Tunnel Rush is an addictive video game for anyone!
Why do we play video games? That might be a slightly lofty way to start, but hear us out. What is the purpose of video games? That’s debatable, and it changes from game to game, but the vast majority of games exist to entertain. A video game should challenge, yes, but it should also be enjoyable; at its most basic, a video game will allow you to pass a few hours, and at its most advanced it’s an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime.
Whether you prefer your games to tell a compelling story or simply offer a great gameplay experience, it’s undeniable that you want to have fun playing them. Into this world, and with this challenge hanging over it, comes Tunnel Rush. Tunnel Rush comes to us from Deer Cat Studios, a small, relatively new independent outfit based in the UK. They’re not a massively experienced studio; their projects to date consist of Tunnel Rush and one other game, with several other projects having been shelved over the years.
We started with that rather windy opening screed because Tunnel Rush was the first game in a while with which we’ve had simple, pure, unadulterated fun. There’s no struggle to get into a Tunnel Rush game, no huge narrative scroll beforehand to sink your teeth into and no interruption of the action. Once you begin playing, it’s just all gameplay, all the time.
Let’s back up a little and explain the core gameplay. In Tunnel Rush, the objective is to…well…rush through a series of tunnels. The gameplay strongly resembles auto-runners like Bit. Trip, only without the ability to jump; the game plays out entirely in first person, with players dodging and swerving through obstacle courses which increase in complexity as the 100 stages play out.