Indie game developer MantaStudio announced the upcoming title Drum Roll, planned for release on October 19 for the PC (Steam). The game will be available in English.

Drum Roll is a game in which you roll an oil drum on the verge of exploding to reach the goal. Upon starting the game, the drum appears before you, and you must guide it to the finish line, choosing the direction and force with which you roll the drum around. In each stage, there is a countdown, after which the drum explodes in your face. In order to clear a stage, you must lead the can to the goal and set it upright before the counter hits zero.

The game is compatible with keyboard and game pad. With the keyboard, the WASD keys control the direction in which the drum rolls, and the Shift key boosts the rolling momentum. Though the controls are simple, getting the drum to behave as you desire is where things get tricky. The drum is strongly affected by the terrain of the stage, changing course in unexpected directions and bouncing away violently, so it’s going to take a lot of trial and error to get the thing to the finish line in one piece.

Drum Roll will include a total of six stages, including grasslands, intricate temples, and precipitous cliffs. In the demo version currently available, you get to play the grassland stage of the game. It appears that a beach and road stage are planned.

I tried out the demo myself, and as mentioned earlier, the drum was not going where I wanted it to. Getting it to the goal was one thing, but making sure it stops at the goal and doesn’t roll away past it was a whole separate ordeal. After a significant amount of trial and error, I did notice my mastery over the drum gradually improving. I also figured out some ways to use the terrain to my advantage, such as using rocks to make big jumps. I must say, the sight of the drum dramatically zooming amidst the idyllic scenery and background music was quite surreal.