At its core, Mindwave is about completing microgames with hand-drawn, sketch-punk graphics, but it’s wrapped in a story that’s far more complex than I expected. The game’s chaotic art style and wildly energetic soundtrack make it stand out even in an indie gaming showcase like the Day of the Devs. After playing a demo for this frenzied collection of cerebral mini-games at the event, I believe developer HoloHammer has a potential hit on its hands.
Insane in the membrane
SOURCE: HoloHammer
The context of playing WarioWare-like microgames in Mindwave surrounds a mental tournament held in a sinister skyscraper owned by Mindscape Co. Pandora, the 16-year-old, apathetic protagonist, calls it an “evil-ass tower with a freaky glowing eye,” but that doesn’t stop her from signing up anyway and letting her battles be used as AI training for the Mindscape Neutral Network. Like some twisted version of Psychonauts, the contest has players duel each other by completing mini-games based on their opponent’s minds. Still, Pandora has nothing better to do, and even if playing these mind games have made her vomit in the past, the prospect of taking money away from Mindscape Co. by winning is worth her time.
Her only reprieve during the tournament is chatting with her friend Smalls, a slender man who has snuck into the building through a backdoor and entered the contest seemingly to keep Pandora company. Knowing her antisocial attitude, he encourages her to talk with him and her fellow competitors before the first round begins. Doing so is entirely optional and Pandora can only speak with a few players before being whisked away, but Smalls says learning more about them might prove useful if they become her opponents later down the road. The demo ends after the first round, so it’s unclear if what he says is true, but it could have an effect on the story or the mini-games as the tournament progresses.
Besides, something awful is clearly happening at Mindscape Co., and despite her lackadaisical concern, Pandora may be the only one who can uncover the truth. There also may be something wrong with Pandora too, as one of the mini-games in her mind involves two characters shooting each other in the head at point-blank range. The experience reminds me of Omori, where the game is covering up some sort of trauma that will be unearthed later down the road.
It’s all a mind game
Since the microgames come at a rapid-fire pace, they require focus and quick thinking. Winning the first duel, which is against a teenage girl who likes cute bears and candy, means completing 25 mini-games and a boss stage with only four lives. It’s all about quickly figuring out what each microgame is asking for and what the controls are — the demo uses a keyboard and mouse setup — since each one only lasts ten seconds. This time limit decreases even further as the speed of the level accelerates over time.
Fortunately, none of the mini-games are terribly demanding, whether it’s circling a character, sorting stuffed animals in to boxes, mashing the spacebar, avoiding attacks, jumping on a platform, or timing moves to the beat of the soundtrack. But every stage can change things up randomly, like adding pop-up ads that have to be closed or flipping the screen upside-down, so keeping concentration gets tougher over the course of a level. The ever-increasing intensity of the mini-games, especially during endless mode that unlocks after completing the demo’s story, rewards players for getting into the groove as fast as possible.
Mindwave is expected to release on PC via Steam, though its release date is still unspecified. According to the completed Kickstarter goals for the game, the developer is working on adding controller support, Steam Workshop modding, and online versus modes. A demo for Mindwave is available on Steam.
This preview is based on a demo provided by the publisher at the Day of the Devs: San Francisco Edition event during GDC 2025.
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replyNick Tan posted a new article, Mindwave is like the brainchild of WarioWare, Rhythm Heaven, and Danganronpa
