Disc Room is a ridiculously difficult game that wants you to succeed

Gameplay and early impressions for Disc Room, also available on YouTube.

At a glance, Disc Room looks like the kind of game I'd admire from a distance but never, ever touch. The premise is simple: you're a little space man. Avoid the discs. That's it.

There's no shooting involved, just one joystick for running around and some simple one-button abilities that augment your movement, like a dash. It's a single-stick take on the twin-stick genre, the kind of potent genre reduction I'd expect from some of the people behind Minit, a minimalist rendition of Zelda-like adventures.

But for all the endless variations of discs out to kill you, Disc Room doesn't want to make you feel bad for kicking your ass. The room resets instantly after every death and multiple objectives for each room, including a Pokemon inspired Get Killed by 'em All system, asks players to seek death from every disc.

Death can be a reward in Disc Room. There are even options to slow down (or increase, you monster) the game speed that won't penalize you for finding your challenge comfort zone. It might be the chillest, friendliest 'hard' game I've played recently.

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles.