PAX East Preview | Disc Room

Devolver Digital never disappoints. Seriously, there’s always a cavalcade of bangers at their PAX East booth and this year was no different. Standing on a neon rug– the same type of rug you might find at your local bowling alley hosting atomic night– and reflecting on life while gazing into the mirror ceiling of the Devolver booth, we stumbled upon the next game from some of the developers of Minit, the puzzling action adventure game, Disc Room.

Revealed just before PAX East 2020 kicked off, Disc Room is the type of calculated chaos that would be relaxing to play while laying in your bed with your Nintendo Switch while at the same time injecting adrenaline down the center of your spine forcing a cold stiffness to build up around your neck that’s already billowing with sweat– comfort to the max. While that might be a tad extreme, Disc Room did seem to possess that balance of zen and anxiety that would be a perfect game to unwind with even if there may be moments of frustration.

Thankfully, what makes games like Disc Room thrive is the seesaw of death and rebirth so quickly connected. Trying to complete challenges may be stressful, but the instant respawn to tackle those same quests again, with unlimited lives, makes revisiting certain challenges or rooms not feel as daunting. No backtracking, no starting from an earlier checkpoint– just choose a path and conquer.

The basic premise of Disc Room is surviving the different enclosed spaces full of spinning wheels of death. Each area will have its own set of challenges that once completed will open up more paths for you to freely choose from. Each completed area brings you one step closer to solving the mysteries of this floating, blood soaked space disc.

In concept, Disc Room may not seem like much, but dancing around rotating blades  that are looking for their next splash of red, felt as tight as Ned Flanders’ ski suit, or as he puts it, like he’s wearing nothing at all. With a simplistic design and aesthetic, the Disc Room demo excelled at providing a promising look at a title I can’t wait to get my hands on again.

Disc Room will release later this year and was a recipient of one of our Best of PAX East 2020 awards.

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