The Studio
Barely Playable Games
Two people and some very questionable physics.
Barely Playable Games is a very small independent studio building character-forward games with a deliberately scrappy indie production style. Beat Baes is our current title.
Physics creates opportunities; skill exploits them.
Beat Baes started as a browser combat toy, not a cast of characters. The physics came first: pull-back launch, momentum you can steer but never simply override, and collisions honest enough that a loss always has a reason. Only once that felt good did we let the Baes carry the fantasy, and the rule stuck: a personality has to change how a fighter actually plays, not just how she talks.
What we're building toward
The free browser Open Alpha is live to answer a cheap, measurable question: do strangers replay, pick favorites by name, share clips, and ask for more? If it does, that's the signal to move to a production engine, commission full character art, and build Beat Baes into the premium Steam release we're aiming for, five mechanically distinct Baes today, an expanding international roster tomorrow.
Support the runway
The commercial plan is the free Open Alpha you can play today, a premium full release, and optional expansions, not real-money gacha, even with a collectible cast. When a Barely Playable Games Patreon opens, it funds visible production work: character commissions, voice acting, animation and key art. Not a second job, not a subscription to bespoke rewards. Just the runway.