Where to get it

2019 · Gabe Cuzzillo · Adventure · Arcade

Ape Out

Nintendo console exclusive

Ape Out is a wildly intense and colorfully stylized smash ‘em up about primal escape, rhythmic violence, and frenetic jazz. Build up nearly unstoppable momentum and use your captors as both weapons and shields to crush everyone on your procedurally generated path to freedom.

Released: 28 February 2019
Platforms: Nintendo Switch Windows macOS
Genres: Adventure Arcade Beat 'em up Fighting Indie
Developers: Gabe Cuzzillo
Publishers: Devolver Digital
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action
Country: United States
Age ratings: CERO D GRAC 19+ESRB T CLASS_IND 16 ACB MA 15+PEGI 16
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish (Spain)
Time to beat: 2hmain story3.5hwith extras10hcompletionist

About

Ape Out (stylized in all caps) is a 2019 beat 'em up game developed by Gabe Cuzzillo and published by Devolver Digital. Financed by the Indie Fund, it was produced when Cuzzillo attended game development classes at New York University. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch on February 28, 2019, and has garnered a positive reception.

›Story

Ape Out is a frenetic, top-down beat 'em up with a stark, minimalist art style and a reactive, all-percussion jazz soundtrack. The player takes control of a powerful gorilla desperate to break free from captivity, smashing and hurling its way through maze-like corridors. Armed guards stand in the way at every turn, and the ape must grab, throw, and crush them or use their own bodies as living shields to survive. Across four chapters, the story is a wordless, visceral surge of raw momentum as the captive fights toward one primal goal: freedom.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Ape Out is a single player beat 'em up video game played from a top-down perspective. The player controls a gorilla running through a maze while evading gun-wielding humans. The enemies can be killed with a single attack, grabbed, or used as a shield. In each level, the player must reach the goal without being killed. The maze design is randomized and is slightly different on each play.

The game also features a minimalist art style, which has been compared to that of Saul Bass.

Development

Ape Out was developed by Gabe Cuzzillo using Unity, a game engine. Ape Out was Cuzzillo's second game after Foiled, which he developed with Aaron Taecker-Wyss and released in 2014. Development on Ape Out began when Cuzzillo attended game development courses at New York University (NYU), where he also worked on an independent study with Bennett Foddy. Foddy contributed to the game's art, while Maxi Boch, an associate professor for NYU's Game Center, worked on the game's music system and sound design. Ape Out was part of the NYU Game Center Incubator and was partially financed by the Indie Fund.

Devolver Digital released a playable trailer for the game in March 2017 and planned to release the game by mid-2017. The publisher announced in December 2018 that Ape Out would be released on February 7, 2019, for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. However, the game was delayed by three weeks and was released for both platforms on February 28, 2019.

Reception

Ape Out received "generally favorable" reviews on both platforms, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. On OpenCritic, Ape Out received a "strong" approval rating of 89%.

The game was a finalist for the 2016 Independent Games Festival's "Best Student Game" award but lost to Beglitched. The game was nominated for "Best Visual Design" and "Best Audio" at the 2019 Golden Joystick Awards, and for the Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game at the New York Game Awards, and won the award for "Audio Achievement" at the 16th British Academy Games Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Debut Game".