Console-exclusive games have always been a hot topic, with fans clamouring over each other to declare their chosen platform’s software superiority and console manufacturers assimilating studios like a rampaging No-Face to bolster their unique offerings.
While there are definitely downsides to the practice, competition does still breed innovation and in the race to offer the best ways to play, PlayStation has built quite a unique feature set into its newest machine, the PlayStation 5. One of its most daring features, a controller stuffed with technical wizardry like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, is a major drawcard in its exclusive game argument and one that some of it’s biggest titles like Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart take full advantage of.
Enter the next contender in the console exclusive ring and another game to use the PS5’s trademark DualSense controller to unique effect – Finger Fitness.
At a mere AUD $1.45 and clocking in at around ten minutes to fully complete for a platinum trophy, you could argue that Finger Fitness is “just another” trophy-grubbing incremental clicker game in the vein of Mr Massagy and My Name Is Mayo. But while those games are synonymous with trophy hunting within the PlayStation ecosystem, Finger Fitness goes one step further by only being possible on Sony’s new-generation device.
The idea is simple – assuming control of a pair of fingers on-screen, players must use their own fingers to quickly press the left and right triggers on the DualSense controller to flex their in-game digits and rapidly gain points. The more points you have, the more you can spend on things like multipliers, point-gaining pets and increased stamina. The more stamina you have, the longer you can flex your fingers before needing to rest and scrub down the stamina bar by swiping on the DualSense’s touchpad.
Rinse, repeat and slowly build up your point-amassing power until you’re a finger-flexing god and have a shiny new platinum trophy for around ten minutes of work.
The kicker is that those fancy adaptive triggers on the DualSense controller provide actual resistance when trying to rapidly press them in Finger Fitness, with the game increasing or decreasing the resistance based on your progression through its handful of locations and your unlocked stamina upgrades. At its toughest points it feels like a genuine workout for your appendages – especially if you’ve been single in a lengthy lockdown recently.
Finger Fitness joins a growing list of “quirky” games designed purely to squeeze obsessive trophy hunters out of a couple of bucks for a quick platinum, but it’s also kind of a neat example of how the DualSense controller’s capabilities can apply to even the most gimmicky of titles.
You can grab the game from the PlayStation Store here… if you want to.
