The show floor at the IGF is a mess of people, all scrambling to play these top notch indies, so it often takes a few minutes to snag a spot playing. I found a gap in the action to talk to Andy Schatz, the one man force behind the Grand Prize and Design nominated title Monaco.

He’d been running the preview with groups of single or double players, but we managed to line up a four player demo. Oddly enough, I ended up playing alongside Luke Schneider of Radiangames, who Arsen just mentioned recently. Each player chooses a class, which range from specializing in hacking, neutralizing guards, smoke bombs, seeing through walls, and other unique characteristics. No two players can choose the same class. At present, there appeared to be four playable classes and at least four locked classes remaining to be revealed.

I ended up running the class who could use smoke bombs to evade capture, and we were soon infiltrating a mansion in search of the trophy prize.

Andy suggested the best route is to play remaining together, but being new to the game, we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Cliches aside, this is literally the best description of our ability to play Monaco. The players are differentiated by four colors, set forth in the beautiful basics: red, blue, green and yellow. We stormed through doorways, hid in closets, operated toilets (a pointless, yet hilarious addition), and managed to die several times. Any team member can revive a dead comrade, so there is incentive to remain close to each other and avoid danger. We snuck from room to room, collected coins for valuable points, terrified the mansion’s maid staff, and avoided guards who bring a swift death to your small, pixellated character.

The layout is reminiscent of Gauntlet, though rather than storming into a fray of bad guys, Monaco wants you to avoid them. Its simplistic graphics break it down to the basics, leaving you focused on the job at hand. They’re simple, yet show everything they need. The game is about stealth and teamwork, using your class skills to the best of your ability.
From my short time with the title, it’s sure to be the kind of game that grows on players as they get better and better at utilizing their abilities and working together. Without the developer’s guidance, we would have been corpses littering the hallway of a large mansion, with no glorious treasure to call our own.

Andy’s only been working on the game for a couple of months, and it’s impressive to see how far it’s come. But at the same time, it’s still a ways out from becoming available. That said, if you like playing with friends, Monaco is something to keep an eye on.