One of the more pleasant surprises I’ve found at PAX thus far is a cool indie game called Forced. I was instantly drawn to it by the Gauntlet-esque gameplay and graphics, so I decided to take a seat and play some. Though the controls gave me some trouble, that is in no way indicative of the game being badly made. It had everything to do with me not generally playing on anything besides Nintendo consoles.

Look at the pretty medieval environments!

However, once I got the hang of the controls, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was this a pretty and challenging game, it was also a smart one. Players had a basic melee move that could repel enemies, a crowd control attack that had to be charged up, and a floating sphere of magic. This sphere not only counsels you on how to play the game, it’s also used to cast magic and trip traps. It can also be used to trigger the vital healing points found in each area.

The nice man with the axe wants a word with you…

As you progress, the game rewards you with crystals, with more available by reaching certain goals. Gather enough, and you’ll unlock new special passive and active abilities. Further rounding out the demo were four different classes. I instantly gravitated toward the molten-hammer-wielding fellow, who was slow but powerful. I wandered about, killing swarming monsters as well as brutal knights in armor, and it was all glorious medieval fun. It was also nice to get walked through my difficulties by Kenneth Harder, CTO and co-founder of BetaDwarf, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based company developing the game.

Forced was a lot of fun. I can’t wait until the full game is released October 24th, 2013. The game will be available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux and the Wii U. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and look the game up.