Hokra is a minimalist sports game for two teams of two players. Players score points by holding the balls in the goals of their color on the corners of the screen. This video I did with Kotaku does a great job of explaining the basics of the game:

The rules are quite simple, but the game has a lot of depth to it. Even though I have played it for innumerable hours, I’m still finding new techniques and strategies when I play against expert competition.

When I started working on Hokra, I wasn’t exactly making a game. I had been playing lots of FIFA, and like many other people, my favorite part of the game is making a good pass. So, as a programming exercise, I decided to develop a top-down passing mechanic. At first, all I had was a single player and a ball. From a top-down view, the player could bounce the ball against the walls. It wasn’t until a friend who is also into FIFA came over that I added a second player. And then, having four controllers at home, I decided to add a couple more players and some goals. Suddenly, I had a game.

Around that time, I was invited to make a game for the NYU Game Center’s No Quarter exhibition of games. The early version of Hokra I had been working on was perfect for the exhibition, so I kept working on it, attempting to perfect it for a competitive audience. One of my primary goals for Hokra was to take the joy I get from playing sports games (and sports) and bring it to everybody. I wanted to make a game that is fun both for people who are into sports games and for gamers who tend to look down on sports games. In this process there were a lot mechanical decisions I had to make in order to make the game feel just right, so I’m super thankful for all the friends who have playtested the game with me. I am especially thankful to Nathan Tompkins (of the band Ava Luna) for creating the music and audio design for the game.

As I keep working on Hokra to make it an even better game for Sportsfriends, I plan on adding quite a lot to it – from the many mechanical tweaks that I’m making all the time to bigger changes like new arenas, and even a crazy 8-player mode. In order for Sportsfriends become a reality, though, we need your support. We are running a kickstarter campaign to get the game made, so if you like the idea of getting together with your friends and playing some of the most awesome competitive multiplayer games ever, consider supporting us.

SPORTSFRIENDS featuring Johann Sebastian Joust from Die Gute Fabrik on Vimeo.

Greetings PlayStation peoples! I’m Doug Wilson, producer of Sportsfriends, a compendium of indie multiplayer games that we’re bringing to PSN in 2013.

And you can pre-order it on Kickstarter right now!

Sportsfriends is more than just a game – it’s four games! The games have already been prototyped, and we’ve exhibited them at parties, arcades, and special events around the world. A lot of people have been clamoring for us to bring these games to market, and now we can finally announce our lineup:

First up is my own no-graphics physical game, Johann Sebastian Joust. The game is basically a face-to-face sword fight, set to music. It uses the PlayStation Move controller, and supports up to seven players!

J.S. Joust is so much more than your average motion control game. It’s more like some kind of crazy 21st century martial art, illuminated by those beautiful LED lights on the PS Move controller.

At this year’s Game Developer Choice Awards, J.S. Joust even won the Innovation Award, beating out heavy hitters like L.A. Noire and Portal 2. We promise you’ve never tried another console game like it!

BaraBariBall, by Noah Sasso, is a colorful mix of fighting game and sports game. Players try to dunk the ball in the water on their opponent’s side. It’s like a more accessible, more stylized take on Super Smash Brothers, honed down to its essentials and set to charming tabla drums.

BaraBariBall has been shown at events like EVO, IndieCade, and Wild Rumpus, and it never fails to draw a crowd. You fighting game junkies out there are especially going to dig it!

Super Pole Riders is the four-player sequel to Bennett Foddy’s pole-vaulting polo game Pole Riders.

Bennett is the same guy who developed the ridiculous web game QWOP, so you know Super Pole Riders is going to bring that same formula of absurd, physics-based fun.

Hokra is a 2-vs-2 minimalistic sports game made by Ramiro Corbetta. It’s a deeply replayable game that’s all about competition, teamwork, and skill. It recently won the Audience Award at IndieCade 2012.

The thing that unites all four games is that they’ve been designed to be played with a bunch of friends, together in the same room, talking trash, sharing laughs, and kicking some butt. The four games are super easy to pick up and play, yet deep enough to support skill and high-level play.

And don’t worry, you don’t even have to be a fan of sports or sports games to enjoy Sportsfriends! Think back to those games you used to play at the arcade, or on the playground, or on your friend’s couch. That’s the kind of gaming experience that we’re proud to offer with Sportsfriends.

Why PlayStation 3, you ask? J.S. Joust has been specifically designed with the PS Move controller in mind, and the other three games fit great into a console setting, so we knew PlayStation 3 would be a perfect match. PlayStation has been very supportive of the whole Sportsfriends concept, and we’re happy to announce that we’ll be part of their forward-thinking Pub Fund program – the same program that helped bring you indie hits like Joe Danger, Papo & Yo, and Dyad.

But even with PlayStation’s Pub Fund support, we could still use some up-front funding to expand on the games and get them ported. That’s where you come in! You can preorder the game right now on Kickstarter. At the higher donor levels, you can also nab some sweet rewards.

Check it out, and let us know what you think!