With a quarantine and social distancing decree currently underway, the time for party games is postponed; that is unless the party games have online support and you have friends who play online. At PAX East 2020, we had the opportunity to meet with Beyondfunstudios to preview Aeolis Tournament. In this small but convenient booth, Beyond had to game stations to preview the game. The first station was comprised of a big screen tv with eight Gamecube controllers; the second station had a smaller tv with only four controllers. For the purpose of our preview, we demoed Aeolis Tournament on the big screen.
So what is Aeolis Tournament? According to the developers, “Aeolis Tournament is a 3D party action game where up to 8 players compete in various game modes based on a simple one-button mechanic. Characters use an air cannon to control the power of the wind and affect their surroundings. It’s a high-tempo game in the vein of Fusion Frenzy with a Nintendo-inspired cartoony and colorful art direction.” To simply that statement, the game plays similar to Mario Party without using the board. Players earn points each round depending on their performance. The winner is determined based on their overall score at the end.
Aeolis Tournament Features
- Unique Mechanic : The core of the gameplay is based on a simple one-button mechanic. Characters hold an air cannon that allows them to vacuum air in and release it as a blast. It can be used in various ways: pushing an opponent, grabbing, holding and throwing items as projectiles, navigating on slippery surfaces by giving yourself a push, etc…
- A Game for Everyone : Meant as a friendly competitive experience, everyone will be able to enjoy themselves playing Aeolis Tournament. However, skills matter. Games are skill-based, varied and deep enough so that while the main mechanic is shared between each modes, the skills and strategy required are wildly different.
- Tournament Mode : The heart of the game is the tournament mode where players will compete in a succession of games earning tournament ranking points after each of them. Whoever has the most points after the set number of games wins the Tournament. And bragging rights.
- Additional Features:
- Achievements, progression and customization system
- A configurable experience, local or online
- Different chaos events in each game modes
- Destructible and interactive environment
- Power-ups
- Stats
- Vast controller support on PC
Demo Match Types
- The Perfect Storm (FFA)- The first match type is an island free for all where players must knock each other off the island to earn points. This was pure chaos especially when the center of the map opened up.
- Sportsball – Players are divided into two teams and required to battle it out by scoring a variety of sports balls into their opponents’ goals. This game mode is similar to Lucio ball or Rocket League.
- Explosive Dodgeball- Players are yet again divided into two teams and placed on a floating platform. Players earn points by knocking their opponents off the platform.
- Air Hockey- Two teams skating around on a slippery surface while trying to score an oversized puck
- Snowball battle (FFA)- finally, a free for all battle. Players must throw snowballs at one another to earn points. Players can increase their snowball size to earn more points.
Aeolis Tournament Impressions
Aeolis Tournament was easily one of our favorite games at PAX East 2020; because of this, it received the “Best Indie Game” nomination and here’s why. The game is rather simplistic to play but there is a deeper level of mechanics to understand to be victorious. Yes, the game only requires a single button to play, but to win you must understand each match’s objective and how to use your air cannon to succeed. Aeolis tournament is a fun party game that can either be played with friends or with bots. The last party game I can remember having so much fun with was Heave Ho. The game is easy to just pick up and play; there were multiple times during PAX that we stopped by the booth to play a quick game with a random assortment of players.
For a game that will only cost 15 USD // 17.50 CAD // 12.50 EUR, the graphics. although cartoony, were colorful and crisp. Mechanics for the game were well rounded and smooth. The interesting fact that it only requires one button to play makes the game even more appealing. If we are all stuck in isolation into May, Aeolis Tournament might be a way to bring fun back into on edge households.
Aeolis tournament is scheduled to be released in May later this year; it will be available on the Nintendo Switch and Steam.
