Helskate

About

Helskate is a single player sport game. It was developed by Phantom Coast and was released on January 20, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

"Helskate" is a single-player sports game that combines skateboarding with roguelite elements, set in the hellish labyrinth of Vertheim. Grind, perform tricks, and chain combos to slay monsters and upgrade your weapons, gear, and abilities in classic arcade-style skating action. Despite some bugs and heavy grinding, "Helskate" boasts beautiful visuals, ingenious game mechanics, and a perfect soundtrack, making for a unique and engaging experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 314 reviews

gameplay27 positive mentions

stability22 negative mentions

The game combines elements of Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Hades, creating a unique and enjoyable gameplay experience.
The art style and aesthetics are fantastic, providing a visually appealing environment that enhances the overall experience.
The developers are actively listening to player feedback and making regular updates, showing commitment to improving the game.

The game is still in early access and feels unfinished, with many bugs, glitches, and placeholder text present.
The controls can feel inconsistent and unresponsive, making it difficult to execute tricks and maintain combos.
There is a lack of content, with limited maps and repetitive enemy encounters, which can lead to a feeling of stagnation.

gameplay
100 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
70%
3%
The gameplay is generally praised for its fun and addictive nature, successfully blending elements from classic skateboarding games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater with roguelike mechanics and combat strategies. However, players have noted issues such as frustrating bugs, inconsistent controls, and a lack of clear tutorials, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these challenges, the core gameplay loop shows significant potential for growth and enjoyment, especially as developers continue to refine the mechanics.
- “Peak gameplay experience.”
- “The gameplay loop clearly has potential.”
- “The gameplay is super responsive, the gameplay loop is addictive, the music completely slaps and the graphics are cool too.”
- “It used to follow behind you at a comfortable distance; now it manically zooms in and out every time you attack something, completely blocking or obscuring anything attacking from close distance or behind you. They managed to completely over-engineer what was a simple and effective combat system into a mess.”
- “I love THPS, Underground 1 and 2 were my childhood, probably clocked more than 7k hours in total. However, the roguelite combat gameplay and classic THPS styles do not mix here.”
- “The gameplay is often slow-moving and feels very split.”
music
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
28%
7%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its fitting punk aesthetic and catchy tracks that evoke nostalgia for classic skate games like Tony Hawk's. However, players have noted issues such as a limited selection that can become repetitive, low volume levels, and a desire for a custom playlist option. Overall, while the soundtrack enhances the gameplay experience, there is a consensus that it could benefit from more variety and better integration.
- “The gameplay is super responsive, the gameplay loop is addictive, the music completely slaps and the graphics are cool too.”
- “The skating feels great, the soundtrack is perfectly punk, and the game will challenge you to really improve your skills if you're looking to progress further into the helskate.”
- “From the beginning, I fell in love with the music, the art style, and the gameplay loop.”
- “The music is limited, and quickly becomes repetitive - it achieves the aesthetic of a Tony Hawk game, but only for 20 minutes.”
- “I would like to see more manual and grind combos, kind of like what's in Underground, and a custom soundtrack option (picking stuff I don't see on the roadmap).”
- “As music is what can make or break a skate game, I hope they do more because I like what they have so far.”
story
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
53%
8%
The story in the game is described as intriguing but incomplete, with players noting that it takes time to fully understand the backstory. Comparisons to "Hades" highlight its engaging yet lighthearted narrative, though some events may feel disjointed due to the unfinished state. Overall, while the storyline adds to the experience, it is not the primary focus, and players are eager for more depth and quests as they progress.
- “The story is cool, the art is even cooler and damn is it fun... when this game releases, I will be making sure all my friends are playing it.”
- “There is a storyline here which is interesting and adds to the overall experience.”
- “What bits of the story we have so far are intriguing.”
- “The story isn't complete and beating the first boss actually corrupts your save.”
- “The story is unfinished, so events can execute weird and out-of-order.”
- “They have a backstory but you won't know until like an hour or two later!”
graphics
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
26%
12%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their unique and gorgeous art style, which enhances the overall aesthetic and charm. However, some players express frustration with the camera mechanics that can obscure gameplay, detracting from the experience. While the visuals are considered a strong point, issues with controls and gameplay mechanics have been noted as significant drawbacks.
- “The aesthetics and art are fantastic, a visual treat.”
- “The art style is gorgeous!”
- “Overall art style, game concept, developer pedigree, music choice has been great so far.”
