PAX West 2022: Bare Butt Boxing: Kick Your Friends’ Butts

I sat about 20 feet away from Tuatara Games booth at PAX West, and the thing that stood out was group after group walking by and giggling with their eyes trained on a game with the words “Bare Butt Boxing” reiterated from their lips. It’s definitely a phrase that will grab your intention. In talking to Bruno Afonseca, Art Director for Tuatara, that is why the name has stuck around.

The game plays much like this: You and your friends pick your characters, you load them into an arena, and you begin to kick butt by boxing your butt off. The levels have goals that appear as portals. Your goal? to bust your friends in the face to knock them into a goal. Each goal gives you a point, and the person with the most points when the time ends wins the match!

I played a match against Bruno and two random players at PAX there to test their Butt Boxing skills. I started off strong, with dash mechanics and a physics-based brawling game that will remind you of the floppy bodies of Fall Guys or TABS. I started off strong, not gonna lie. But soon, I found myself falling behind…no pun intended.

Currently, there is an online multiplayer mode and a couch mode that allows up to 4 players to box it out. And two complete levels. They do plan on releasing to Beta at some point, but with no determined release date. The developer is focused on making sure their debut game is in great working order and performance perfect.

Overall, I give this game a big thumbs up. I think it’s great for game nights and passing the time hour on hour. I look forward to being able to play this with my friends sometime in the near future.