DOJO STORM: The BJJ Videogame We've Been Waiting For

When I was a wee lad in 4th grade, I learned that Pokemon was the coolest thing in the world. And so I started saving up to buy the cheapest gameboy out there, and a copy of Pokemon blue. I mowed yards for weeks.

Oh, the memories.

I got lucky, and my mom actually was so proud of me saving up for something for the first time in my life that she graced me with an upgrade--buying the $80 atomic purple (that's clear purple) Gameboy color, instead. Seriously, that moment was like a bonus Christmas.

So, when I found out that not only is a legitimate BJJ game coming out, but that it looks like this...

...I understandably started having nerdstalgia seizures.

It would be easy to imagine something like this just being a novelty thing, but it turns out that, a healthy dose of humor throughout aside, it's a seriously real project. They've been working on it for months, and they have a real indie gaming label collaborating with them to make it.

How do you make a BJJ videogame?

BJJ is weird and complex. It's not like striking/blocking, a fairly simple dynamic. It's a tangle of body positions. I've often wondered how I would make a BJJ game, and it usually comes up as a blank, a collection of half formed ideas, and ends up with me giving up and moving on to less hopeless causes.

This game sidesteps that issue altogether, smartly. You are an aspiring world champion who recruits a team of fellow martial artists, with the ultimate goal of competing at the Polaris Team Invitational.

Apparently drama is added by the outbreak of a "McDojo Virus" you seek to help prevent, to save the culture of jiu jitsu itself! The game appears to be riddled with inside jokes from the BJJ world; martial artists of all types--through the lens of a BJJ worldview--are included, however, and there is a rock/paper/scissors "type" system.

What's cool is that, while there aren't 151 pokemon to catch and collect, there are a range of fighters to recruit (up to 50 are planned), and unlike pokemon, each fighter can develop in many possible directions, depending on how you structure their training. There are hundreds of learnable moves. Finally, there are 'evolutions' that can occur depending on how the fighter's abilities develop! The fighting dynamic looks to be better than one might initially have hoped for of a niche indie game.

In the nature of the handheld game it was inspired by, it is primarily intended for an iOS/Android release, but they intend to port to PC as well if they reach their crowdfunding goal (which it clearly appears they will, being 2/3 of the way there in the first few days).

What's very cool is seeing companies like Scramble and Polaris support this project. There aren't many things that a company could do that would really scream 'interested in the BJJ community, not just making money' to me like supporting a niche project like this, and it really lends it a sense of legitimacy that is just cool. Inverted Gear, my personal favorite gi company, has also purchased a company sponsorship, so we'll likely see something by them in the finished product as well!

Even the music is done by a BJJ purple belt, Mechanical Advantage, keeping the whole thing 'in' the BJJ community.

The planned release date is this October, and it's already in a nearly-finished state, it seems, so these are exciting times indeed!

One of the coolest features, though, is that because this is a crowdfunded game... It's possible to be in the game. While several of the cool perks featured include books within the BJJ genre, two of the highest tier options include $350 to be included as a character in the game, and a $1000 option to make your gym be a sidequest, complete with characters from your gym!

When I read that, I geeked out to an entirely new level. Unfortunately, I'm not a wealthy man, and neither are the owners of either of the gyms I train at. I considered blowing money I didn't have on being a character anyways...

...But then an idea occurred to me. A way to get me and 3 other people as characters in the game, for an investment of only $20 a piece. Interested? Go read and sign up here!

In closing, I just want to say thank you to Aesopian & Marshal of Artechoke Media, the guys at Synersteel Studios, and all the others who made this happen. This kind of stuff really enriches the community, and it's great to get to feel like a kid again.

Lastly, if you're thinking you'd rather just wait to buy it after it comes out, rather than help with crowdfunding, please reconsider! They have multiplayer support as a stretch goal contingent on receiving enough funding, and you know it'd be incredibly badass to be able to settle arguments on /r/bjj or with your gym friends during downtime with a Dojo Storm battle!

Check them out: DOJO STORM!