Probability 0

The simple action of a platformer with a touch of roguelike complexity. From the mind behind Starseed Pilgrim, Probability 0 takes the straight-forward yet challenging run n' jump gameplay of platformers like VVVVVV and stirs the formula up by applying the dynamically randomized levels, skills, and enemies of the roguelite genre (Spelunky, Risk of Rain) for an end result that is [b]infinitely replayable and impossible to master.[/b] The challenge in P0 is refreshing, while a lot of your runs will quickly end in your swift and humiliating failure the few runs you do make it far on will feel that much more rewarding and satisfying. There are loads of powerups to play around with all located on a large and expansive skill tree that you are able to upgrade between each level you manage to surpass. Every choice will have a huge impact on how you play and every player will find their own unique path of skills on the tree to succeed by. The game has a simple but abstract and almost horror look with a great atmosphere. There's a large variety of creepy creature designs, dark and moody colors, and a rapidly changing Probability message scrawled at the top of your screen to remind you of your impending doom. The soundtrack alines perfectly and feels dark and ominous for something so 8-bit and catchy, fitting with the mood of the game just right. At less than ten dollars, Probability 0 is an easy buy for all fans of platforming and random roguelike elements and will be remembered by me along with the most famous of indie titles from this era.

Great idea. Seems like it could be really addictive. Unfortunately no controller support, and despite the fact that its a small flash game, it performs really horribly on a Mac. Its got to be software bug in their flash player. It has a low framerate, and is very sluggish, making it unplayable.

This game is one of those Forerunners during the early 2010's indie game craze. I played this game a lot then. Just bought it on steam cuz i missed it. The few small complaints I have are easily overlooked next to the amount of fun and replayability the game offers. (incase you are completely helpless, get a gamepad mapper! this does not have gamepad support) Good platformer, cool music, skillz required

P0 is my vote for the best Spelunky-inspired platformer ever made (so far, as of late 2022); the constrained skill tree alone is amazingly fun to explore! Please play this, the original (and IMO superior to all others) arcade-style roguelike-like combat platformer. It maybe feels a tiny bit stiff now that we're in the age of forgiving inputs and "coyote time", but it's still solid and fair, and each jump or enemy encounter can be incredibly exciting/laden with tension. (note: I have dozens of hours on the itch version, just got the steam version)

10/10 would die again. Probability 0 is the basic concept behind roguelikes boiled down to a very few key aspects, and mixed with some clever design elements. It's pure, accessible, deep, and has an eerie, mysterious vibe to it. The platforming and combat both start out really simple, and are continuously expanded upon through new abilities (like firing your ranged projectile in new directions, being able to stomp your enemies, smash otherwise solid blocks, just to name a few). It's worth mentioning that the skill tree is extremely refined and well-designed. It feels balanced, interesting, and allows for an astounding amount of customization and experimentation at the same time. Enemies start off really simple, but as you get deeper, the spawn pool gets mixed up with very interesting critters that drastically differ in their movement, attack pattern and other behaviour. Since each enemy and environmental hazard is extremely easy to grasp and learn, death is rather caused by multiple of these elements driving you into situations you didn't calculate. Each death, even if they are very frequent, feels more than deserved - an aspect lacking in quite a number of other games. I would definitely recommend Probability 0 to everyone who likes a good challenge. It can be frustrating, but in the most positive way a game can be. It's pure in its design, fun to play and very rewarding.

