While it is easy for gamers to get engrossed in the latest AAA titles and big-name, heavily advertised games, there are so many hidden gems waiting for you in the incredibly competitive market that will appeal to your favourite game genre, style of play, or even artistic preferences. In our monthly Indie Game of the Month column, we want to shed some light on the fantastic work being done by the independent teams who pour their passion into their projects. After all, some of your favourite games, from Minecraft to Stardew Valley and everything in between, might be produced by indie developers without you even knowing it.
For our first Indie Game of the Month spotlight, we had a chat with the team behind the upcoming game Judgeball: Lethal Arena, which is currently available as a beta test. While not originally planned as such, the game is already being compared to the likes of Rocket League and puts a fantasy-driven, violent spin on the popular European sport of Handball. The best word we’ve heard to describe it? Handbrawl.
Judgeball: Lethal Arena is the first project from indie game developers Wild Bishop. Based in Liege, Belgium, the team was founded by coworkers who decided to take their careers in a different direction once their former employer was bought out by BT Group. At the head of the ship are CEO and Game Director Brice Mattivi, Creative Director Bobby Tam, and Art Director Didier “Jaba” Mathieu. What may be of interest to fans is that Mathieu is a former Lucas Arts employee and has contributed to globally popular franchises such as Star Wars and Transformers. Mathieu’s influence can be seen throughout the game in its artistic style, which is inspired by his work as a popular street artist. In fact, in the most recent patch of the game, 40 of Mathieu’s street artist friends have contributed to the street aesthetic of the game.
We got to talk with Mattivi and Tam, who explained that their passion for creating games is fuelled by the community, so much so that their upcoming project has been heavily influenced by feedback given by players since the game opened its beta. The original concept looked to draw inspiration from the classic Speedball 2 and take the concept of Warhammer’s Blood Bowl - minus the turn-based approach, but was quickly compared to games like Overwatch and Rocket League. They have a rapidly growing player base of dedicated fans who have put hundreds of hours into the game since its earliest playable stages and have had the rare opportunity to have a legitimate impact on the direction that the game goes. It’s this ability to form close relationships between developers and players that makes the indie scene so unique and appealing. Instead of getting frustrated by features that hinder the game experience, there is an opportunity to give meaningful feedback which will often result in significant changes to how the game is delivered.
While the word “Handbrawl” could adequately sum up what Judgeball entails, it is far deeper than you may expect. The game brings you into a world that has been subjected to a crack in the multiverse, triggering an invasion of races that you see in the game. You have the option between three races - Angels, Demons, and Cybernetic humans - all of which have a strength over one but a weakness over another, much like Rock, Paper, Scissors. In teams of three, you’ll battle one another in an attempt to outscore your opposition. As far as scoring is concerned, you can either throw the ball into the opposition goal, or you can brutally murder one of the opposing players for a goal.
There’s a lot to consider on the run in Judgeball. Not only do you need to get the ball in the opposition goal, but you’ve also got to keep your character alive or risk conceding a goal. You can heal your character by returning to your goal zone, but be wary that standing in the opposition goal will do the complete opposite and kill you. The tie-breaker is a great unique feature as well, you bypass the whole goal-scoring objective and fight one another to be the last one standing. A beautiful combination of brutal combat and delicious competition with others.
Each of Judgeball’s characters has its own backstory, strengths, and weaknesses to balance out the level of competition and open the game up to appeal to players with a wide array of playstyles and strategic approaches to winning. To throw a curveball, sometimes in a literal sense, there is also a selection of equipment available for you to choose to give your character some advantages in the arena. This is ever-growing and Wild Bishop hopes to continue to add to the potential arsenal at the disposal of players but is approaching its growth with surgical precision to protect the game’s delicate balance.
The team at Wild Bishop have huge aspirations for their debut game and have no intention of slowing things down following the full release. In fact, they have called for the support of their rapidly growing fanbase to help fund some of their brightest ideas. Starting today (October 31, 2023), they are commencing a Kickstarter campaign that will kick off with a launch party on their official Twitch channel at 6 pm CET and a tournament to follow.
When asked about the Kickstarter campaign and what the team at Wild Bishop hoped to accomplish with it, they told us a lot about how the community shaped their plans for the future. Mattivi recounted a time during Gamescom when they were approached by a young man who tested the game and absolutely destroyed the creators of the project, only to later find out he was one of the top young prospects in Rocket League. The young man praised their project and drew similarities to Rocket League, saying he enjoyed the challenge and the competitive nature of the game.
This was not the first nor the last time Mattivi and co would hear remarks of this nature, so much so one of the focuses of the Kickstarter campaign would be to fund the integration of monthly tournaments for the game to attract the best of the best, driving competition within its player base like Rocket League. In addition, reaching some of their highest goals would give them the resources they need to not only introduce new champions, arenas, and cosmetic options but also incite another crack in the multiverse that would introduce additional races to join the existing three.
If this is a game that looks and sounds like your idea of a good time, then you can get your hands on it now! The game is in its beta stages, but you can request access on Steam and get involved in Wild Bishop’s very welcoming and friendly community of players. The team will be aiming to bring forward their most polished version of the game at the end of November with an early-access paid launch. The game will kick off with six playable characters, two from each race, and one arena to get you in the groove of the game. At present, it’s only available on PC, but if all bodes well we could very well see Judgeball: Lethal Arena on consoles in the future.
Whether you’re a sports gamer, action fan, or fantasy enthusiast, Judgeball has a bit of something for everyone. With a host of colourful characters and interesting backstories, Judgeball: Lethal Arena is showing great promise and a bright future ahead.
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