Forget finding the right controller. Catch Flex doesn’t want one.
This new rhythm game has arrived on PC and handheld PC devices like ROG Ally X, using a single camera to track your entire body and turn your movements into the controls. There’s no gamepad, VR headset or wearable required – and even the menus are operated with gestures.
Priced at £8.39 from the Xbox Store for PC, Catch Flex is a PC-only release and does not work on Xbox consoles – if only we still had Kinect. That is, obviously, worth making clear, because this is very much a game designed around having some room to move.
At A Glance
- Game: Catch Flex
- Formats: PC, Handheld
- Price: £8.39
- Publisher: Vilegacy
- Developer: Vilegacy
- Genre: Rhythm / Fitness
Your Body Is The Controller
Catch Flex uses a single camera to track your movements, meaning you can cut, kick, stomp, dodge and slide your way through its rhythm challenges. Different prompts call for different movements. Slash blocks in the indicated direction, touch rings with your hands or feet, kick balls or knock them away, stomp markers on the beat and avoid obstacles by ducking or stepping over them.
There are no button combinations to memorise. You are the input.
Ten Tracks To Get You Moving
The first volume contains ten original tracks, covering house, electro and techno, with tempos ranging from 87 to 150 BPM.
Every song mixes the various movement types differently, while the levels have been designed around what a real body can comfortably reach rather than expecting players to leap around the room.
Play several songs consecutively and Catch Flex starts looking rather less like a traditional rhythm game and rather more like an impromptu workout. However, should you not be interested in chasing scores, No-Fail Mode lets you simply move through an entire song without worrying about messing up.
There’s more to Catch Flex than its ten built-in tracks, too. The Catch Flex Editor runs directly in a web browser, allowing players to bring their own music and create levels by charting the movements themselves. The resulting level is a single file that can be opened on your device or transferred over Wi-Fi.
There’s also local split-screen Versus and global leaderboards for anyone who wants to see how their performance compares.
A PC Game That Wants You To Stand Up
Of course, much like in Just Dance, Catch Flex has a few requirements. You’ll need enough space to move, decent lighting and a camera that can keep your whole body in frame.
If your TV or device doesn’t have a camera, the free Catch Flex: Controller app can use a phone to provide one over your local Wi-Fi network.
For £8.39 from the Xbox Store, Catch Flex therefore offers something rather different from the usual rhythm game – ten tracks, Versus, custom levels and a control system that asks you to put the keyboard and mouse down and actually move.
Just make sure you’ve got enough room before you start kicking imaginary balls around the living room.
