Fun Games You Aren't Playing - Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt

Let’s talk about old-school style games for a bit-- as many of you know, plenty of indie games use pixel art due to limited budgets or a smaller team. Personally, I love this. I’m a big believer in the value of knowing your limits; too many wonderful things have never come to existence due to over-ambitious goals. Plus, pixels can be very pretty. But while most of these games are fairly modern, every now and then you find a game that’s truly made in the old style, complete with the limitations of the era. 

​Recently I went full retro with Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt, a game that definitely has more heart than graphical power.

In Princess Remedy, you play a recent graduate of Saturnian healing school, who descends from the stars ready to heal the crap out of everyone and everything. Thankfully, there is plenty of healing to be done in Hurtland, where citizens suffer a variety of ailments, such as playing a game so awesome their face melted. You then engage in “healing mode” which involves rapidly shooting medicines at baddies. ​

It’s a quick and simple “bullet-hell” style game, which starts out easy but ramps up in difficulty. Although I had to play several levels a few times, the levels are quick enough that frustration is minimized. My problem with these types of games are looooong levels where you almost get to the end, but die and have to start all over again.  None of that here; the only extended battle is the final boss, who offers a challenge but isn't too complicated to defeat.

It’s a simple and quick game that you can easily finish in one sitting, but there are also plenty of secrets to discover if you’re so inclined. The hidden goodies were the biggest source of nostalgia for me- I had a blast uncovering small bonuses and little jokes left by the developers. The best part of the game is the 64 “endings” you can choose from-- what other game can offer that?

Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt is completely free to play, so if you’re even slightly interested, definitely give it a go. What better way to spend an evening than by taking a trip back in time, when we only needed a few bits to tell a story? With how complicated games have gotten, even the pixelly ones, Princess Remedy was just the tonic I needed.

Healing from a particularly intense game jam,
​The Dungeon Dame