GamesMaster got some kids to design a game, so now you can play Bouncing Bum Bums
Even a robot boss with a "bum bum mouth."
Never work with children or animals they say, to which the hardy souls of GamesMaster said: Nah, let's go all-in. What I've watched of the recent reboot of the cult series on E4 (which is now produced by PC Gamer's publisher Future) has been surprisingly decent, and in the second episode a segment goes into exactly what I want the show to be doing: Daft gaming stunts.
In this case it's a bunch of very cute kids who tell the show's hosts what their dream game would be. Anyone who has kids will know that the answers were to be expected: "You ride snakes around a village and get weapons." Then there's a wolf, chickens that lay bombs, a five-eyed robot boss, and loads of bums. As one of the children explains when asked 'why bums'—"for me, they're funny."
Well said, young man.
Answers collated, the the fine folks at Asobi.tech set about to build this vision from the bottom up: creating the game within a 72 hour deadline.
Very proud to be the team behind the game, Bouncing Bum Bums, made in 72 hrs for new #Gamesmaster 2021 ep 2. The kids really inspired us to make something fun and silly.Well done @ZombiWorkshop @k_asobitech @quangdx and EvilDrFish.Also thanks to @Jupiter_Hadley for the intro. pic.twitter.com/NpcdGinN50November 28, 2021
Bouncing Bum Bums is not going to be troubling any game of the year lists, but this is what GamesMaster's all about. The kids want bums? A robot with a bum-bum mouth? Yeah screw it, let's go. Let's get a few shots in at E4 while we're at it.
"I need to be honest here," says the show's host Rab Florence, finally trying out Bouncing Bum Bums for the first time. "I'm hating this. I'm hating every moment of this."
Probably not wrong but who cares what he thinks: You can try the game yourself here. As the developers very reasonably point out, "keep in mind it was made in 72 hours and [is] really buggy."
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The GamesMaster reboot is on E4's Youtube now, with one further episode to come. If this is what they spend the money on, then keep them coming.
Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."