- “It used to follow behind you at a comfortable distance; now it manically zooms in and out every time you attack something, completely blocking or obscuring anything attacking from close distance or behind you. They've managed to completely over-engineer what was a simple and effective combat system into a mess. While I usually don't comment on graphics because I let gameplay carry a title, I have to say that the developer is going a little overboard!”
- “The music is limited and quickly becomes repetitive. It achieves the aesthetic of a Tony Hawk game, but only for 20 minutes.”
- “Overall art style, game concept, developer pedigree, and music choice have been great so far.”
stability
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
92%
The game is reported to be quite buggy, with frequent issues such as falling through the world, getting stuck behind objects, and glitches during combat and movement. While these bugs can detract from the experience, many players express optimism that they will be addressed in future updates, and some still find the gameplay enjoyable despite the instability. Overall, the game's stability is a significant concern, but it shows potential for improvement.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck!”
- “There are also bugs and glitches that include falling through platforms or ending up behind objects that you shouldn't be, but to be honest, I expected bugs like these so I'm not that bothered by it, and I'm sure it'll be ironed out, but it's worth mentioning.”
- “Edit: now that I have beaten chapter one (all that's available so far) I have to warn anyone considering the game that the main boss of chapter 1 is buggy as hell and there are some half-developed levels that you run into.”
- “I fall through the world regularly and switching between walking and skating often has glitches.”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
18%
19%
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback. While some players report smooth performance on high settings and appreciate the improvements since the demo, others express concerns about visual effects being overly exaggerated and causing a cluttered appearance. Additionally, issues with external drive optimization and lingering bugs suggest that further refinement is needed for an optimal experience.
- “Looks beautiful, runs smoothly, and I can't stop doing runs for those dark gems.”
- “The performance is very good; I am running the game on maximum settings and I'm having no trouble.”
- “The game has been heavily optimized from the demo, and the performance is great.”
- “I would like the developers to work on kinks, bugs, performance, and gameplay.”
- “With the post-rendering effects at this point, I actually liked how the game looked in older versions; it was fine, but now everything has this shiny, overly cartoonish, layered filtered effect on it. Anything with a particle effect spray or glow has been cranked up to 11, making everything look like a mess. It's like a visual wall of noise and unnecessary. At this point, I'm overall bummed and I refunded... for now. That being said, I will still follow this title and will purchase again in the future once they decide on what kind of game they want this to be and get more optimized.”
- “Pretty terrible external drive optimization.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding mechanics inconsistent and frustrating, often feeling "sticky" and limiting their movement. Many express a desire for less resource grinding and more engaging content, while also noting that the hitboxes for certain enemies complicate the grinding experience. Overall, the grinding system appears to detract from the enjoyment of the game, with calls for better tutorials and adjustments to improve gameplay fluidity.
- “Grinding really just locks you to whatever you're on and it feels really...sticky.”
- “All I wanted was less grinding (for resources) and more content.”
- “The grinding snake enemy specifically is a pain here; you can't even jump on the thing to grind it without injuring yourself 90% of the time due to the hitbox for its spikes on the sides.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as light-hearted and entertaining, with players enjoying the absurdity of character movements and the comedic elements of the story. Users find the gameplay mechanics, such as stat boosts leading to funny animations, to add to the overall amusement, while some humorous frustrations with technical issues also contribute to the experience.
- “The story for now is nothing serious but funny enough; I haven't met the main antagonist yet.”
- “I will also mention that the stat boosts you can receive do so much extra, like giving you an extra jump or how fast you can spin, making your skater do really funny movements.”
- “My current goal is to try to get a Christ air in immediately before respawning because that seems like it'd be funny.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Helskate boasts high replayability thanks to its procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters, reminiscent of both the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater formula and roguelite mechanics similar to Hades. The game's rougelite elements significantly enhance its replay value, with future content promising to further enrich the experience.
- “The procedurally generated levels and unpredictable encounters enhance replayability.”
- “Helskate is a fantastic return to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater formula mixed with the replayability of a roguelite like Hades.”
- “It's already high on the replay value due to the roguelite elements, but the fact that more is on the horizon makes it that much better.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight that the character design is exceptional, with multiple users praising its quality and creativity. However, there is no specific mention of character development in terms of growth or narrative depth.
- “Character design is amazing.”
- “Character design is fantastic.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is perceived as needing improvement, indicating that players feel it lacks depth or resonance in its storytelling and character development.