At any given moment in Fall Guys, a countless number of mishaps await players. The physics of the game can undermine even the deftest movements, and the smallest misstep can lead to a disastrous chain of events resulting in you moving from the front of the pack to dead last. That leads to plenty of potential catalysts for frustration when your climb to the top of the obstacle-ridden mountains doesn’t go your way, but Fall Guys is honestly just too wholesome to be mad at even when things go terribly awry.
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Much of Fall Guys’ disarming charm can be attributed to its cutesy style where tiny bean people bump into one another and waddle their way towards objectives. From flying fruits to characters that look like raptors and pigeons pouring through tight openings like a flood of jellybeans, the whole concept is ridiculous to the point that most times where you’d be frustrated in any other game end up being moments of laughter in Fall Guys.
But at its core, it’s the unpredictability of Fall Guys that makes it so enjoyable. We’ve already seen discussions of RNG and how Fall Guys’ variable of randomness affects players’ chances of victory, but it’s that part of the game that’s essential to keeping it so lighthearted and amusing. Where most other games fashioned as battle royales look to give players as much control as possible, Fall Guys seems to revel in the illusion of control instead. The slightest jostle from another player or an imperfect landing can send players careening off course, and that’s before you throw any of the levels’ obstacles into the equation.
A perfect example of this implementation of unpredictability is the Fruit Chute. This game mode filled with cascading fruit is the great equalizer where you’re at the mercy of a banana or a watermelon taking a bad bounce while you struggle through a literal uphill battle. How are you supposed to be mad at being knocked off course when the culprit was a stray banana clotheslining you and your bean boys?
The closest you could come to getting understandably irritated with the game’s modes can happen during the team games. I’d rather be grabbed by competitors to prevent me from making a jump than be stuck with teammates who try to steal their team’s own tails or can’t get organized enough to jump through hoops or push balls towards an objective, but even that is part of Fall Guys’ charm.Team games prevent one person from dominating the entire gauntlet and give underdogs their chance at a lucky run up Fall Mountain if their team can collect enough eggs or tails to get them there. Be it through teams letting you down or falling fruit, Fall Guys always has a way to keep players humble without putting them off the game entirely.