[b][i]Probability 0[/i][/b] is a procedurally-generated infinite platforming game with roguelike elements. The only real goal of the game is to survive as long as possible as the game automatically scrolls downwards. You build up a score based on the number of monsters you defeat while descending, and you level up with the experience points that the monsters drop. Leveling up gives you new skills that will increase your chances of survival, but the odds are always stacked against you. In fact, there's 0% chance you'll beat the game. The gameplay is very simple, but tough to master. At the start, your combat abilities are shooting stars beneath you while airborne and punching. Both are pretty weak, but as you gain new skills, you'll become more formidable. There's a wide variety of monsters to face, each with unique patterns and abilities. Touching them knocks you around unpredictably, exposing you to other dangers below. If you get far enough, you'll even face tough boss enemies! The game's challenge is always in a constant state of pressure: you have to avoid getting crushed by the scrolling ceiling above while taking care not to fall into the abyss without a platform. The game's real charm comes from its aesthetic. It features simple pixel graphics with a soundtrack that pulses and screams as you get closer to death. Your chances of success are constantly shown on the screen instead of a health counter, while the distance you've traveled is recorded in all sorts of different units. Everything is incredibly cute, which fits Droqen's style from past games, like [i]Starseed Pilgrim[/i]. Unfortunately, [i]Probability 0[/i] still has its fair share of problems. There's no native controller support, and the dev doesn't seem to be responsive to players on Steam's forums. Droqen has seemed to have moved on to other projects and isn't interested in offering support. The game's engine was done in Flash, which isn't particularly favored by many players. Personally, it lags a bit for me. Some may find the game's unconventional systems to be a turn off: there's no HP display other than your odds, and the habit of monsters knocking you around is pretty frustrating. Finally, a lot of people will probably find the price to be quite steep for what it is. I'm not sure what to say to really justify its price other than that it was a true labor of love by a humble indie game developer and that it's a pretty fun score-chaser. [b]TL; DR:[/b] For fans of [i]Downwell[/i], [i]TowerClimb[/i], [i]Just Get Through[/i], [i]Spelunky[/i], and other roguelike platformers.

I picked this up on Steam a few days ago and have become slightly obsessed with it. as in, I am hearing the music in my dreams at times, and find myself humming it as I go about my day. it's a lovely, quite melancholy trip into the abyss, in which a hapless fellow bounces about, shooting stars and trying not to run out of probability. I'll explain that last, later. there are three game modes -- in Beginner, the object is to scatter as many foes as possible. in short, kill them without mercy. in Expert, it's depth that matters -- delve as deeply as possible before your chances run out. oh, and you should probably still kill things, so you can level up... but the depth's the real thing here. I'll get to the third mode in a moment, because a bit of explanation must come first. when you destroy enemies in either Beginner or Expert, an experience orb appears. sometimes it's JUST experience. sometimes it comes with 3 or 6 shots of your star. sometimes there's a little heart inside, which does just what one would expect -- it boosts longevity a bit. getting enough experience grants a level-up, which appears as a brightly-flashing line across the playfield. crossing the line lets the character gain a new ability (or improve an existing one), as well as cancelling any fall and healing the same as though one had picked up a heart.) in this game, the health meter is insane. there's a rapidly-changing set of phrases and numbers in top-center, all expressing probability of some desired outcome. when a run begins, these numbers are in the 5-6 digit range mostly, but as your fellow takes damage, the numbers dwindle -- when you see 1-3 digits and hear the warning siren coming into the music, it's time to be super careful. that same siren also sounds, much more loudly, whenever a particularly dangerous enemy boss shows up. eventually, luck runs out, and one's left staring at a big fat 0 under some statement of what could have been... but won't be, no matter how much you play. death is inevitable here, but it can be really fun getting there. finally, I'll mention the third mode -- Karma -- which is what makes P0 even more awesome. playing Beginner and Expert runs gives Karma credit. Karma maxes out as 10 ("X", in game terms). when playing a Karma run, you get to select as many abilities as the number of Karma levels allows, and go through an even-harder-than-expert run to prove your mettle. (you also lose 1 level of Karma each time you do a Karma run, but it's not terribly hard to regain the level by playing Beginner/Expert a few times.) in this mode, collecting the orbs enemies leave after death is the object -- which makes it the most difficult thing, especially since Karma mode teems with enemies who can easily get in the way of scoring the spoils of recent kills. in short, it's very replayable and lots of fun. my only real regret is that it doesn't have more variety of music, but that's not such a big deal, as the music that it DOES have totally fits the action.

It's certainly not anywhere near the worst game I've played. It's just that the combat, which is sort of essential to the gameplay, feels really bad. I realize the entire point of the game is to get further by upgrading, but you start off so terribly weak and frail that it's hard to really make any progress. I think some people will probably love this game, but I personally cannot recommend it.

I absolutely love this game. It's a great time-waster and no matter how good you get, you'll come to the realization that we all equally suck at it. But it's a fun kind of suck. 10/10 will play forever.

I used to play this a lot on Newgrounds.com Now its on Steam and has an expert mode! I still recommend getting this for sale though Rating 8/10

super simple concept, super well executed.

