If there’s one thing that developer Pastagames would like to make abundantly clear, it’s that it’s making a game about kindness. KarmaZoo is a 2D co-operative platformer for two to 10 players and the result of seven years of development conceived as a counterpoint to the majority of other platformers.
In the world of KarmaZoo, players are rewarded for working together and sacrificing themselves for others, rather than for individual skill or precision. Players take the form of a blob-like soul that is able to inhabit a variety of avatars drawn from the animal kingdom and beyond. As well as a double jump, each avatar has their own special skill: Hedgehogs hunker down to line nearby walls with climbable spikes, Whales produce a water spout that acts as a platform, and Lanterns light up dark areas for other players.
Friendly cooperation with your fellow players is key to success: “The whole game was born in the Métro in Paris,” game designer Nadim Haddad told me. “In the Métro we have these very heavy doors and when people open them they look behind them–this is the only place in Paris where people are naturally kind, because you’re not going to let that door shut on someone. The context of the place creates kindness and gratitude, and so we decided to make a game in which the context of the game creates gratitude and kindness too.”
