Thank you Those Awesome Guys for sending us this game to review!

Move or Die is a collection of fast-paced mini-games that are best enjoyed with friends (locally or online) or with complete strangers on the internet.  Playing offline against bots is possible too, though the only way to unlock new character skins is through online gameplay.  Experience is earned if you do well against others and if you drop out of an online match, you could be penalized by not gaining experience for a while.  In other words, don’t drop out of the game if you’re losing.

Winning or not, the game modes are hilariously fun and worth sticking it out since they last about a minute apiece.  Add mutators into the mix and your gameplay experience is bound to be unique each time.  Though violence is a given with the title, it’s all in good fun and there is no blood or gore anywhere.  As the title suggests, you must keep moving in order to regenerate your depleting health bar.  Some of the mutators reverse this mechanic by requiring you to stay still to regenerate health or by having to touch another player in order to live.  Other mutators will cause you to kill players upon touching them, randomly drop bombs or change gravity like the game VVVVVV.  

Homages to other games are shown by having a Shovel Knight skin and a SUPERHOT based level where the bullets move in slow motion.  Some of the other levels my family enjoys playing include:

Chainsaw Backstab – Each player is equipped with a chainsaw that works from behind.  If attacked from the front the chainsaws from both players will go flying.

Boss Fight –  One randomly selected player is a boss while the others try to attack it with their short range tazers.  Can the boss survive the attack and win?

Sugar Rush – Candy is randomly dropped and whoever can eat the most of it and say alive, wins.

Spike Ball – Avoid the spiked ball at all costs!

Ghost Scare – Players are mostly invisible and they have to sneak up and scare other players to death.

Shifty Ground – Avoid the deadly areas that change every few seconds.

Loot Grab – Collect the randomly dispersed loot and bring it to your chest.   Make sure others don’t steal from your collection!

Speed Run – Try to get to the end before the rest of the players!

Static Bounce – Avoid the static balls that appear when players collide.

Jump Shot – Try to shoot the other players, but your gun only fires in the air.

Hat Chase – Attempt to get the hat and wear it as long as possible.

Falling blocks – Avoid the falling blocks that will kill you upon impact.

Fizzle Floor – The ground randomly disintegrates; try to stay on the good parts!

Bomb Tag – One random player has a bomb strapped to them, keep away from them before it explodes or gets strapped onto you instead!

Rocket Run – Avoid the homing missiles.

Cleanup Crew – Who can clean the most spots before time runs out?

Mind Control – Touch a player to look like them.  It is possible to keep track, but it takes more work. 

God Gun – One random player is given control of an overly powerful gun that can blast the ground and nearby players; survivors will get a chance to return the favor.  

Building Blocks – Quickly build your own platforms to survive the approaching deadly floor.

Hoops – (My family was bad at this one) Your goal here is to make as many baskets as possible.  

As you can see there’s plenty of variety in the mini-games.  Just when you get the hang of some of the modes, a mutator may be implemented that will make it even easier or more challenging.  It’s hard to complete a speed run in the dark or to keep track of your character with hundreds of random decoys running around.  The jetpack and stabilizer mutators are handy though.  Some of the mutators are silly like the NSFW one which blurs out the players.  

Since its launch there have been over one hundred free updates to the game.  The developers are very responsive to player feedback and don’t nickel and dime you for DLC.  The base price of $14.99 is reasonable, but this game has been 50% off in Steam sales and is worth every penny.

If you like challenging multiplayer games and have a short attention span, then Move or Die will be a perfect fit for you and your loved ones.  Although there isn’t any blood or gore, there is some potty humor with character skins showing butts or looking like poop.  If that doesn’t bother you, add this game to your wish list!