Aeolis Tournament hands-on preview at PAX East 2020

Beyond Fun Studios brought a fun multiplayer to PAX.

Steve Tyminski

March 15, 2020 9:00 AM

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If you’re a fan of classic Mario Party mini games, then Aeolis Tournament is perfect for you. A combination of animals and human characters playing an eight-person mini game tournament sounds like a lot of fun.

You’ll be able to play in online multiplayer as well as local with up to eight of your friends. The controls for the mini games are simplistic but tough to get the top spot in the rankings. If you can push down and hold the A button, you’ll be able to play Aeolis Tournament as most of the games have similar setups. They range from throwing snowballs at your opponent to using an air gun to knock them off the island.

There are five total mini games to play in tournament mode where the top score wins. The games played can be an “every man for themselves” type or it could be a team game where total score wins. If you end up with a team of three computer players, it might not be the best outcome depending on the game played.

I found that when the soccer-like mini game was played, it was hard to control my character as well as guarding my zone. It would have been easier if that game had foosball-like controls where two players stay on one side of the field. The snowball-throwing mini game was also very difficult to tell what you needed to do to score points. I couldn’t tell if you needed to roll a snowball, thus making it bigger, and then throw it or just throw it at your opponent. One of the neat things in tournament mode is you don’t see the scores of the last event; it takes you to a “winning ceremony” where the winner is crowned the champ! Most of the mini games are fun and simple, like Air Hockey or bomb dodge ball.

The designs of the characters have a “Skylanders” look to them; large features such as heads and can be different types of playable animal/person. The Sharkman was my favorite design of all the playable characters. Being able to play online with your friends is a bonus, as multiplayer tourney games like this usually want you to play with people in the same room. It’s a welcome site to be able to play against other people in different areas.

Check out all our PAX East 2020 coverage.

Steve Tyminski

Contributing Editor

Steve is from the great state of New Jersey.  He went to college for History and has experience working in photography and video work. He’s grown up on Nintendo and loves sports, fighting, and role-playing games. He’s also big into video game soundtracks.