Josef Fares has offered to pay $1,000 to anyone who gets tired of his new game, It Takes Two. Fares confirmed this in an interview with Game Informer, in which he discussed how unengaged players end up feeling with games. Developed by Hazelight, It Takes Two begins with a child struggling to cope with her parents getting divorced, which leads her to express her feelings with toy dolls as they traverse to another realm for adventure.
Fares explains that players rarely finish games because they’re not fun and that replayability does not necessarily mean that they’re enjoyable. In an age of repetition or progress measured by numbers, he wants to engage players through different means. It Takes Two requires two players to work together to complete the game, just like his previous games A Brothers Tale and A Way Out.
Does this style of gameplay actually work for players? Fares said that roughly 51 percent of players finished A Way Out, which is a pretty high statistic. Instead of focusing on more common means of puzzle solving with repetition and backtracking, he wants players to work together through different mechanics more commonly seen in movies. He believes this will keep them from becoming bored or tired of the game, and this is what led to his $1000 challenge to players. It Takes Two is scheduled for release on consoles and PC on March 26.