VVVVVV

Not to be confused withvvvvv,vvvv,orWWW.

For other uses, seeV6 (disambiguation)and6V (disambiguation).

VVVVVV
Developer(s)	Terry Cavanagh
Publisher(s)	Terry Cavanagh Nicalis(3DS, PS4, Vita, Switch)
Designer(s)	Terry Cavanagh Bennett Foddy
Composer(s)	Magnus Pålsson
Engine	Adobe Flash(original)
Platform(s)	Windows,Nintendo Switch,OS X,Linux,Nintendo 3DS,PlayStation Vita,PlayStation 4,iOS,Android,Ouya,Commodore 64,Pandora,Wii
Release	January 11, 2010 Microsoft Windows,OS X January 11, 2010 Linux July 26, 2011 Nintendo 3DS NA:December 29, 2011 EU:May 10, 2012 AU:October 4, 2012 Ouya June 11, 2014 iOS,Android June 12, 2014 PlayStation 4,PlayStation Vita NA:August 25, 2015 PAL:August 26, 2015 Nintendo Switch November 17, 2017
Genre(s)	Puzzle-platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

VVVVVVis a 2010puzzle-platform gamecreated byTerry Cavanagh.In the game, the player controls Captain Viridian, who must rescue their spacecrew after a teleporter malfunction caused them to be separated in Dimension VVVVVV. The gameplay is characterized by the inability of the player to jump, instead opting on controlling the direction of gravity, causing the player to fall upwards or downwards.The game consists of more than 400 individual rooms, and also supports the creation of user-created levels.

The game was built inAdobe Flashand released on January 11, 2010, forMicrosoft WindowsandOS X.The game wasportedtoC++by Simon Roth in 2011,and released as part of theHumble Indie Bundle #3.The port to C++ allowed the porting of the game to other platforms such asLinux,Pandora,Nintendo 3DS,andNintendo Switch.

Gameplay

In this room, Captain Viridian must avoid the red spikes and green ghost. The "C" icon to the left of the spike pit is a checkpoint, which the player is returned to upon dying.

Unlike mostplatforminggames, inVVVVVV,the player is not able to jump, but they instead can reverse the direction of gravity when standing on a surface, causing Captain Viridian to fall either upwards or downwards.This novel feature was first seen in the 19868-bitgameTerminus.The player uses this mechanic to traverse the game's environment and avoid various hazards, including stationary spikes and moving enemies.

Later areas introduce new mechanics such as moving floors or rooms which, upon touching one edge of the screen,cause the player character to appear on the other side.

VVVVVVcontains eight mainlevels,including an intro level, four levels which can be accessed in anon-linear sequence,two intermission levels, and one final level, only seen outside Dimension VVVVVV (in a "polar dimension" ). These are situated inside a large open world for the player to explore, spanning more than 400 individual rooms.Due to its high level of difficulty, the game world contains many checkpoints, to which the player's character is reset upon death.

Plot

The player controls Captain Viridian, who at the outset ofVVVVVVmust evacuate the spaceship along with the captain's crew, when the ship becomes affected by "dimensional interference". The crew escapes through ateleporteron the ship; however, Captain Viridian becomes separated from the rest of the crew on the other end of the teleporter. Upon returning to the ship, the Captain learns that the ship is trapped in an alternative dimension (referred to asDimension VVVVVV), and that the ship's crew has been scattered throughout this dimension. The player's goal, as Captain Viridian, is to rescue the missing crew members and find the cause of the dimensional interference.

Development

The gravity-flipping mechanic ofVVVVVVis based on an earlier game designed by Cavanagh titledSine Wave Ninja.In an interview with IndieGames.com, Cavanagh said that he was interested in using this idea as a core concept of a game, something he felt other games which include a gravity-flipping mechanism had never done before.

Cavanagh first unveiledVVVVVVon his blog in June 2009. The game had been in development for two weeks, and Cavanagh estimated that the game would be finished in another two, "but hopefully not much longer."A follow-up post published in July 2009 included screenshots of the game and an explanation of the game's gravity-flipping mechanic. Cavanagh wrote thatVVVVVV,unlike some of his previous work such asJudithandPathways,would not be a "storytelling experiment", but rather "focused on the level design".The game was first shown publicly at the 2009Eurogamer Expo,which gave Cavanagh the opportunity to collect feedback from players.In December 2009, a beta version ofVVVVVVwhich had been given to donors wasleakedon4chan.

