MisBits Preview – Virtual Kindergarten Waiting for Kids

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, I really enjoyed breaking toys. A New teddy bear? Let's see what's inside! A battery-powered car? Let's see what happens if I hit it with hammer! New, sister’s Barbie doll? Let's see if it can fly! Thanks to MisBits, the t-production of two development studios, Pow Wow Entertainment and Purple Lamp Studios, I could return to those juvenile memories of incessant experimentation, concerned looks from parents, and the echoing, loud cries of my sister (Martha, I'm really sorry).

The idea for the game was one of those creative brainwaves: let's make a game where players will create their own "mini-games" – levels where they will fight in different, unusual game modes. Let's combine an online multiplayer shooter, add skills and ultimate forms straight from hero shooters, build levels bristling with puzzles and traps, and then invite the players in and let them create at will. Plot twist: instead of heroes, you control... heads (have you ever pulled out a toy's head? Right!). To survive – regardless of the mode – you must take on various toys scattered across the board. Only then do you become a dangerous, destructive and fearful fighter made of plastic, plush and rubber.

Virtual kindergarten

In the closed beta of MisBits, we were able to test the game in three modes. The classic deathmatch, interesting 2v2 KickBrawl (vide Rocket League, but with heads and toys instead of cars) and ToyHunters (a supertoy spawns somewhere on the board, and players try to catch it). The developers also shared some interesting maps – each of which is the embodiment of one, sometimes pretty off-beat, idea for gameplay.

So I played dodgeball, wandered through a large maze bristling with traps, captured colored blocks (the team that has the most, wins), or just tried to figure out what the level was about. Because you see – MisBits is like a virtual room with toys, and when you first enter to a certain level, you must explore and understand its rules. And these, as I mentioned, can be really weird. Especially if you allow players to create them.

This is what will be the main thrust of MisBits. The creativity of the authors of individual levels will determine the quality of fun. And it will also be a major factor in the game's potential success. Because MisBits, which you'll quickly recognize, is a game created for the community – for all those let's plays and streams. Hence the high pace, the humorous, candy graphics (with onomatopoeic bubbles) and a slew of moves that you can use against the enemy.

Killer toys

You begin each game as a toy head spinning at breakneck speed (you can, of course, customize the heads, unlock new unique heads, and buy them for virtual currency). As a head, you are almost defenseless – just one attack is enough to kill it, and having to wait for a respawn. Only when you take over one of the toys located at key points of the map will you get a proper life bar and access to special attacks that depend on the type of toy you purchased.

We can play as a mech/robot able to pull other players and stun them, a Teddy bear that can attack with its big belly, a dizzying and fast toy car, a voodoo doll that can convert enemy players into frogs, or an explosive chicken. Now, imagine this unusual set of figures being release into one of the playgrounds and given one goal: to behead other players. Obviously, the only possible result will be one big, fun, colorful, and exciting mayhem. Add to this grenades scattered around the map, trapdoors, retractable spikes, lasers, or other traps, and you will get a more or less clear picture of what MisBits might look like. As a side note, the tip: the large green cucumbers you find on the board are OP.

During these few hours of fun, I had some good laughs, shouted a little in rage (my mate Elessar mastered the perfect transformation of players into frogs, constantly victimizing me), I tried to figure out what was going on in the particular levels, I looked for the best, hidden toys, scored goals, and I hit other players on the head with a big pickle. I wasn't given anything to build (the version didn't let us), so I couldn't check how extensive the editor is. Which is a shame, because after going through a few big levels and trying out smaller, concept stages, I just started looking at the clock now and then.

Toys become boring

Again, the success or failure of this game will depend on the creativity and willingness of all the players to design their own levels. If the developers deliver a polished, consistent, exciting, and spectacular game at release – and chances for that look pretty solid – the players will decide what MisBits will actually become. A quickly forgotten fad or a YouTube and Twitch sensation, with streamers performing amazing tricks in front of thousands of viewers.

The game has no story, and the characters have no background. Perhaps this is just a shortcoming of the early version of the game, or maybe it’s a premeditated idea of the developers. If the latter was true, it would be a pity – even some silly bios of the characters would be a nice addition, something to make the game more interesting. Meanwhile, the idea looks as if the devs wanted to create a real playground, but not much beyond that – even the scenery of the levels looks as if pulled straight from a preschool performance.

Making success dependent on the whims of players is a risky business. But if you play MisBits, you will quickly discover that this game is actually a kindergarten filled with toys. And any kindergarten – even the most beautiful, most colorful, full of classes and activities, filled with the most wonderful toys and fabulous props, will be sad if it is not populated by happy kids. Because toys are only fun when someone plays with them – giving them movement, energy, voice, and feeling. If they are left alone, then at best they become heroes of cheap horror movies. And at this stage of production, MisBits seems to have more ambition than Chucky.