While sitting with a glass of water at a coffee place, cherishing its free WiFi and contemplating the current state of world affairs, Bart Pieczonka, one half of game dev duo Lichthund, had an idea: "Why make complicated games that are not fun, that layer mechanics which don't work well together and are there just to mask the gameplay shortcomings"" So he decided to make a simple game, a game with a pure arcadey heart - fast, fun, instantly gratifying. Something that's easy to learn, yet difficult to master. And thus, Lichtspeer was born.

Lichtspeer is an "action arcade lightspear-throwing simulator." However, reducing the game to its rather simple mechanics doesn't quite do it justice. You are stationary while all kinds of enemies rush towards you. You aim your spear, throw, and hopefully catch them right in the face before they get to you. If they do, you have to try again from the beginning of the stage. The game tries to shake up the formula now and again - with enemies that shoot back, devastating attacks that have to be stopped before they can be executed, and the occasional boss fight - but at the end of the day it is a rather simplistic affair.
However, this doesn't mean that it's boring - far from it, actually. For one thing, the difficulty feels just right. Yes, you will die repeatedly, and you'll probably hurl the occasional insult towards the screen, but that's what kept me highly motivated to play on. I can only imagine t...