Bad Rats
| Bad Rats: The Rats' Revenge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Invent4 Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Invent4 Entertainment |
| Designer(s) | Augusto Bülow |
| Programmer(s) | Augusto Bülow |
| Artist(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | Márcio Stein |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | 20 July 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Bad Rats: The Rats' Revengeis a 2009puzzle video gamedeveloped by Invent4 Entertainment. Over a string of levels, the player places a set of rats and static objects to guide a ball towards a trap that kills a cat.Bad Ratswas released as Invent4 Entertainment's debut game on 20 July 2009 viaSteam,followed by releases on other services in 2010. While it received no reviews at release, retrospective pieces criticised the game's graphics, puzzles, and physics.Bad Ratsis considered an oddity for being released on Steam while the platform's catalogue was still hand-curated. It became a populargag gifton Steam, leading to more than 400,000 owners by 2018. A sequel,Bad Rats Show,was released on the seventh anniversary ofBad Ratsin 2016.
Gameplay
[edit]
Bad Ratsis aphysics-basedpuzzle video gamein a style similar toThe Incredible MachineandArmadillo Run.In eachlevel,the player is tasked with arranging (by moving and rotating) a set of rats and static objects in a way that steers a ball towards a trap. The ball's touch causes the trap to activate, killing the nearby cat. The game offers a tutorial and two modes: In the "Easy" mode, the inventory is limited and the solution to each level can be displayed. The "Expert" mode provides the entire inventory, including all ten kinds of rats, and no solutions. Hints for each level are available in both modes.[1]
Development and release
[edit]Bad Ratswas developed by Invent4 Entertainment, anindie gamestudio based inPorto Alegre.[2][3]It was the company's first game, after it was founded by Augusto Bülow on 4 April 2009.[3][4]Bülow provided the concept for the game and acted as itsprogrammerandlevel designer.[2][5]Carlos Alberto Kunkel Bülow designed the3D modelsand their animations, whilegraffitiimagery was provided by Mateus "Mes" Silva Brum. Additional art was created by Gustavo Bülow, and music andsound designdone by Márcio Stein.[5]
AdemoofBad Ratswas released through Invent4 Entertainment's website on 20 May 2009. This demo was downloaded more than 20,000 times by August that year, and an updated version was published in November.Bad Ratswas released viaSteamon 20 July 2009. It was made available through Invent4 Entertainment's website in January 2010, as well asGamersGateandDirect2Drivein February 2010. In April that year, the company announced partnerships that would seeBad Rats(and future games) released byStrategy Firstin North America, byAkellain Russia, and by Micromedia in the Netherlands.[4]
Reception
[edit]In a 2015 retrospective, Nathan Grayson ofKotakustated that the game remained the worst game available on Steam. In particular, he criticised the game's "shoddy" puzzles and "inconsistent" physics.[6]This sentiment was echoed by Max Scoville and Brian Altano ofIGNlater that year.[7]In 2018, Adam Heron ofHardcore Gaming 101describedBad Ratsas "possibly... the worst physics-based puzzle game of all time". He criticised the "hideous, grungy urban art direction" and its low-qualitytextures,and described the improper physics as the game's "fatal flaw", especially due to the randomness applied to scenarios Heron believed should be static. He further faulted the game'suser interface,which he considered unfriendly and unintuitive.[1]Richard Cobbett and Wes Fenlon ofPC Gamerincluded the cover art ofBad Ratsin their list of the "worst PC game box art ever", calling it a "monstrosity".[8]
Legacy
[edit]According to Grayson,Bad Ratswas an oddity on Steam when it was released, as the platform's catalogue was still hand-curated by its owner,Valve,before the launch of theSteam Greenlightprogramme in 2012.[1][2]Augusto Bülow stated thatBad Ratsonly became popular several years following its release, after negative reviews by popularYouTubersturned attention toward the game.[2]Bad Ratsbecame aninternet memeand was frequently used as agag giftby Steam users.[1][6][9]Many users penned sarcastic positive reviews, resulting in an on-average positive review score for the game.[6][10]In a 2016 interview, Bülow said that he was happy with this situation, saying that, becauseBad Ratshad been "planned to be funny", "If people are laughing while playing the game, that's fine. The game reached its objectives."[2]In July 2018, based on leaked Steam player counts,Bad Ratswas estimated to have 476,787 unique players on the platform.[11]
According to Bülow, a sequel toBad Ratswas planned from the outset, originally with the intent to include dogs alongside cats.[2]A secondBad Ratsgame was teased through videos, starting in December 2014, and announced asBad Rats Showin a trailer duringE3 2016.[6][12]It was released on 20 July 2016, the seventh anniversary ofBad Rats.[9]Bülow presented an in-development mobile version ofBad Rats,designated thePocket Edition,in September 2017.[13]In December 2019, he announcedBad Rats 3.[14]The game was intended to be released on 20 July 2023—the fourteenth anniversary ofBad Rats—but missed this target.[15]
References
[edit]- ^abcdHeron, Adam (17 May 2018)."Bad Rats".Hardcore Gaming 101.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^abcdefGrayson, Nathan (22 July 2016)."Meet The Proud Creator Of The Worst Game On Steam".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on 21 January 2019.Retrieved20 January2019.
- ^ab"Company".Invent4 Entertainment. 2009–2010.Archivedfrom the original on 2 June 2019.Retrieved3 July2019.
- ^ab"News".Invent4 Entertainment. 2009–2010.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved7 December2020.
- ^ab"Bad Rats Manual"(PDF).Invent4 Entertainment. 2009. p. 22.Archived(PDF)from the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020– viaSteam.
- ^abcdGrayson, Nathan (20 May 2015)."Six Years Later,Bad RatsIs Still Known As Steam's Shittiest Game ".Kotaku.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^Scoville, Max; Altano, Brian (16 December 2015)."Is This Really The Worst Game on Steam?".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 14 October 2018.Retrieved14 October2018.
- ^Cobbett, Richard; Fenlon, Wes (23 May 2017)."The worst PC game box art ever".PC Gamer.p. 30.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^abO'Connor, Alice (20 July 2016)."Send In The Clowns: Bad Rats 2 Released".Rock Paper Shotgun.Archivedfrom the original on 7 October 2018.Retrieved21 July2016.
- ^Reuben, Nic (1 October 2020)."The best rat games on PC: chewing through bins and into our hearts".PCGamesN.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^Orland, Kyle (6 July 2018)."Valve leaks Steam game player counts; we have the numbers".Ars Technica.Archivedfrom the original on 10 July 2018.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^"Here are all the E3 2016 PC trailers so far".PCGamesN.16 June 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020.
- ^Bülow, Augusto (13 September 2017).BadRats Mobile PocketEdition.Invent4 Entertainment.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2020.Retrieved11 December2020– viaYouTube.
- ^Bülow, August [@augustoblw] (13 December 2019)."Gostaria de anunciar para o mundo que acabei de idealizar o Bad Rats 3. #BadRats3"[I would like to announce to the world that I have just dreamed up Bad Rats 3. #BadRats3] (Tweet) (in Brazilian Portuguese).Archivedfrom the original on 20 July 2023.Retrieved20 July2023– viaTwitter.
- ^Invent4 Entertainment [@Invent4] (20 July 2023)."Happy Bad Rats' Day! Yes, past year we planned to have Bad Rats 3 ready today. Plans changed, unfortunately. To create a honouring concurrent to GTA VI we'll need a few more time. We confirm that Bad Rats 3 in on the way, under development, but the release date is to be defined"(Tweet).Archivedfrom the original on 20 July 2023.Retrieved20 July2023– viaTwitter.
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