You can tell a game’s going to be a hit when the tutorial is over in less time than the download. Haste: Broken Worlds tops my speed chart for the year, with the demo launching in under 30 seconds.
Here’s the setup in a nutshell: The world is crumbling, and the way you make it out alive is by dashing like there’s no tomorrow. Haste skips the overly detailed explanations about the chaos. Instead, it throws you right into the role of Zoe, a girl rockin’ some seriously snug glasses, pushing you to slide and glide through slopes before you even get a chance to blink.
Sonic the Hedgehog might start feeling envious because Haste nails that exhilarating rush of non-stop speed. Once you hit the ground running, it boils down to a simple one-button mechanics: tap the spacebar to gracefully touch down and then take off again. Nailing perfect landings? That fills up a gauge, adding fuel to ride a hoverboard, which you’ll need to bounce back from crashing into rocks or dodging waves of corruption. The brief pauses in this whirlwind come when you’re upgrading gear or catching up with friends.
Haste operates as a roguelike, offering choice and variety at every turn. Each finish line crossed opens up decisions for your next path. In some levels, your goal might be to splash color into black-and-white expanses, while in others, you weave past black holes chasing an exit before time’s up. Following trails of sparkling crystals, you’ll trade them in for upgrades at shops. These upgrades range from minor boosts in speed or health to more strategic perks like health restoration tied to crystal collection, shaping your route through a level.
The demo wraps up with you squaring off against a massive robot unleashing fountains of lava. You’re threading a fine line to ram into it, and maintaining that speed is crucial to outpace the expanding lava. This means you’re constantly on the hunt for those perfect landings to fuel your hoverboard, all while collecting crystal clusters to keep your health intact—adding layers to the challenge.
Now, in less refined games, managing a boss battle with such complexity might spin out of control. But Haste holds steady, thanks to its seamless mechanics. Gliding through levels remains smooth, rewarding bold moves even when you stumble. When it’s all clicking, it’s like you’ve stepped into a rhythm game where each note lands perfectly. The only time the flow breaks is when it’s game over.
Developed by Landfall—who recently made waves with the quirky multiplayer horror game Content Warning—Haste: Broken Worlds is set to release later this year.
