Everyone has their particular strengths when it comes to gaming. Every gamer has at least one genre that is a constant challenge to them, and for me, that’s platformers. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing them, but I’m also terrible at them. If there’s one thing I know for certain, it’s that I’ll never be a platforming speedrunner. 

Every so often, a new platformer will come along that poses even more of a challenge than other games of the genre. Blinding Lite, a retro 2D indie platformer by Monster Crate, is the latest of them to throw frustration and confusion my way, but I can’t help but love it. 

The best kind of old-school frustration

Blinding Lite is developed and designed in a way that makes you forget that you’re playing on a PC, transporting you back to better childhood days spent playing on old-school platformers. Everything from the music to the gorgeous pixel art to the mechanics reeks of retro influence, and it all comes together to form something that feels like my younger years have been bottled. 

While platformers are a challenge to me now, at the ripe old age of 34, they were the bane of my existence as a nerdy little kid cooped up in my bedroom on a Saturday morning with the Atari ST as my only company. Blinding Lite feels exactly like one of those games that I played a quarter of a decade ago, while also feeling new and fresh.

My skill level may not have increased over the years since those days, but I have learned some lessons as I’ve grown. I know what I’m supposed to do, I just struggle to make my hands function in a way that makes it actually happen. With Blinding Lite, I haven’t figured out how to attack enemies yet, instead choosing to duck and weave my way around them. 

But despite my struggles with generally functioning within a 2D platforming space, absolutely none of my frustration falls on the developers at Monster Crate. They are all very much ‘me problem’, with the game never failing to be charming and gorgeous despite the difficulty. Then again, maybe even the difficulty is a problem that wouldn’t occur to someone with a higher skill level.

An honorable hiatus

Blinding Lite isn’t the only game that has recently been under development by Monster Crate. They’re also working on a roguelike called Ichorous, which has proven popular with players. Blinding Lite has been a passion project for the development team, and as such, they’ve sadly chosen to focus their attention on the more sought-after roguelike. 

While sad, because Blinding Lite shows so much promise, it makes sense to focus efforts on something that players seem to want more. Monster Crate will soon be launching a Kickstarter campaign for the blood-splattering roguelike, so it’s definitely worth watching if you’re a fan of the genre. 

In the meantime, as a (hopefully) temporary ‘goodbye’ of sorts, the devs released a demo of Blinding Lite over on Steam. You can jump, dash, and swim your way across the platforms while trying to avoid being electrocuted and, if you can figure out how, take down a bunch of enemies as you explore the map. It’s fun, you should try it.