Morphies Law (3D shooter) announced for the Nintendo Switch

1 September 2017 Lite_Agent Cosmocope, Morphies Law

There isn’t that many shooters on the Nintendo Switch, especially one as unique as the one announced during the Nindies Summer Showcased on Wednesday: Morphies Law. The developers introduce it as a “robot morphology driven 3D shooter”.

Now, what do they mean by “robot morphology driven”, exactly? Well, it’s pretty simple: the game has a basic “law”, that makes it so that each weapon hit transfers mass from the victim’s limb to the corresponding limb of the shooter. For example, if you hit an enemy on the head, their head will become smaller, while yours will grow bigger.

This has various consequences, the most obvious one being skilled players becoming taller (and therefore easier to hit), while less skilled players become harder to hit due to their reduced size. That way, everyone can enjoy the game together, regardless of their skills.

Another consequence of the limbs changing size is that this directly affects what you can and cannot do. For example, a player with tall legs can jump on buildings, while a small one can hide in tiny holes. What’s more, your size also has a direct influence on some of your abilities, such as the butt-rocket (that will not behave the same if you’re tall or small). To become a skilled player, you will need to adapt your playstyle to your size.

This also applies to your team: a successful one builds its strategy around the body size of its members. The thing is, friendly fire does not damage the team’s avatar (which also grows in size when you hit opponents), so you can shoot a teammate to make them smaller and allow them to go through small passages for example. Using friendly fire to your advantage is key to victory!

Here’s the key features of the game:

A unique robot morphology system: when stealing mass from other Morphies each body part scales independently, allowing countless body configurations.

Robot morphology based balancing: skilled players grow and become easier targets. Less skilled players shrink until they are difficult to hit. Fairness ensues.

Your abilities are driven by your morphology: your body mass distribution directly affects what you can do. Leg size is responsible for the jump height, feet size affects the strengh of your landing effect, etc.

Robot morphology based strategies: the different abilities and navigation options can create plenty of strategies! Friendly fire can also help you strategize even more. Imagine designating teammates to be offensive players and shrinking them into difficult targets. As they grow by decimating the enemy team, you can try to keep them small by showering them with friendly fire.

Several game modes: the robot morphology system imbues traditional game modes like team deathmatch with new life. But there are also unique new game modes built around the unique mass-centered gameplay mechanic

Finally, here’s a trailer and some pictures for Morphies Law on Nintendo Switch: