Recommendations / 17 October 2023

Headbangers – A Look At WASD x IGN

A Look At WASD x IGN is our series where we highlight and talk about our favourite indie games that were featured during the WASD x IGN 2023 Event in London.

A huge thank you to WASD and Dead Good Media for providing us with creator passes for the event.

Picture this! You walk into WASD ready to scope out all the best new and upcoming indie games, when suddenly an 8ft pigeon walks up to you with a swagger and bows at you. This is enough to get anybody interested in what this pigeon is trying to tell you, and he is telling you to play Headbangers: Rhythm Royale.

So what is Headbangers: Rhythm Royale? In a nutshell, it is an online multiplayer music-based party game featuring pigeons in silly little outfits. Created by Glee-Cheese Studio and published by Team17, think Fall Guys but with rhythm mini-games. There are four rounds of games you play against 30 other pigeons, and you have to try and make through in the hopes of becoming the master headbanger. If you enjoy rhythm games that are quirky, you definitely need to keep your eyes on this one.

During WASD, I was only able to play against one other real player, who was sitting on the other side of the tv screen, with the rest being bots, and while that was fun I am definitely looking forward to playing with a full lobby of real people all trying to be the winning pigeon.

The minigames in Headbangers are seriously fun. I was able to play around six to seven different minigames out of the 23 that are available. These minigames range from playing to the beat all the way to trying to guess what instruments played what sound as quickly as possible.

One of my favourite minigames that I played was called Super Striker and it reminded me a lot of Rhythm Paradise. With Rhythm Paradise I usually found some stages were easier to play with my eyes closed to not get distracted by the visuals, and I found myself closing my eyes for this one in Headbangers. In Super Strikers you are on a foosball table and have to shoot the ball into the goal on the right beat, but while you are doing this, different things will block your view of the goal, so you have to rely on listening to the sound. I admit, I am competitive.

As you play you can unlock in-game currency called crumbs, and you can use these to purchase a variety of outfits for your little pigeon. You can put hats and clothes on your pigeons, or even dress them up like famous iconic singers such as David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust.

The sound design and soundtrack is truly fabulous for Headbangers, which shouldn’t have even been doubted as this is a rhythm game. The music is great, adding a lot of fun energy and the little voices that come from the pigeons is so cute and funny. I caught myself smiling and laughing at the pigeons a fair bit.

I really enjoyed my time with Headbangers, and I am very much looking forward to the release at the end of this month. The controls are responsive, the visuals are memorable and fun, and the ability to dress up you pigeon is sure to make you smile. If you enjoy quirky and funny rhythm games and have a soft spot for pigeons, then I recommend checking out Headbangers: Rhythm Royale.

Headbangers Rhythm Royale will be releasing on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox on 31st October 2023. Make sure you wishlist the game to show your support!