Witch It is a prop hunt style game, in which one team transforms into any of the in-game “props” such as furniture, flower pots, hanging lanterns etc. while the other team tries to hunt them down and sus out what’s a prop and what’s a player. Witch It utilizes a number of unique abilities available to both teams that can wildly change how you play. From a way to blind your attackers, a loyal chicken that squawks when a witch is near, or a way to swing across the map on a grappling hook to chase down any would-be escape artist witches.
The low polygon textures mixed with vibrant colors and bouncy score gives the game a very whimsical feel. It’s also obvious that someone spent a lot of time working on each and every object. Even though they have pixelated textures and are low poly, they follow those rules to create stylized designs that make the environments look aesthetically pleasing and on theme.
Aside from just the textures there are a wide variety of maps made by both Barrel Roll Games and community members. Barrel Roll even hosts map contests, where the winners have their maps added to the rotation players can vote from at the end of each round.
Though some maps are more favorable to one side than the other, they are all unique and fun to traverse while throwing potatoes at every crate, candle, and cabinet. The level design also makes it fun to think as a hider instead of a gamer. It gives a feeling of playing hide and seek at recess, getting giddy and nervous when someone gets close to your spot and walks away just before noticing you, or wondering where you can hide next time where no one else would think to look.
There are multiple game modes to choose from, but the most notable are Hide and Seek and Mobification. Both utilize the prop hunt style mechanics, hunters versus witches, but Mobification turns found witches into hunters, making it harder and harder for Witches to win. That being said, the witches will still win about 90% of the time. All it takes is one witch to find a really good hiding spot for the hunters to end up cluelessly throwing chickens at every clump of props, but the rewarding parts of this game involve the game itself and not the results of a match.
Playing as the witch I felt mostly patiently nervous until you hear the squawking of a chicken and end up in an adrenaline fueled chase straight out of a horror film. However, I found the prop movement particularly frustrating to get just right. As the hunter, I became maniacal, seeing red every time I hit a tomato and pink particle effects followed it as it tried to fly away. Either way, though, I was having a lot of fun. It’s very easy to pick up a quick game of Mobification and mess around the map, exploring all its nooks and crannies while strategizing my next witch run.
Currently, Witch It is on sale on the Steam store and is hosting a Chinese New Year event with new skins and maps.
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Anna is a senior at NYU studying Journalism. Her work has been featured in GreenWorldAlliance and the Borgen Project, and she hopes to pursue games journalism into the future.In her free time, she loves playing Left 4 Dead with her 60-year-old father, tearing it up in Just Dance, and unnecessarily reorganizing her decks in Back 4 Blood.
