I found hets, a minimalist run 'n' gun for the PC, initially very frustrating. The key layout didn't feel natural and I couldn't change it. Ten tries in, I realized it would be brilliant with a gamepad. I wound up loving it anyway as I grew accustomed to the controls. (It is, in fact, great with a gamepad, and probably easier. I'm going to stick with my hard-learned keyboard controls.) A mysterious stranger tells you the statues have made everything bad, gives you a rifle, and tells you to destroy the statues. You proceed to try. That's all the introduction you need, and it brilliantly teaches you the one lesson necessary to play: destroy all three statues to open the door to the next level. Then you're playing a game of 15 procedurally-generated closed levels that go from easy to dangerous to a massacre.

Sketchy illustrations that look like I could scribble them, simple music, and basic sounds feel like the sorts of things I could make, and I am not an artist, musician, or foley artist. They define the game's minimalist theme beautifully. I'd like to get the music on a loop and play it in the background while I work.

The procedurally-generated levels work well. I can count the number of unfinishable levels I found in 600+ games without using my toes, usually the gateway home on a platform out of reach by any path. Monsters vary wildly in difficulty, and as you proceed through the game, the mix and number of monsters increases, as does level size. The game includes great possibility for skill runs. A speed run is a given, but I can imagine trying to beat the game without shooting anything but the three statues on each level (and the boss).

Between levels, you return to the firearm-gifting stranger, who offers you one of three random powerups and then compliments, questions, or denigrates your choice. Some part of me wonders if there was an algorithm basing the statement on the relative value of one powerup to another, but I'm pretty sure it was as random as what powerups you are offered in the first place.

A full, victorious playthrough from start to finish can take upwards of fifteen minutes, but the game is challenging enough that it took me hours to reach the final level and end boss for the first time. hets became my go-to temporary distraction for a while, long enough that I wish it was on Steam so I could see how long I'd played. At a rough estimate, possibly as much as 50 hours. At the end, I could beat the game in five to six minutes, and most of my plays were nearly successful.

hets is currently pay-what-you-want over on itch.io. It definitely deserves reward, so head on over and drop a few bucks in the tip jar on your way out.