Extricate

Rating this game in the hopes it gets verified for profile features, since it definitely deserves it. Extricate is an iconic game in the achievement-hunting crowd, and after getting most of the gold times and a handful of diamond times, I can see why. This is an individual-level speedgame distilled to its barest elements, with a pure focus on movement and avoidance. As someone who has zero experience with bunny hopping and Source movement, the game's open-ended level design kept me from feeling overwhelmed by the learning curve of the gameplay. I won't lie — the mechanics feel unnatural at first. From what I've heard, this holds true for people with and without Source experience. Gaining speed feels rigid and unintuitive for the first few hours, but eventually, something clicks in your mind and it becomes hard not to fly through levels like a grasshopper on crack. I appreciate that the game never holds your hand or mandates high speeds, allowing you to learn at your own pace. The game has issues beyond the learning curve, though. The soundtrack, while catchy, gets repetitive quickly. The levels are frustratingly cramped sometimes, forcing you to flick your mouse to maintain speed (likely destroying your wrist in the process). And... the fans. These entities shatter the momentum of so many stages and only become more common further into the game. The game has bounce-pads; why include a slower, less consistent method of gaining height? Overall, despite my problems, Extricate's a real diamond in the rough if you give it a chance. Can't wait to see how many of my brain vessels burst during the hundo grind :)