Gori: Cuddly Carnage, or Stray with a hover board as I’ve decided to nickname it, was not a game I knew was coming in 2024. Having seen it in person, and watched countless people tackle the game’s vertical slice of gameplay; I can safely say that Gori Cuddly Carnage is a game you need to keep on your 2024 radar.
One of the highlights of attending an event like DreamHack Summer is some of the surprise booths you run into. Be that a booth selling Japanese products and Pokémon, Monster giving out free drinks, or in this, a small indie studio from Sweden, coming to an event to get people to play their five-year labour of love.
For me, and for the sake of this article, that’s what the focus is of this story. As the title of the article tells you, this is about Gori: Cuddly Carnage.
The setup is simple. The planet is done for, Humans are gone, and toys have taken over. So, what do you have to deal with that? Well, your three-person team of Gori, F.R.A.N.K, the sentient hoverboard, and CH1-P, the AI companion, who is inspired by Marvin from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
With that crack team assembled you need to take down Cool Toyz Inc, an evil toy company that created the ultimate toy, the Ultra Pet. In doing so, and fuelled by insane demand, they took over. Imagine, Think Gremlins, but like, the level one form of them are evil Unicorns, and just get worse as the game goes on.
Obviously, you have more weapons than a cat, a hoverboard, and a moody AI. This is, after all, a hack-and-slash game, so you’ll have plenty of weaponry at your disposal. Combo those with a challenge style score system, perfect for people looking to high score a level and you’ve got a recipe for success.
Just as you get the hang of the demo session, you are faced with your first big bad. The hand of a much larger enemy, and don’t worry, we are promised by the developers that we will take out the rest of their body later.
Once the demo is over, you get your score for that “level” and you are left wishing you could play more.
While we only got to play a very small slice of the game, we’re intrigued to play more. While visually the first section has a clear style, and the toy theme is of course a theme throughout the game, the developers hinted at some exciting ideas for later sections of the game.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage Key Info
TLDR for those that just want the quick notes;
- Play as a cat and ride a hoverboard that’s also a weapon
- Play alongside a moody AI
- Fight back against bloodthirsty hordes of evil toys
- Multiple unique levels
- HIgh score system for high replay value
- Mastery of a varied arsenal of weaponry and unlockable special attacks
- Parkour around the world with your hoverboard
- Travel around the world and enjoy the games soundtrack
Gori: Cuddly Carnage is scheduled for release on August 29th 2024. The game is set to release on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC where the game is currently available for Wishlist via Steam.Wishlist via Steam.
The game also has a demo currently on Steam, giving you the chance to try it before the game is released.
Developer Angry Demon Studio is a five-person team based in Skövde, Sweden, a true creative melting pot for the Swedish game development team. This is the studios third title , and marks a fairly large shift in genre. The game has been in development for five years and is the studio’s most ambitious project to date. The game is being published by UK based publisher Wired Productions.
We’ll have more coverage of the game before release, including a review of the game around its release date in late August.
David has written for games media outlets for the last ten years. With his first major esports role being with Esports News UK covering mostly UK League of Legends. David is also a member of the British Esports Association and is an advisor to them on World of Warcraft Esports. More recently David has worked for Esports Insider and Red Bull as an esports journalist.
David later became Editor at ESTNN and now leads the current team.
