A cross country video games has been invented. Play it here for free.

Wow...I'd rather play a farming simulator which up until now I thought was the most boring sounding game ever.

I was really pumped when I sprinted at the home stretch to pass three runners and win the varsity race by 0.3sec.

Just not sure if constant tapping on the keyboard is the most pleasant way to play, but I do like the concept. It would be really interesting if there will be team mode.

LetsRun.com wrote:

We recently found out an XC video game has been invented and we are pumped to unveil it right here as our beloved sport needs to think outside the box if it's going to grow.

https://youtu.be/CZomwSZegkk

The game will eventually cost something but you can try it out for free (tipping is always nice) now at the following link:

https://crosscountry.itch.io/xc-demo-1

Let us know how you do and post any questions for the developers here as we are going to let them know about this thread and they should be able to respond.

Update. Here is an article on the game.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/11/cross-country-finally-has-its-own-video-game-download-it-for-free/

I need the running back version of this.

Yusef Scummm wrote:

I remember Nintendo had a game that featured some track related events. Hammer throw, javelin, etc. can’t recall if there were actual running events, though. MANY years ago........lol.

There was the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series. The first one came out on the Wii in 2007 (Beijing 2008 games), followed by Vancouver 2010 (winter games), London 2012 (summer games), Sochi 2014 (winter games), Rio 2016 (summer games), and then Tokyo 2020 on the Switch (it was released before the games were postponed). I played a bit of the Tokyo 2020 game and it has a cute pixel art theme'd marathon your character runs and you have to be conservative with your stamina while maintaining your speed with a good rhythm and avoiding other runners like obstacles, it's pretty fun how they made the mechanics suit that. All the summer olympic theme'd games had track races but I always wished there was some sort of cross country theme'd minigame event in those games.

This seems like a neat idea. I think it could be fun having virtual athletes that you can train and compete as a team in a "world cross" like simulation on a variety of different courses and conditions across the globe.

Bumping mechanics are ridiculous. I should be allowed to play as Mr. Chest so I can truck those scrawny JV kids.

where are the hills?

rojo wrote:

PS. I haven't had a chance to play the game. For those of you that have. One question I have is, does the game feature an early celebration feature? ;) As someone who once famously coached a guy to an early celebration in the biggest race of his life, I Ryan needs to embrace his past and make it a fun part of the game.

https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=0&id=231455965&width=557&height=535&crop=0_2513_2466_2416&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1596214197&h=7d9df8d7454871f6a963720873d33b97

hah not sure about a celebration mode, but was thinking it'd be fun to have a cutaway like in double dribble if you're about to win.

Gazellie wrote:

There was the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series. The first one came out on the Wii in 2007 (Beijing 2008 games), followed by Vancouver 2010 (winter games), London 2012 (summer games), Sochi 2014 (winter games), Rio 2016 (summer games), and then Tokyo 2020 on the Switch (it was released before the games were postponed). I played a bit of the Tokyo 2020 game and it has a cute pixel art theme'd marathon your character runs and you have to be conservative with your stamina while maintaining your speed with a good rhythm and avoiding other runners like obstacles, it's pretty fun how they made the mechanics suit that. All the summer olympic theme'd games had track races but I always wished there was some sort of cross country theme'd minigame event in those games.

I had never seen the tokyo 2020 marathon actually. It's very nintendo, gotta love how they pulled that off in 2d and still made it look fun. As with all racing though, I could really do without that announcer.

goldeneye kid wrote:

where are the hills?

Ah, I know. Cross Country definitely needs hills but that conflicts with snes era flat art style. I could have added them in and they'd obscure your sight ahead and give you something to run up, but I'd really like to save them for a future iteration and make climbing a hill it's own unique challenge. I was thinking when you approach a hill you switch from rhythmic tapping to holding down each button in rhythm for a period of time to get up the hill?

There are no EPO power ups

Its just one of those days wrote:

There are no EPO power ups

LOL

I played through a few races.

What I liked: Drafting is a nice feature. It's cool to have to react to other runners instead of just getting through the course as fast as possible. The running animation is great.

What I didn't like: I found the controls to be frustrating, and not in a good way. I think the main issue is that there is a noticeable delay (maybe 0.2 seconds?) between the moment I press a key and the moment the game responds. The collisions are also kind of frustrating. In real life, contact with other runners doesn't spin you in a different direction. Maybe tripping or decelerating would make more sense.

Overall I think this would be a lot of fun if it were easier to play (not easier to win, just easier to move around). I'm glad someone with XC experience is doing this.

There should be an XC game in Roblox.

notarobot wrote:

I played through a few races.

What I liked: Drafting is a nice feature. It's cool to have to react to other runners instead of just getting through the course as fast as possible. The running animation is great.

What I didn't like: I found the controls to be frustrating, and not in a good way. I think the main issue is that there is a noticeable delay (maybe 0.2 seconds?) between the moment I press a key and the moment the game responds. The collisions are also kind of frustrating. In real life, contact with other runners doesn't spin you in a different direction. Maybe tripping or decelerating would make more sense.

Overall I think this would be a lot of fun if it were easier to play (not easier to win, just easier to move around). I'm glad someone with XC experience is doing this.

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing a delay as that's definitely not intended. As for the collisions, consider it noted. I've tried to tinker with it before but to no success. I'll definitely be revisiting that aspect.

I see your point on getting realistic times. Maybe there's a way to make a conversion like 30sec =3:00 1k time.

As for multiplayer, I imagine 4 max per screen would be ideal, kind of like the mario kart setup.

I played the game. I like the graphics and idea but the controls were way too unnecessarily hard to get the hang of.

I actually created a simpler, similar road running game earlier this summer (drew up some animations, created gameplay involving drafting etc), but never published it, I'll send you a link to it if you're interested.

sweet game wrote:

I’ve got to say I love this game!! I played for while today, ran a 15:25! Multiplayer would be cool, and sometimes I wish some of the AI would take it out faster. I pretty much had to sit to conserve energy then with a full bar I could sprint the last K. I think it would be cool if the varsity and elite races were actually faster rather than just harder to conserve energy in. Overall awesome!! And fun! Got a few of my friends to hop on too

Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I honestly hadn't considered speeding up the AI at all as I didn't want to make it any more difficult physically than it already is. If you're into the game, we're having a bit of a contest over at

check it out

XCvideogame wrote:

Goofy.Gruber wrote:

This game sucks. So unrealistic. Unbelievable.

Aww, did someone get dfl? Maybe that's more realistic than you're ready to admit. Believe it.

Holy sh*t, Goofy.Gruber got murdered

Y'all just brought back so many memories that I had somehow forgotten for over 30 years. I remember getting that mat - The Power Pad - for Christmas and playing it nonstop for about 3 months before we figured out every way to manipulate it (e.g. the jumping off and back on for the long jump). I was 9 when we got the game. It was basically the Wii of our time.

I love that there were other kids out there playing this all night with their friends.

Thank you for the reminder.