Ritter & Rotwein screenshot
Image: Hurdy-Gurdy Games

It's funny to think that part of Steam's legacy is the rise of Funny Floppy Rag Doll gaming. Or 'fumblecore' as some call it today. Were it not for the likes of Rag Doll Kung Fu (one of the first indie releases on Steam), we might not have QWOP, Baby Steps, or today's latest adventure in stumbling through a world with barely-functioning joints: Ritter & Rotwein from new indie outfit Hurdy-Gurdy Games.

With a title translating to 'Knight & Red Wine' and an art style inspired by medieval tapestries and monastic marginalia, it should be of little surprise that Ritter & Rotwein is a game about dealing with drunkenness. It's a platform adventure about a knight on a quest to claim holy relics, stab his many enemies, and explore the kingdom, all while chugging from his favorite wineskin for healing. The good news: It provides healing! Less good: It reduces you to a floppy, barely-controllable mess.

Not that the controls behave very often even when mostly sober, but that's half the fun of this sort of game. Figuring out how to work around your weird limitations and achieve victory despite your flailing. While its initial debut had a few bugs and issues, Ritter & Rotwein's recent Next Fest demo was broadly well-received, and is available if you want to give it an awkward stab for yourself. The full game also supports online and local PvP, if you want to get legless and start a fight with your friends.

Ritter & Rotwein is out now on Steam for £9.74/$12.50 with a 20% launch discount running until August 3rd, plus the demo available to try here. Hurdy-Gurdy Games have also got a much more ambitious 3D game in the works - the surreal first-person art-history action adventure Hieronymus - which is seemingly seeking a publisher. We hope that today's launch helps them find one, as it looks a treat.