The visual style ofVVVVVVis heavily inspired by 8-bit computer games from the 1980s, especiallyJet Set WillyandMonty on the Run,which is referenced by the element of collecting difficult-to-reach shiny objects and most notably the naming of each room; Cavanagh aimed to create a game "that looked and felt like theC64games I grew up with. "He eventually entrusted naming the rooms toQWOPdeveloperBennett Foddy,who created every room name in the final version.The game's music is heavily dependent onchiptuneelements. Swedish composer Magnus Pålsson scored the game, and released the original soundtrack in 2010, titledPPPPPP.

Cavanagh also considered this game an opportunity to indulge in his "retro fetish". He has said because he lacks the technical prowess to make more modern-looking games, he instead focuses on making them visually interesting; additionally, he finds this to be made easier by "work[ing] within narrow limits".VVVVVVwas the first game which Cavanagh sold commercially. While his previous games were all released as freeware, due to the size ofVVVVVVcompared to his previous work, Cavanagh felt that he "couldn't see [himself] going down that route."

The Sad Elephant near Space Station 2

VVVVVVcontains many strange visual elements, most notably the sad elephant, sometimes also called the elephant in the room, which is a large elephant with a tear dropping from its eye. It spans four rooms near the Space Station area of Dimension VVVVVV, flickering constantly from color to color. If the player stands near the elephant for a short period of time, it will cause Captain Viridian to become sad. The elephant serves no function to the game, but has served to provoke much discussion about its meaning or symbolism amongst fans of the game. Similarly to many of the enemies in the game, the sad elephant originated in dream journals kept by creator Terry Cavanagh and not fromJet Set Willyas once believed.

Release

VVVVVVwas released on January 11, 2010, forMicrosoft WindowsandMac OS X.Atrial versionof the game is playable on the websiteKongregate.ALinuxversion was in development, but a number of technical difficulties arose in theportingprocess, which led Cavanagh to cancel it for the time being.

The game was rewritten in C++ by games developer Simon Roth in 2011, allowing Linux support to be successfully implemented. This formed version 2.0 ofVVVVVV,launched on July 24, 2011, as part of the thirdHumble Indie Bundle.Version 2.0 also features support for custom levels, and a level editor.The C++ port also allowed for the implementation of new graphics modes and various speed improvements. Version 2.0, however, does not support saved games from the original Flash version ofVVVVVV;many players received this update via Steam without warning, and hence were unable to continue their existing saved games. A save-file exporter is in development.

Based on thissource codeit was also ported in 2011 for theOpen Pandora,which requires the data files from theMicrosoft Windows,Mac OS XorLinuxversion of the game to work.

On October 7, 2011, it was announced that a version of the game was being made forNintendo 3DSby Nicalis. It was released on December 29, 2011, in North America and May 10, 2012, in Europe.The Nintendo 3DS version was eventually released in Japan on October 12, 2016, courtesy of Japanese publisher Pikii.In 2010, a demo of the game's early levels was ported to the Commodore 64 by programmer Paul Koller, with Cavanagh's assistance.In April 2017 a complete port to the Commodore 64 was released by developer Laxity.

On the 10th anniversary of the game's release in January 2020, Cavanagh made its source codepublicly availableonGitHub.This led to the development of Version 2.3, which was driven mainly by the community. Most of the work was done by one contributor, Misa Kai, who was later compensated by Cavanagh.

Version 2.4 was released on January 10, 2024, for the 14th anniversary. It contains a localization system, allowing for 21 new languages to be added.

