Watch out for that tree!!

This is one of those games that crossed my path due to being front and centre on the Xbox Game Pass. I thought it looked like a nice casual time sink, something I could spend my lunch just chilling out with. Turns out I was bang on the money in terms of casual, but not so much the chilling. Just Cruising Lonely Mountains: Downhill was a game funded on Kickstarter to the amount of €45,000. With this money, the small indie team at Megagon Industries have created something really quite charming. You play as an unnamed downhill mountain biker who simply has to make it from point A at the top of the mountain to point B at the bottom as quickly as possible. Sounds simple right? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nfJxYa3kt5U" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Well at its most basic, you twist and turn your way down the mountain path avoiding rocks, trees and other obstacles thrown in your way. Take that and throw in a combination of narrow paths, cliffs, steep fast slopes, mud that slows, jumps, shortcuts and many, many different routes and you end up with something far deeper than just cycling down a hill. ####Simple Mechanics, High Skill Level It's fair to say that if you were to just let the bike freewheel down the mountain, you may well be able to get to the end without too many crashes. But if you take a look at some of the challenges for each level you will see that you need to make certain times, reach the end without going over a certain amount of spills and more. To make these challenges you need to seriously up your game. Even the simple mountain becomes a frantic stick shindig with your left thumb doing everything in its power to stop you flinging your body, once again, over the edge of the cliff. The dexterity needed to flick your biker around a shingle path as it gets ever steeper is up there with a flick shot on Call of Duty. You need precision. You need timing and you need patience. ####This Controllers Going Out The Window! Over the course of the last week, this game has given me a sense of accomplishment as I finally get the shortcut down, or complete the mountain in the top 100,000 people who have played the game (my record is about 41,000th in the world on certain stage checkpoints), but holy moly have I wanted to hurl my controlled through the wall at certain points. There is NOTHING more infuriating than smashing down the course, hitting personal bests only to then fall at the last hurdle! That's when I need a break, time to have another lunch to get over this one... Damn you Lonely Mountains: Downhill. I'll be back tomorrow. ——— Original ratings: • Visual Design: 8/10 • Sound Design: 7/10 • Gameplay: 8/10 • Longevity: 7/10 • Fun: 8/10