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Vaudevillian beat-em-up Foul Play raises XBLA, PC curtains next month

Sinan Kubba
Updated ·4 min read
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Vaudevillian beatemup Foul Play raises XBLA, PC curtains next month

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Foul Play, the Victorian era's answer to Castle Crashers, takes the stage on XBLA and PC on September 18. The game, which mixes two-player local and online co-op brawling with the revelry of a Vaudeville stage show, comes courtesy of suitably British studio Mediatonic, the team behind Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess and the Amateur Surgeon series.

Foul Play features demon-hunter Baron Dashforth and his sidekick Scampwick as they put on a show chronicling the thrills and spills of the Baron's life. So, rather than survival, the aim is to keep the audience entertained. Messages of "ACCEPTABLE!" and "SPLENDID!" pop up as score multipliers are raised, rewarding players for thwacking enemies around the stage in creative ways.

When we saw the game last year, creative director Paul Croft described it as "like a side-scrolling brawler meets Rock Band," because it eschewed traditional health bars and damage meters, allowing players to simply focus on putting on a jolly good show, what what. Mediatonic has yet to put a price on admission, although Croft suggested £10 as a possibility, which converts to around $15.

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Foul Play Coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC on September 18th


Vaudevillian tale of daemons, disaster, deadly risks and duplicitous dealings coming to XBLA and PC


London, 14 August – Mastertronic, Devolver Digital and Mediatonic are excited to announce that Foul Play, the daemon-hunting brawler with a twist, will be launching on 18th September for XBLA and PC via Steam and Get Games.

Take to the stage for FOUL PLAY: The Perilous and ENTIRELY ACCURATE adventures of Baron Dashforth! An original game from Mediatonic for Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC, Foul Play is a side-scrolling brawler that rewards performance over pummelling, and as the lead actor in the greatest show on earth it's your job to keep the audience on the edge of their seats!

Playing as the Victorian daemon-hunter Baron Dashforth, prepare to smash, strike, banish and beat your way through hordes of wildly costumed extras as you recount your incredible life story live on stage – watch awe-inspiring scene changes play out before your eyes, fires will rage, pyramids will rise, castles will crumble, and deadly monstrosities will burst forth... NO expense has been spared in bringing this scarcely believable, but ENTIRELY ACCURATE story to the stage!

THRILL the baying audience with your incredible presence! Perform shattering takedowns, throws and reversals so perfect you'd swear they were choreographed backstage! String together awesome attacks as the Baron, or have a friend join as your loyal companion Scampwick. Electrify the spectators with linked and special attacks – win the audience with flair and showmanship, and use every stage-trick you know to bring the house down!
Prepare for DRAMA as the Baron's tale unfolds, from the harsh deserts of Cairo, to the shady streets of Victorian London... and beyond. The finest actors and actresses of the day have been employed to ensure the ABSOLUTE authenticity of the story. Prepare to play out the most spectacular and explosive moments of the Baron's life; improbable beasts, astonishing villainy, and at the heart of it all – the mysterious Foul Play.

A vaudevillian tale of daemons, disaster, deadly risks and duplicitous dealings
two-player online co-op with special team takedowns and linking attacks
crowd-pleasing battles, where style matters above all!

"It's incredibly exciting to be partnering with Devolver and Mastertronic to bring Foul Play to Steam and XBLA. As a studio we're focused on building games with creative narrative and interesting characters - we feel Foul Play exemplifies those values. We've been working on the game for several years and it's the biggest title we've ever built so we're can't wait to release it!" said Paul Croft, Director of Games.


Jeff Tanton, Producer adds "Baron Dashforth is this normally reclusive daemon-hunter who's decided for ONE NIGHT ONLY to put on the greatest show on earth - promising to reveal ALL the secrets of his incredible life story. We've poured so much love into bringing this game to the stage, and are beyond excited that people will finally get their hands on the world's first vaudevillian-crowd-pleasing-arcade-brawler. The Baron has an audacious plan...and trust me, the truth behind the Foul Play is worth the wait!"

Andy Payne, CEO of Mastertronic said, "We are incredibly honoured to be working with Mediatonic, a developer we have admired for some time as well as working with our friends at Devolver Digital again. In this new digital age, we are looking forward to helping Mediatonic make Foul Play the worldwide hit that it deserves to be."


With beautifully animated scene changes to re-create the Baron's adventures on-stage Foul Play is a game of Drama, Suspense, Thrill and above all, Style, releasing on Xbox Live Arcade and PC on 18th September.