Tape to Tape Preview – Roguelike hockey action

When you think of the word Hockey, what do you think of? Do you think of the Olympics? Do you think of the Miracle on Ice or of any other great Hockey stories? If you are from an area that has a prominent hockey team, then you will most likely think of your hometown team. For millennials, many will think of the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks.

For me, the Might Ducks movie inspired me to like The Might Ducks hockey team now known as the Anaheim Ducks; the Ducks were my go-to team to play as in NHL 2004. Now, Excellent Rectangle looks to reinvigorate the love older audiences had for hockey games with an older-style Hockey Game called Tape to Tape.

Tape to Tape Demo Impressions

Before jumping into the demo, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Typically for most of the demos I check out at trade shows, I like to go in relatively blind and see what the game has to offer.

As we dove into the Tape to Tape demo, it reminded us of the good times playing NHL Breakaway 98 on the N64 or NHL 2004 on PS2. The quarters were reduced to make each match quick but still thrilling. Once the player has won the match, they will then get to pick between different reward cards.

These cards will grant the player’s team different stat modifiers; these modifiers can be used to give your team a leg up against the opponents. Be careful which cards you choose because the enemy teams have different modifiers as well.

After each victory, you will get new reward cards and keep building up the bonuses; lose and you start back at the beginning. Each run can be different and you can try to find the sweet spot while balancing your team.

In-game, the gameplay was fairly smooth, however, when playing co-op you have to really rely on your teammates to play as a team or else you will go nowhere.

During the preview, we did relatively well until we had a difference of opinion on which card to choose. The card chosen ultimately did not help us and we had to go back and start at the very beginning.

The PAX East Demo of Tape to Tape did a good job of selling the game and we will ultimately come back to it. Tape to Tape has been available for Windows PC (via Steam), in early access.