The creator of Dusk says his cat went behind his back to release this $5 'bite-sized' FPS early

News
By published

Chop Goblins, a "micro shooter" where Goblins will be chopped, was originally set for an early January launch.

David Szymanski, the creator of Dusk, one of the most important shooters of the past five years, has just launched his latest game, Chop Goblins. Or, if Szymanski is to be believed, his cat Zamboni released it behind his back. The nefarious Zamboni strikes again.

We previously reported that Szymanski intended to launch Chop Goblins as a New Year's surprise. Uncertainty around the future of Twitter as a useful platform to promote the game prompted Szymanski to announce it early. Now the developer (or his cat) has curved us once again, making Chop Goblins available on Steam with a 10% launch discount.

Chop Goblins sees you battling with the titular weird little guys across time and space, with levels including a gothic castle, Greek temple, and a modern day city. The arsenal is similarly varied, and includes a flintlock pistol, WWI machine gun, and the "Mk. II Impaler 'Vlad' automatic stake gun."

Chop Goblins has an estimated run time of 30 minutes, but also prizes replayability and has an arcade-style scoring system. Szymanski himself and Ultrakill creator Arsi "Hakita" Patala are currently vying for the top spot with scores in the 160,000 range.

With the introductory offer, you can get Chop Goblins on Steam for about $4.50 until December 19. Stay tuned for our likely Tales From the Hard Drive oral history of its launch a few years down the line as well: Did Zamboni really blow this whole thing wide open? Or was the feline merely a scapegoat for more nefarious powers?

Ted Litchfield
Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.