Klifur
Klifur is an exuberant morsel of a game from Torfi Asgeirsson -- one of the minds behind NUTS and A Firm Handshake -- that aims to explore physics and character movement by getting players to put a plucky climber through their paces.
The project was inspired by turn-based fighting game Toribash, which lets players devise their own moves by choosing which muscles to contract or relax before each turn in a blend of turn-based and realtime combat.
Intrigued by that mechanic, Asgeirsson wanted to dig deeper into physics-laded limb management and started tinkering in Unity with a view to creating, well, something vaguely playable. The result is Klifur (that's Icelandic for "climbing," by the way), which combines a handful of mechanics -- such as a stamina bar and a variety of holds -- with tight puzzle design to deliver a bite-sized experience that's surprisingly dynamic.
After tucking into Klifur during a recent lunch break, I reached out to Asgeirsson to hear more about the technical workings and design inspirations behind his little spoonful of digital joy. Oh, and if you're keen to take Klifur for a spin before reading on, it's currently playable over on Itch.
Game Developer: You've mentioned that you often think about games that attempt to explore one new or interesting idea, so I'm curious to know what intrigued you about character movement?
Torfi: So, the character setup is very simple. The torso is a dynamic rigidbody and the hands and feet are kinematic rigidbodies while they are on holds, otherwise they are dynamic, and they are attached to the torso via a distance joint. There is no force on those joints, they just keep the hands and feet within a certain radius from the shoulders and hips respectively.
The knee and
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