Michael "Kayin" O'Reilly probably didn't realize he was creating a cult phenomenon when he dropped a punishing, pixelated mess of a game back in 2007. It's called I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game, but most people just know it as the I Wanna Be The Guy game. If you've played it, you likely have a specific kind of trauma associated with cherries. Not the fruit, but the red, pixelated orbs that fall upward just to kill you. It’s a game built on a singular, sadistic promise: the world is out to get you.
Honestly, it shouldn't work. By all traditional game design standards, it's "bad." It breaks the unspoken contract between developer and player. You know the one—where the game teaches you the rules and then tests your skill. Kayin threw that out the window. In this game, the rules change every three seconds. You jump over a pit, and the clouds kill you. You walk under a tree, and the delicious-looking fruit flies up to hit you in the face. It’s unfair. It’s mean. It’s basically a digital prank.
Yet, here we are, nearly two decades later, and the I Wanna Be The Guy game is still a foundational pillar of "Masocore" gaming. It paved the way for Super Meat Boy, Celebrity Deathmatch mods, and the endless sea of "Kaizo" Mario levels. It turned frustration into a badge of honor.
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The Brutal Reality of Being The Kid
You play as "The Kid." He's a tiny sprite on a quest to become "The Guy." To do this, he has to navigate a world that is a Frankenstein’s monster of 8-bit and 16-bit nostalgia. We're talking Mega Man, Metroid, Castlevania, and Ghosts 'n Goblins. But these aren't loving homages; they are death traps.
The movement feels slippery. The Kid has a double jump, which is your only saving grace, and a tiny pea-shooter gun. One hit—one single pixel of contact with anything sharp or fast—and you explode into a fountain of red gore. It’s jarring. It’s hilarious. You’ll die hundreds of times before you even reach the first boss.
Memory is your only weapon. Since the game is designed to be impossible to beat on reaction alone, you have to memorize every single trap. "Okay, the third floor tile falls, then the moon falls, then the spikes go sideways." It’s a rhythm game disguised as a platformer. If you don't have the patience of a saint, you’ll quit within ten minutes. Most people do.
The Bosses are Fever Dreams
The boss fights are where the I Wanna Be The Guy game truly goes off the rails. Imagine fighting a giant version of Mike Tyson from Punch-Out!!, but he's also shooting lasers. Or a giant Mecha-Birdo. The game steals assets shamelessly, which gives it this weird, underground, "forbidden" energy that you just don't see in modern indie games that have to worry about copyright strikes.
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Take the Bowser/Wart/Dr. Wily fight. It’s a chaotic mashup that makes zero sense narratively but works perfectly as a test of endurance. You aren't just fighting the sprites; you're fighting the developer's imagination. You have to wonder what Kayin was drinking when he decided that a giant, screaming moon should be a primary antagonist.
Why We Still Talk About It
You might wonder why anyone bothers with something so intentionally broken. The answer lies in the community. Before Twitch was a global powerhouse, I Wanna Be The Guy game was the ultimate "let's play" fodder. Watching someone lose their mind as a random spike shoots out of a wall is peak entertainment. It’s the digital equivalent of a slapstick comedy.
It also tapped into a very specific kind of gamer ego. Beating this game isn't just about finishing a story; it’s about conquering a developer who hates you. There’s a psychological high that comes from navigating a "frame-perfect" jump that you've failed fifty times.
- The Learning Curve: It’s a vertical wall. There is no curve.
- The Soundtrack: A glorious, stolen medley of NES classics that keeps your adrenaline high while you die repeatedly.
- The "Save" Points: They are often placed just far enough away to be agonizing, but close enough to keep you from smashing your keyboard. Usually.
Kayin once mentioned in interviews that the game was inspired by Japanese flash games like The Big Adventure of Owata's Action. He took that "trap-platformer" concept and injected it with Western pop culture and a much higher level of polish (ironically). It wasn't the first of its kind, but it was the one that stuck. It was the one that felt like a "complete" experience, despite being made of spare parts.
The Legacy of the Fan Games
Perhaps the most insane part of the I Wanna Be The Guy game story is the "Fangame" community. There is an entire engine—the I Wanna engine—dedicated to making thousands of spin-offs. There are games like I Wanna Be The Boshy (which is arguably harder and more polished) and I Wanna Be The Love Trap.
This community has its own ecosystem. They have "marathons" at Games Done Quick. They have their own world records. The original game was just the spark. The fire it lit is still burning in niche corners of the internet where people think a 1-pixel jump is "generous."
How to Actually Play It Today
If you’re a masochist and want to try the I Wanna Be The Guy game in 2026, it’s a bit of a trek. The original was made in Multimedia Fusion 2, which doesn't always play nice with modern versions of Windows. You’ll likely need to find the "Remastered" versions or the community-fixed patches that allow for better controller support and higher refresh rates.
Don't use a keyboard if you value your wrists. A d-pad is essential. Even then, expect your thumbs to ache.
- Download the community patch. The original executable is buggy on Windows 10/11.
- Set the difficulty to "Medium." Just trust me. "Hard" and above literally removes save points. You aren't that guy. Not yet.
- Turn off your brain. Don't look for logic. If you see a suspicious-looking cherry, it's going to kill you. If you see a normal-looking floor, it's going to kill you.
Actionable Tips for the Brave
If you're going to dive into this madness, you need a strategy. This isn't Mario.
First, embrace the death counter. The game tracks how many times you've died. In your first playthrough, hitting 1,000 deaths is a conservative estimate. Don't let it discourage you. It’s part of the score.
Second, watch a speedrun. Not to spoil the traps, but to see the movement. There are subtle ways to manipulate The Kid's jump height by how long you hold the button. Mastering the "short hop" versus the "full leap" is the difference between clearing a spike and becoming a red smudge.
Third, take breaks. The I Wanna Be The Guy game is designed to induce tilt. When you're tilted, your timing gets sloppy. When your timing is sloppy, you die more. It’s a vicious cycle. Walk away, have a glass of water, and come back when you've stopped seeing cherries when you close your eyes.
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Finally, understand the "Save" mechanic. You have to shoot the "Save" boxes to activate them. There is nothing more heartbreaking than reaching a save point, forgetting to shoot it, and then dying to a hidden trap two inches away. It’s a mistake you’ll only make once. Or ten times.
The I Wanna Be The Guy game remains a fascinating artifact of internet history. It’s a reminder of a time when games were weird, lawless, and genuinely surprising. It’s not for everyone—in fact, it’s probably not for 99% of people—but for those who "get" it, it’s a masterpiece of frustration. Just remember: the fruit always falls up.