OCMO Coming to iOS on November 16

OCMO, the debut game from appropriately-named Team Ocmo, will release globally on November 16th. It will be a premium game with no in-app purchases.

Touted as a “tough but fair” physics platformer, OCMO is a game about momentum and fluidity of movement. A press release from the company states: “It’s not just about mastering the timing like in a typical platformer, but about understanding how the movement types react together”.

The player character uses tentacles to fling itself from surface to surface, building speed as it moves through levels. The developers compare the tentacles to “ninja rope”, claiming that it is the core of the game. The timing, duration and distance are key factors in how far and how fast each “grab” will fling the squid-like creature.

“The game mechanics have so much depth that you keep on finding new ways to use the movement system as you move through the game. Speedrunning the game has endless nuances and opportunities.”

OCMO features 80 levels, as well as secrets and boss fights. In the press release, Team Ocmo compare the game’s frenetic and precise gameplay to Super Meat Boy. Artistically, the levels look like a blend of Patapon and World of Goo, with a more muted colour palette and heavy use of silhouettes.

Jouni Ipatti, lead game designer, explained: “Our goal was to redesign hardcore platformers to suit touchscreen controls”. In place of virtual buttons and keypads, OCMO uses a system of taps and presses for its controls, which the team hope will provide “a movement system with amazing complexity”. Developers have tried with some success to adapt the genre to smartphones in the past, and I’m interested to see how a more physics-oriented game will fare.

OCMO was developed in Turku, Finland by a team of three developers. It launched in Finland in September to critical acclaim and numerous awards, including Game of the Year at Nordic Game Discovery Contest 2017. Beyond iOS, the developers hope to bring OCMO to consoles and PC.

For more information, visit their website.