Downwell Is A 2D Platformer Built Around Gun Shoes

Perhaps one of the best designs in Bayonetta were her gun shoes. Japanese game developer Ojiro Fumoto must have thought so, as he’s making a smartphone game called Downwell, which is built entirely around using shoes as guns to descend a deadly well.

It doesn’t actually look or play anything like Bayonetta, mind, so don’t approach Downwell with the wrong expectation. It’s a 2D platformer, mostly monochrome with some red to highlight some dangers, all of it in big pixels.

There are big one-eyed monsters, worms, frogs, and other grimy creatures inside this well, as well as spikes and other environmental dangers to avoid. Your gun shoes take care of anything below you with ease; in fact, they’re so powerful that they cause you to hover in the air when being shot.

So your shoes act as both a weapon and a way of controlling your descent slightly. It’s a pretty nifty design and appears to work great on the limited touchscreen controls. I mostly like how frantic it looks as your bullets kick up explosive clouds of dust when hitting any surface.

“I’m aiming for a game with high replayability that can be played in short bursts,” Fumoto writes. This replay value seems to be delivered in the form of unlocks as well as the game’s difficulty. By presumably spending the red diamonds you collect, you can unlock different types of ammo for your gun shoes, including machine gun and burst fire – there also seems to be extras like a support turret to purchase, too.

Fumoto is hoping to have Downwell out on smartphones (presumably iOS and Android) by the end of the year. You can keep track of the game’s development on Fumoto’s website.