Graveball, the spooky, savage skill-based sport where goblins kill one another (and themselves!) from developer Goin’ Yumbo and publisher 3D Realms, serves and spikes onto Steam today.
Those darn goblins. Leave them to their own devices for too long and they start inventing violent sports just to pass the time. Now they’re playing “Graveball,” a 3v3 game combining the best parts of football, basketball, and cold-blooded murder. Score points by running a skullball into the opposing end zone, shooting it into a hoop that appears every 30 seconds, or smashing the other team into gross, goblin-y gobs with deadly clubs.
But they have to be killed quick, because death can’t keep a goblin down for too long. Bodily obliteration merely sets their spirits free, allowing them to dart across the playing field at twice the speed. These little monsters crave victory so fiercely that they’re even willing to slit their own throats for the cause with one press of a convenient “suicide” button. Though they can’t touch the skullball in phantom form, Death conjures up fresh bodies for them in just a few seconds.
Deft use of techniques like ghost-dashing and club-tossing make Graveball a high-skill high-thrill romp through the cemetery. Turn a near-defeat into a valiant comeback by getting slaughtered, then ghosting to defend the endzone and throwing the club to knock the skullball out of the way. All goblins are on an equal playing field with the same abilities, differentiated only by unlockable masks, weapons, hairstyles, and taunt animations, so learning how to play is the only way to ensure victory.
Spectating (specterating? Sorry, we tried) a game of Graveball offers a different type of excitement. Skillful, last-second saves like catching opponents’ weapons in mid-air or blocking shots make it easy to get amped up. With a ragdoll camera and goblin hang-time/body-distance trackers, the game’s quick matches are often as hilarious as they are gripping.
“These creepy little goblins are near and dear to me after spending so much time making sure Graveball was the game I wanted it to be,” said Riley Dirksen, founder, Goin’ Yumbo. “I invite you all to meet them in the cemetery, and I hope you have fun with their bizarre bloodsport.”
Graveball is available digitally in English on the PC via Steam for $4.99 USD.