A very polished, very fun, platformer-falldown-roguelike mix, which just somehow pulls it off amazingly. You are a small guy trying to fall down a hole, like many classic lame old video games. You only have arms when you throw your basic ninja stars, which you collect from plants on the ground, or one of the 3 possible orbs that burst out of your dead enemies. The other one is a heart orb, which heals you, or a basic orb, which does nothing special. When you get a certain amount of orbs, you level up. When you level up, the game pauses for a second. You can now pick a new skill. Now you need more orbs to level up. Rinse and repeat in epic fun. Pros: Epic music, something to survive for. I personally like the graphics, but it might not appeal to all. A karma mode, which levels up as you die in normal mode, the higher the level, the more upgrades you can get on the start, but it goes down one level for every play. A large variety of enemies and upgrades, making it feel fresh every time, although it seems a bit stale if you aren't very good. Cons: Random probabilities flashing by too fast to read (once you die, it says something like: "probability of being brought back to life: 0") Normal mode scores by amount of orbs collected, and I'd prefer it to go by how far down you went (expert mode scores it on that, but its very hard) Just difficult all around. Random terrain generator could've been a small bit better, as in no traps. although this is probably purposeful. 7.5/10, small game, but very fun and original.

Severely underrated, bombastic music and endless replayability. KNEES SHOULD BE A PASSIVE NOT AN UPGRADE THOUGH SERIOUSLY GUYS THE FALL DAMAGE HURTS SO BAD.

Incredibly fun and amazing music. Controls are smooth and responsive. Why the hell don't you have this?!?

Oddly addicting. I keep wanting to compare it to Tetris; simple in scope, yet infinitly challenging. See you at the bottom.

On paper this should be a good game but it really isn't... The controls feel bad, your character is unbelievably weak compared to enemies (e.g. accidentally touch an enemy you wanted to punch and you go bouncing all over the screen), and the game typically gives you very few options at any moment. So you frequently feel forced to engage an enemy with poor odds of success, or to drop from heights that will damage you. The game is kind of fun but always leaves a bad taste...

I have a particular soft-spot for endurance-based high score games. I enjoy speed-run and time-attack games well enough, but for me there is a unique pleasure in trying to hold out for as long as possible. This is a particularly good example of the genre, and it captures much of the magic that was pioneered by classic examples like Donkey Kong. In Beginner and Expert modes, every game is a fresh start. This makes runs comparable -- no need to wonder "did I only do better because I unlocked something?" -- which is essential in a high score game. The unlockable "Karma" mode is very comparable as well, because there are only ten levels of unlocks, and you unlock them fairly quickly by playing the other two modes. Some of the mechanics in this game feel downright un-fair. Your projectiles have a tiny hitbox, while you have a rather large one, so it's a common occurrence to throw a star straight down, miss, fall straight down after it, and be hit by the monster that your star had missed. Projectiles also travel downward a bit slower than you do, so it's possible to pass them on the way down. The distance required to trigger fall damage is quite small. Getting hit sends you into a stun animation that can launch you quite far, sometimes it will throw you helplessly to the bottom of the screen, which is instant death. They seem unfair, but they are surmountable. Developing the level of precision and quick-thinking that this game demands has been incredibly satisfying. Much like Starseed Pilgrim, another game by the same developer, this game presents challenges that seem impossible, which makes it all the more rewarding when you finally figure out how to overcome them. The main flaws are a lack of leaderboards and controller support. Joy2Key mostly overcomes the controller issue, but it is less convenient. The lack of leaderboards is disappointing, but it focuses the game on the learning process rather than the competition, and ultimately the learning process is where this game's greatest strengths lie.

Probability 0 is a pixel rogue-like platformer with no end. You're some unnamed protagonist, stuck in a downwardly-descending level with no way out and no way to survive. You have no way of determining your health aside from the intensity of the music, and, if it's really low, the color of your eyes. If you die, you go back to the start, but hey, there's a skilltree that resets and the level, if you missed the "rogue-like" part, is always randomly generated, so it doesn't get boring. That's more or less it, really. A great game if you're a fan of platformers and rogue-likes or just want something you can pick up and put back down in maybe 10-30 minutes. Maybe if you're at an airport and waiting for someone with your laptop, or on a car trip and your laptop can't handle anything super complex, this would be perfect. Wish it was maybe a dollar less, but I wouldn't consider it overpriced for the amount of content. Overall, 8/10.

Parallel Universes in which this game is bad 0

Probability 0 that this is a good game...