Hey gamers, Dwarf here again, there’s something I need to ask you. When did you start gaming?

For me, I was 5, I had a Sega MegaDrive and loved it, but the player 2 port never got touched, and for many of us, that was the same, whether it was a Nintendo system or even going up to the PlayStation, some of us had nobody to experience co-operative games with. Now with the internet, it’s easy to hop on and find someone to play with, and we take that for granted.

2020 was an awful year, tell me, would you have taken the same pleasure out of playing games as you would of if you had no internet? In a world full of Fortnite and Call of Duty, people have forgotten what it means to work together, games like Borderlands and A Way Out have been keeping co-op alive, but go back to where it all began.

This is where Lucas Ivarsson comes in. Now that name means nothing to you as of yet, but it should do, and will do. He isn’t a tech mogul or a AAA giant, he’s not trying to overthrow Phil Spencer or have a golden idol in his image. He’s just a regular man from Sweden, who much like you and I, has many memories of growing up playing games and thinking about how it felt to work together.

“Ghouls and Goblins for the NES inspired me to sit closely and co-op from the same controller,” he tells me, “You needed a third hand to press the ‘select button’ to fire more shots, and the feeling of involvement was great, even if you were just the third hand”. Many of us have life-changing moments, and for some of us, it’s a shared experience, for Lucas, when his son was born, he was inspired, a fun, easy game he can play with his child, not against him.

Now some people think, and some people do. Lucas is the latter, he learnt programming and how to develop games specifically for this, worked hard to get as far as he has, though he has described it as a hobby, many of us would go as far as calling it a dream, or even a life goal, I would honestly say this was a humble approach, because it is fantastic.

Enter Fish Machine

It is a mobile game, but wait, hear me out, that’s the most inclusive platform, and with touchscreen controls it is perfect for little ones to get to grips with. In this day and age, it is impossible to not go a day without seeing a screen of some sorts, and I know many parents, myself included (hypocrite I know) have tried to keep their young ones away from such things, and it is difficult, the way the world is moving honestly there’s not much point, but at least with this, it’s fun, harmless and a great bonding experience teaching them skills such as teamwork, simple platforming tasks and how to throw snowballs at bad guys. It’s called Fish Machine and to be fair, it’s a masterpiece.

It’s new, yet nostalgic, elements of GnG, Mario (and do I even see some duck hunt there?)

A little over 5 years in the making and this one-man show is smoother and prettier than most mobile games out there, Ivarsson has a lot of potential in the games industry, whether he knows this or not, that was not his goal. He spoke about Sonic and Tails being an inspiration but we can all agree that the learning curve and difficulty spikes in sonic games can be rather notorious (looking at you Labyrinth Zone) and he wanted to make something easier, perfect for the young ones. Lucas has nailed it. Don’t get me wrong, it can provide a challenge, but it increases slowly, at a comfortable pace. “Some kids who tested it with their parents, let them be the beginner. That seemed to spark something in their eyes as well” he continues; “I suppose that parents who suck at gaming, can show some engagement in what their kids do too”.

It’s new, yet nostalgic, elements of GnG, Mario (and do I even see some duck hunt there?) can be seen in this charming little platformer, its visually simple, classic blocky side scroller but it’s got nice dynamic backgrounds, not your classic pixilated sprites, and honestly, it’s a lot of fun. If you grew up playing the original side-scrolling platformers and want your young ones to have that same experience, but modernised, or even if you fancy a fresh game yourself, give it a shot. You don’t particularly need someone to cooperate with, though it does make the experience more enjoyable. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s perfect, and it’s the new household name, but I will say this, how good it looks, how smooth it runs and feels, and the fact this one man, by himself, put so much effort into his task and has shared it with the world, not for a profit but for the sheer experience of allowing parents to play with their young ones, something many of us did not have ourselves growing up, I reserve this for truly outstanding games, but this is much more than that.

Lucas Ivarsson, I give Fish Machine, and yourself, a perfect 10/10, you can rest easy now, it’s done, or keep going and see how far this takes you, either way, myself and the rest of us here, wish you all the best, and thank you, for creating a pure and joyful experience to help bring us closer together in the world of gaming. All of you, check it out, even for a moment, and support this young man, as he didn’t do it just for himself or his son, but for all of us out there, parents or not, a chilled, but fun cooperative platforming game, available on IOS and android, check it out!

A Nerdy Dwarf

George Shine
@DwarfsDigs