There’s been a sports video game in the background of discussion since it was first released to early access in 2023. Tape to Tape, a run-based hockey roguelike, has quietly been gaining steam since its initial beta releases to become a viral juggernaut. With the game going final it was time to dive in and check out what this game was all about — and it’s spectacular.
Tape to Tape has a loose, goofy story centered on a world where the glorious sport of hockey has been stamped out by golf. Assembling a rag-tag group team of players, you quest across three islands to play games, and meet unique characters — upgrading stats, unlocking abilities, and ultimately trying to defeat the golfers to bring hockey back.
It sounds simple in practice, but it’s the execution of Tape to Tape that makes it utterly brilliant and completely addictive. Every run (which lasts roughly an hour) has so much variety baked in that no two attempts ever feel the same. One attempt you might be focused on building a team around critical chance, like an RPG — setting your offense around booming slapshots that can knock over players in its path, and God-willing finding the rare upgrade where every critical goal counts as two. The next run might switch everything up, putting a premium on checking, and injuring opponents to the point where their stats have been debuffed to where they can’t effectively play against you.
With 40 unique passive abilities, 20 active abilities, and a host of team-changing relics, every single player becomes a unique “build” and when a run clicks it’s all magic. The counterpoint to all this is that the opponents cheat, a lot. It’s a feature and not a bug of Tape to Tape that along the way you’ll find all manner of different ways opponents skirt the rules. From a team of referees getting an assist from the ref himself, to prisoners putting ball and chain around your players ankles, to even Team Canada — who like to get some topical revenge.
Despite all this, Tape to Tape never stops being fun. It can become frustrating at times when you simply don’t have the correct build to make a good run, but rest assured you’ll be right back at the menu starting another run again in no time. When it comes to a lot of the details I’m choosing to be obtuse here, because half the fun is unlocking and experiencing the WILD powerups that you discover.
The entire focus of modern sports video games is on team building. EA Sports FC wants to have users invest in packs to play FUT, Madden NFL wants players to open packs to build their ultimate team, NBA 2K has its MyTeam mode to do the same. The shared DNA is creating an addictive, unique, team-building experience that hooks players and gets them to spend in microtransactions. Tape to Tape captures that same feeling — but without asking the player to shell out additional money to play. Everything is based playing the game more, unlocking more free agents, and building things along the way.
Gameplay in Tape to Tape is a pure throwback when it comes to gameplay. The on-ice action is pure arcade madness, with floaty, early-90s controls that mean you fly all over the ice with only a handful of buttons to remember, and no overt trickery. This isn’t about who can master intricate hockey controls, but who can do all the simple things right. It makes it the perfect pick-up-and-play game for some couch head-to-head, where all 32 NHL teams are represented in their own unique way, so when you want to play as the Philadelphia Pliers vs. the Vegas Golden Lights — it’s got you.
No icing. No penalties. Fights are in, but it turns the entire ice into a beat-em-up, with absolute chaos reigning down until one team is all knocked out — at which point they get a penalty for losing the fight. It’s hilarious.
In an era where sports games are about peerless realism and squeezing every dollar they can out of the player, Tape to Tape arrives to remind us what pure fun in a sports game can be. Whether you just want to play as your NHL team and scratch that arcade hockey itch, or want to dive deep into the roguelike aspects of the game — this is distilled fun in a way no other sports game can match this year.
Score: 10/10
Tape to Tape is available on PlayStation 5, XBox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. It is priced at $19.99 at the time of writing.