Helskate: A New Action-Packed Skateboarding Game with Roguelike Mechanics
Don’t miss the Helskate trailer from The Future Games Show at Gamescom 2023. It’s easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of classic Skateboarding titles like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Sure, there have been some great successors to the series, but it’s been a while since we’ve had a fun and challenging experience like it. That’s where Helskate comes in.
The game, which was showcased in a trailer at The Future Games Show at Gamescom 2023, aims to capture that same old-school joy of skating, but with Roguelike mechanics that bring a new level of excitement to the gameplay. The video opens with a narrator describing exciting off-the-wall builds that you can create, and I couldn’t agree more.
While roguelike elements can sometimes clash with fast-paced momentum, I’m curious to see how the need for precise combat control will work with skateboarding. My mind instantly goes to trying to pull off tricks while dodging enemies, but the fact that you can perform damage-buffing barrel rolls and critical chance grinds immediately increases the excitement level.
Concerns arise immediately, however. The narrator talks about how you’ll need to be careful about accidentally maneuvering into the wrong areas, but if you’re not quite in control of your board, it could lead to frustrating deaths. Of course, this is all part of the fun of roguelikes, but it could throw some off balance.
Despite that, this game looks like a great throwback to skateboarding games, while embracing exciting new roguelike mechanics. The fact that we get to experience the thrill of skateboarding in a whole new way is enough to excite me, but the narrator’s description of “dangerous” areas has me itching to get into the early access period.
Helskate plans to have an early access period of approximately one year, with the start date yet to be announced. You can find more information on its Steam page.
The creator of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, Neversoft, was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2023. Check out all the other indie games acquired by Activision Blizzard here.
