You Have to Win the Game Reviews

Satisfyingly frustrating and frustratingly satisfying, "You Have to Win the Game" is a perfect parody *and* celebration of retro gaming in general. It may seem simplistic and small, and it probably is, but it's got a LOT of little tricks up its sleeve. It's a very small, very fast download and it's definitely worth a try.

I'm already at one hour of gameplay and loving the learning curve, tight controls, interesting mechanics and METROIDVANIA collectibles/upgrades to your character(Won't tell you what they are for spoiler purposes). One of the best free-to-play games I've experienced in all of my years of gaming(quite a few. Ahem. Atari 2600 *cough*). I have Wings of Vi and Super Meat Boy, but I am CHOOSING to play this. It's a fresh new experience with an excellent classic vibe. 10/10 would recommend to anyone that likes this style of game! Whale

If anyone is hankering for a bit of nostalgia from the 1980's/1990's early home computer game, I honestly cannot recommend this FREE game enough. It's great, and even comes with a lovely CRT simulation and really captures the aesthetics and game play of those old game. Fortunately it also comes with contemporary sensibilities like frequent save points, difficulty options, and not's of customize able settings. Seriously, give it a try. It's free! Yay!

lol this game is cool, it reminds me of VVVVVV but like taken to a diffent style and it's neat... now i will say one thing some of these levels are insainly hard it took me over 20 deaths just to get throuw a wall jumping moving platform while surounded by spikes, not fun... but some ppl may want that challange or some(most) will rage at dieing all the time i compleated the game in 441 deaths XD

This game is making me crazy, and I love being crazy, so I love this game. Yeah. Let's be serious, as a BIG lover of old games and how difficult most of them are, YHtWtG is a must-have, new players will get the controls easily and the difficulty curve is very well mastered, and when you finish the game, you can also do it again but without any save and one life, so yeah, you might get angry, a lot. But this feeling when you go through something you were stuck on for a while, uhhhhh this feeling...... If you look for a difficult game but not harder than IWBTG, this one is for you. And ffs it's free why would you even read a review, there is literally nothing that have to be bought, so TAKE IT.

A fun little game that reminds us of the retro platformers. But, sometimes the game is a little too hard and can...um...make you RAGE (a lot). Overall, though, it is a free platforming game by an indie developer that is well polished and well made. However, the lose thing towards the end set me back to the beginning - and that was really iritating. 9/10

Look here if you are a fan of good ol' retro platformers that give you a fair challenge, then this is a game for you, and did I mention (or need to) that it is FREE. What's stopping you? I mean it's free, as in 0 dollars and 0 cents, click the button already and enjoy.

This is a great game if you like wandering and exploration. Winning the game itself isn't that hard, but a 100% completion might take awhile because it's easy to miss one item and have to go backtracking for it. If you're up for an even bigger challenge, try the Extra Spicy campaign, or try to win on YOLO mode. Good luck, I recommend using a D-pad for some of the maneuvers if you're having trouble.

You have to win the game is the best f2p platformer i have played. i wasn't a big fan of the curved edges, but the art and colors looked great! the extra spicy campaign was pretty cool too. if you didn't win, it's okay because once you win it's easy to beat it again. i got this gmae because i was bored and was very pleased. the only complaint i have is that some parts are tedious, and frustrating. mainly the "never could see any other way" and "leap of faith". parts like these make me question how anyone could beat this game without dying. overall i give it a 8/10

A game which fulfills some of that metroidvania itch without being complicated or costing any moolah. There's a distinct lack of music so you may want some 8-bit chiptunes playing in the background. :) This game will also remind others of super meat boy in it's structure. You can spend hundreds of lives at a specific point, but there are many checkpoints and unlimited lives (in normal mode). These allow you to become comfortable with the controls and gameplay, not to mention giving an endorphin rush for getting to the next bell after a particularly challenging section. One small downside I noticed is that the cling power-up has some issues on moving platforms, but those areas that necessitate it are few and far between. I would easily pay at least $5.00 for games which provide a similar experience, and that's saying something because I'm an extreme cheapskate. I say you should totally grab it for the current price of $0.00 because it is a really good game. I also will highly recommend you support the creator because it's not often that one can find a quality product provided with no strings attached like this.