacks and swagger, and nothing can prepare you for The Natural. Bosses whisper and yell snatched lines at you which feed in to the mysterious letters that punctuate each enigmatic chapter. The music across the board is fantastic, ranging from dark ambient and 'chill beats' to high tempo drum and bass and jungle. Treat your ears to these:

https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/prince
https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/imp
https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/screen

The game doesn't explicitly tell you this but higher heat = higher enemy aggression so keeping a rally going is hard. In fact, getting a rally going is hard because another thing that isn't explained is how to aim, which is absolutely fundamental to controlling the ball. I think this is the most egregious oversight in the tutorial (a player hitbox, similar to the swing/dive hitbox indicator, might be nice too). I can't stress enough how learning to aim changed my game. Thanks Mu The Slime!

So, yes, 10S Forever is one of the hardest games I've played, even on normal, but I kept coming back because I didn't want the chapter 7 boss to beat me. Look, you should see the guy. With each fresh run I got sharper and more aggressive. I was reaching the third phase of the boss on almost every attempt. hes-beginning-to-belief.gif. Eventually I beat it and I just sat back and gasped. You can't beat that feeling. (If this sounds horrible and 10S Forever looks like your thing, there is an easy mode and various other switches that I didn't play about with.)

10S Forever is unique and fascinating, but it's also unflinching and not for the faint of heart. It's the kind of game that reminds me why I persevere sometimes! I'm really looking forward to checking out owch's other games now, and listening to the 10S Forever soundtrack some more.

The first thing you need to know about 10S Forever is on the store page: "TENNIS HELL ARCADE" and "games hard and im not kidding" - owch, the developer. Listen to owch. Take bullet hell, but instead of spewing a hot fiery stream of death at your foes from your centre, you're having to anticipate the trajectory of the ball(s) in play to hit them back at your enemies, all while dodging said hell. Swing or dive: if you miss the ball, you lose the heat. Heat increases your damage and the radius of your smash area of effect. If you can get the heat up to 10, you'll be rewarded with a heart to heal up (you have four hearts in total) and the 'Unleash' ability which... spews a hot fiery stream of death at your foes, fully depleting your heat. That's the core loop of 10S Forever. Aside from Breakout and Space Invaders, it reminds me of Jan Willem Nijman's minimalist TENNNES and particularly Witchball with its creative mashing up of genres, unsettling atmosphere and vivid visual style. There's so much personality in the pixel art here. You'll come to hate specific enemies for their attacks and swagger, and nothing can prepare you for The Natural. Bosses whisper and yell snatched lines at you which feed in to the mysterious letters that punctuate each enigmatic chapter. The music across the board is fantastic, ranging from dark ambient and 'chill beats' to high tempo drum and bass and jungle. Treat your ears to these: https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/prince https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/imp https://owch.bandcamp.com/track/screen The game doesn't explicitly tell you this but higher heat = higher enemy aggression so keeping a rally going is [i]hard[/i]. In fact, [i]getting[/i] a rally going is hard because another thing that isn't explained is how to aim, which is absolutely fundamental to controlling the ball. I think this is the most egregious oversight in the tutorial (a player hitbox, similar to the swing/dive hitbox indicator, might be nice too). I can't stress enough how learning to aim changed my game. Thanks Mu The Slime! So, yes, 10S Forever is one of the hardest games I've played, even on normal, but I kept coming back because I didn't want the chapter 7 boss to beat me. Look, you should see the guy. With each fresh run I got sharper and more aggressive. I was reaching the third phase of the boss on almost every attempt. hes-beginning-to-belief.gif. Eventually I beat it and I just sat back and gasped. You can't beat that feeling. (If this sounds horrible and 10S Forever looks like your thing, there is an easy mode and various other switches that I didn't play about with.) 10S Forever is unique and fascinating, but it's also unflinching and not for the faint of heart. It's the kind of game that reminds me why I persevere sometimes! I'm really looking forward to checking out owch's other games now, and listening to the 10S Forever soundtrack some more.