Tether is a two-player battle for coin-collecting supremacy. Players manoeuvre within an arena while tied together by an elastic cord, with each movement building generating momentum. Players must collect as many coins as possible within the time limit, with the player who collects the most coins declared the winner. Players can also collect power-ups, such as shields, speed boosts, and freezing their opponent, in order to gain a competitive advantage. Players must watch out for the spiked corners, as hitting one results in the player losing all their collected coins.

The game’s development focused on the notion of "fun frustration": this was perceived as a behaviour in which adversity caused by the opposing player was used as motivation to seek payback, as a result sustaining the play experience. Instances of fun frustration included: using power-ups to gain an advantage (speed, strength, doubled-up coin collection) or to limit the opposing player's actions (freeze movement, protection); losing all collected points by hitting traps, leading to a higher risk-reward the more players collected; and being limited by the movements of the opposing player as a result of being tethered together.

Credits

Developed by Tether Games: Andrew Reid (Production), Gareth Purdy (Game Design), Rebecca Leith, Rob Small, Sarah McNeill, Gray Young (Game Art); Stephen Benedetti, Christopher Quinn (Game Audio); Alasdair Slessor, Duncan Gillespie, Nick Taylor, Nikolai Shaw (Game Programming).