Soundtrack

PPPPPP
Soundtrack albumby SoulEye
Released	January 10, 2010
Genre	video game music dance electronic
SoulEye chronology
PPPPPP (2010) Adventure (2012)

The soundtrack ofVVVVVVwas composed bychiptunemusician Magnus Pålsson (also known as SoulEye). Cavanagh approached Pålsson to composeVVVVVVafter playingSpace Phallus,an indie game by Charlie's Games, which featured a song by him. Pålsson wrote on the Distractionware blog that, upon playing Cavanagh's previous games, he was "amazed at the depth that came with the games, even though they were small and short." In writing the music forVVVVVV,Pålsson aimed to make "uptempo happy songs that would ingrain themselves into your minds whether you want to or not, hopefully so much so that you’d go humming on them when not playing, and making you want to come back to the game even more."The complete soundtrack, titledPPPPPP,was released on January 10, 2010, alongsideVVVVVVand is sold as amusic downloadorCDon Pålsson's personal website.On June 12, 2014, Pålsson released apower metalversion of the soundtrack titledMMMMMMwhich was arranged and performed by guitarist Jules Conroy.The album contains a mod file to replace the in-game music with the metal tracks. Video game record label Materia Collective released a 180g picture disc vinyl LP edition on January 11, 2020.

All tracks are written by SoulEye

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Powerup"	0:05
2.	"Presenting VVVVVV"	2:43
3.	"Pause"	0:10
4.	"Pushing Onwards"	3:42
5.	"Path Complete"	0:10
6.	"Passion for Exploring"	2:55
7.	"Positive Force"	2:51
8.	"Predestined Fate"	2:13
9.	"Phear"	0:20
10.	"Potential for Anything"	3:45
11.	"Pressure Cooker"	3:30
12.	"Plenary"	0:23
13.	"Pipe Dream"	2:24
14.	"Popular Potpourri"	6:12
15.	"Positive Force (Reversed)"	2:51
16.	"Waiting for VVVVVV"	0:59
Total length:		35:13

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	PC: 81/100 3DS: 83/100 iOS: 95/100 NS: 80/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
GamesRadar+	8/10
IGN	7.5/10
TouchArcade

VVVVVVhas been generally well received by critics, earning a score of 81/100 for the Windows version and 83/100 for the 3DS version onreview aggregatorwebsiteMetacritic.The game was noted for being the first important independent release of 2010;Kieron GillenofRock, Paper, Shotguncalled it "the first great Indie game of the year",while Michael Rose, writing for IndieGames.com, noted that the release ofVVVVVVfollowed a year which "some may argue...didn't really deliver an outstanding indie title which showed the mainstream that independent developers mean business."The level design ofVVVVVVwas lauded by critics:Rose considered the game to have no filler content, which he found to be "one of the game's strongest points".Michael McWhertor of gaming news blogKotakuwrote that the game's areas contained "a surprising amount of variation throughout...ensuring thatVVVVVVnever feels like its designer failed to explore the gameplay possibilities. "

Most reviewers wrote ofVVVVVV'shigh level of difficulty.McWhertor found that "the game's trial and error moments can seriously test one's patience."However, several critics noted that the game's challenge is made less frustrating due to its numerous checkpoints, as well as the player's ability to retry after dying as many times as needed.These additions madeVVVVVV"not unforgiving", according toIGNstaff writer Samuel Claiborn, while still being "old-school in its demands of player dedication".Independent reviewer Declan Tyson said that he feels "victimised by the game's criminally unforgiving collision detection and over-enthusiastically sensitive controls" but that "it's all worth it for when you reach the next checkpoint and feel that split second of relief".IGN’s Matthew Adler namedVVVVVVthe 12th hardest modern game, saying it requires quick reflexes in order to survive and that players will likely die many times.

The price ofVVVVVVwhen it was originally released was $15. This was seen by McWhertor as being the game's "one unfortunate barrier" to entry: "While there's plenty to see and do after blazing through the game's core campaign, the steeper than expected asking price will probably turn some off."Likewise, Gillen wrote in his review that the cost "does strike you as a lot for an Indie lo-fi platformer", while insisting that "it is worth the money".Since its original release, the price ofVVVVVVhas been reduced to $5. On his blog, Cavanagh said that the decision was difficult to make, but added, "I know that the original price of $15 was off putting for a lot of people".

VVVVVVwas awarded the IndieCade 2010 award for "Most Fun and Compelling" game in October 2010.Game development blogGamasutrahonoredVVVVVVin its year-end independent games awards, which earned second place in 2009 and an honorable mention in 2010.The game's protagonist, Captain Viridian, is a playable character in theWindowsversion of the platform gameSuper Meat Boy.

External links

• Official website
• VVVVVVatIMDb
• VVVVVVonGitHub