Celebrating One Year of UFO 50
UFO 50 marks its one-year anniversary today, September 18, 2025. In this reflection, we delve into the impact of experiencing the game week by week, highlighting its lasting influence over the past year.UFO 50 stands out as one of the most daring game ventures I have encountered. The concept—a fictional collection of 50 fully realized retro-style games, all interconnected through sequels and an intricate overarching narrative—captured my attention from the outset. My enthusiasm for the game was evident in my review last year, where it secured a prominent spot on my list of favorites.However, I was unprepared for how UFO 50 would continue to resonate with me throughout this year, becoming a regular part of my routine. Ultimately, this assortment of faux retro games has provided a remarkable ongoing insight into game design.While I explored all 50 titles for my review, completion was not my primary focus. I engaged with enough games to appreciate their diversity and identify several favorites that warranted further exploration. This was sufficient for an initial critical assessment.In parallel, I became aware of an equally ambitious initiative from the podcast Eggplant: The Secret Lives of Games. Hosted by a group of independent developers, including former game journalist Nick Suttner, the show had been delving into various indie titles for years. With the launch of UFO 50, the podcast committed itself to “A Year of UFO 50,” playing through each game in a format akin to a “book club.” Familiar with Suttner from his previous work at the 1UP Show, I was intrigued by the prospect of an in-depth exploration of each game, prompting me to tune in. A year later, I believe this is the most effective way to experience UFO 50—playing one game at a time, complemented by thoughtful commentary.The podcast’s inaugural episode focused on the first game, Barbuta, which presents itself as a straightforward metroidvania. Most players share a common initial experience with Barbuta: taking a step to the right and promptly dying. This harsh introduction lacks a tutorial or any guidance; players are simply placed in a room, facing right, and their instinct to read from left to right leads them to make a fatal move.This brutal punishment serves as a thematic statement for the collection: challenge your preconceptions, tread carefully, and approach these games on their own terms. Moreover, it can be seen as a clever joke, as the sudden demise of the player can elicit laughter when viewed through a humorous lens.The Eggplant podcast dissected these ideas with a level of depth and clarity that likely stems from the hosts’ own experiences in game development. I found myself captivated and committed to following along each week—while I may not have completed every game, I devoted time to delve deeper into their mechanics than I had during my initial review. It felt akin to attending panels at the Game Developers Conference, providing a glimpse into an insider conversation.Throughout my year-long journey with UFO 50, I’ve uncovered numerous influences from board games on traditional game genres; discovered the prevalence of golf mechanics, especially given that there are at least two actual golf games in the collection; and learned how UFO 50 intertwines elements from the 1980s with the flash game culture of the early 2000s. Additionally, the game engages in a profound dialogue with Bernard Suits’ 1978 work, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia. While this may be well-known to those with formal training in game development, it was a revelation for me. This insight is just the tip of the iceberg, as I anticipate continuing to draw from this knowledge in the years to come.
Valbrace: Game #37 in UFO 50
As the year dedicated to UFO 50 concludes, the podcast’s focus has increasingly turned to the overarching narrative. The collection is laden with Easter eggs, and while I initially sensed the larger storylines and conflicts among the characters of UFO Soft during my review, my understanding has deepened with this journey. Now, with a clearer grasp of the fictional yet doomed game studio’s narrative arc, the entire experience feels more enriched and layered. There are multiple twists in UFO 50—not just within the individual games, but within the meta-narrative itself—that I would have completely overlooked without embarking on this path of exploration.As a result, UFO 50 has proven to be even more remarkable than I initially thought. It is not merely a compilation of 50 distinct games, many of which shine individually; it also functions as a cohesive whole, where each game plays a unique role in conveying a collective message about game development, corporate culture, the essence of play, artistic pursuits, and more. UFO 50 aspires to narrate the story of a non-existent game studio, and when viewed in its entirety, it stands as an extraordinary accomplishment that can shape our understanding of actual developers, art, artists, and the challenges posed by creativity and capitalism.My consistent engagement with UFO 50 over the year has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the experience. I encourage anyone who appreciates podcasts to check out the Eggplant Podcast. To facilitate this, the podcast has launched a dedicated UFO 50 encore feed, making it easier for newcomers to access the episodes. You can find it on various platforms, including Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed.However, even if podcasts aren’t your preference, the optimal way to experience UFO 50 is through community engagement. The UFO 50 subreddit has fostered vibrant discussions around tier rankings and modifications. Many games have inspired dedicated speedrunning fans. Recently, speedrunners organized a charity event called Cherry Rush, where top players collaborated to achieve “Cherry” completion status for each game in the collection over a single weekend. This status signifies not just completion, but mastery of the game mechanics.UFO Soft is a fictional game development studio, while the actual games were primarily created by Spelunky’s Derek Yu, alongside developers Jon Perry and Eirik Suhrke. Despite the ambitious nature of UFO 50 when I first encountered it, my year spent exploring it alongside a community and gaining insights into video game development has made this achievement even more remarkable. Experiencing its deconstruction not only as a player or critic but through the lens of fellow developers has been an invaluable experience that will stay with me for a long time.
