Awaria is a new free game about kissing ghosts from the developer Helltaker

Some people fight difficult games for fame or loot, but I’m just trying to survive Awaria so I can kiss another ghost. Łukasz “Vanripper” Piskorz, the developer of the cult hit Helltakeris back with even more cute girls dangling before you in a game designed to make you work for it.

Awaria is available for free on Steam and Itch.io, but getting a hickey from one of its ghost girls certainly isn’t. How Helltaker, Awaria looks deceptively simple: you’re a nimble little mechanic stuck in 2D spaces with machines that need repairing. WASD controllers keep you moving while transporting the right parts to the right machines. And then ghosts appear trying to kill you and suddenly you’re dodging attacks like in a bullet hell shooter.

Your job would be pretty easy if it weren’t for the Phantom Ladies trying to fry you. Awaria reminds me of playing Overcooked. The machines are hungry customers begging for the right item to satisfy them, and it’s up to you to feed them. But you’re just a fragile little girl who will fall to your knees if one of these evil girls touches you, so the machines have to wait while you lure the ghost girls around and avoid their attacks. Anyone forged in the fire of Undertales Boss fights will thrive here. I wasn’t and probably would have given up if every level hadn’t ended with the declaration that you were “READY TO KISS”.

These victory scenes provide insight into what’s going on with each ghost girl and how they react to a quick kiss on the cheek. Zmora, who you meet in the first level, is completely nervous. “The next time the shields come down, you’ll pay,” she threatens as the tsundere alarm goes off. Cutwire leans in and promises you that she will come back to “stab you in the back.” And Nikita towers over you and calls you tiny. Awaria has something for everyone.

Eventually the girls decide that torturing you is actually fun and team up to make you squirm. I wasn’t up for two at once and gave up after beating a few levels. You can lower the difficulty to easy and take a few more hits, or you can increase it past normal and see how long you can last with a stricter time limit and machines constantly breaking.

Helltaker I’ve given you a secret ending for finding hidden keys in the levels and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to it Awaria than it seems. There were no dialogue options or branching paths in what I played, but the achievement list suggests that the nimblest players will be rewarded for their efforts. I’m tempted to see what that is, if only because the game is so quick to play. Restarting a level is instant, and Mittsies’ pulsating soundtrack brings you right back in every time.

Every ghost girl is destined to become someone’s favorite, even if I don’t find her character designs to be as personally targeted as the demon girls in them Helltaker. It’s possible I just didn’t find it Awarias Equivalent to Cerberus, and I’m sorry to all my friends on Discord who expect me to talk about something else when that happens. I guess I’ll have to let these women boss me around a little longer to find out.