UFO 50 is a video game collection developed and published by Mossmouth for Windows in September 2024 and for Nintendo Switch in August 2025. It features 50 unique games of varying genres and length. The games were a collaborative effort by six developers over the course of several years, its development akin to a game jam.
UFO 50 was critically acclaimed, and was the highest rated PC-exclusive of 2024 on Metacritic. Critics applauded the amount of variety, experimentation, and consistent quality that the collection provided, although some wished specific entries were expanded as their own separate releases. It won Best Indie Game at the New York Game Awards and received several nominations for the category at various award ceremonies.
Gameplay UFO 50 is presented as a compilation of games similar to Cassette 50 and Action 52, developed by the fictional company UFO Soft for the fictional LX-I, LX-II, and LX-III series of video game consoles between 1982 and 1989. Half of the games feature a two-player mode, either versus or co-op. The main 50 games are playable from the start, with the hidden 51st game, Miasma Tower, accessible via inputting commands in the in-game terminal.
The order in which the games are presented is intended to show the history of UFO Soft's development slate, with some games having sequels, and others featuring cameos from previously released games. Each game also features short development notes informing their fictional creation.
The games belong to genres including shoot 'em up, platformer, and role-playing, each with a twist. The games vary in length and scope, with some being described as "shorter, arcade-style experiences", while others "have narratives and expansive worlds to explore", with one (Grimstone) estimated to take upwards of 60 hours to complete fully.
When a game is completed for the first time, its border on the game selection screen will change from blue to gold. A more challenging win condition is also revealed, which grants a red border upon completion (referred to as "Cherries" in-game). Each game additionally includes a unique gift that will appear on the garden screen when certain requirements are met.
List of games
Overview Director credits explicitly stated when directly sourced; names of UFO Soft employees in-game loosely correspond to each developer's identity.
# Name Genre Versus Co-op Fictionalrelease year Directed by 1 Barbuta Adventure, Platform 1982 Eirik Suhrke 2 Bug Hunter Puzzle, Strategy 1983 Jon Perry 3 Ninpek Arcade, Platform 1983 Eirik Suhrke 4 Paint Chase Arcade 1983 Jon Perry 5 Magic Garden Arcade 1984 Main Director: Derek YuAdditional Support: Jon Perry, Tyriq Plummer 6 Mortol Platform, Puzzle 1984 Main Director: Jon PerryAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 7 Velgress Arcade, Platform 1984 Derek Yu 8 Planet Zoldath Adventure 1984 Jon Perry 9 Attactics Arcade, Strategy 1984 Derek Yu, Jon Perry 10 Devilition Puzzle, Strategy 1984 Derek Yu, Jon Perry 11 Kick Club Arcade, Platform 1984 Derek Yu 12 Avianos Strategy 1985 Jon Perry 13 Mooncat Platform 1985 Main Director: Eirik SuhrkeAdditional Support: Ojiro Fumoto 14 Bushido Ball Sport 1985 Derek Yu, Tyriq Plummer, Jon Perry, Paul Hubans 15 Block Koala Puzzle 1985 Derek Yu, Paul Hubans 16 Camouflage Puzzle 1985 Jon Perry 17 Campanella Arcade 1985 Main Director: Eirik SuhrkeAdditional Support: Ojiro Fumoto 18 Golfaria Adventure 1985 Main Directors: Derek Yu, Tyriq PlummerAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 19 The Big Bell Race Sport 1985 Eirik Suhrke 20 Warptank Adventure, Puzzle 1985 Eirik Suhrke 21 Waldorf's Journey Arcade, Platform 1986 Jon Perry 22 Porgy Adventure, Shooter 1986 Derek Yu, Tyriq Plummer 23 Onion Delivery Arcade 1986 Main Director: Eirik SuhrkeAdditional Support: Paul Hubans, Tyriq Plummer 24 Caramel Caramel Arcade, Shooter 1986 Eirik Suhrke 25 Party House Strategy 1986 Jon Perry 26 Hot Foot Sport 1986 Jon Perry 27 Divers RPG 1986 Eirik Suhrke 28 Rail Heist Platform, Strategy 1987 Main Director: Jon PerryAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 29 Vainger Adventure, Platform 1987 Derek Yu, Tyriq Plummer 30 Rock On! Island Strategy 1987 Derek Yu, Paul Hubans 31 Pingolf Sport 1987 Eirik Suhrke 32 Mortol II Adventure, Platform 1987 Derek Yu 33 Fist Hell Arcade 1987 Derek Yu 34 Overbold Arcade, Shooter 1987 Jon Perry 35 Campanella 2 Adventure 1987 Eirik Suhrke 36 Hyper Contender Platform, Sport 1988 Jon Perry 37 Valbrace Adventure, RPG 1988 Main Directors: Tyriq Plummer, Derek YuAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 38 Rakshasa Platform 1988 Director: Eirik Suhrke 39 Star Waspir Arcade, Shooter 1988 Derek Yu 40 Grimstone RPG 1988 Main Director: Derek YuAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 41 Lords of Diskonia Strategy 1988 Jon Perry 42 Night Manor Adventure, Puzzle 1988 Main Director: Paul HubansAdditional Support: Derek Yu 43 Elfazar's Hat Arcade, Shooter 1988 Eirik Suhrke 44 Pilot Quest Adventure 1988 Main Director: Derek Yu,Additional Support: Jon Perry 45 Mini & Max Adventure, Platform 1989 Main Director: Jon PerryAdditional Support: Paul Hubans 46 Combatants Strategy 1989 Derek Yu 47 Quibble Race Strategy, Simulation 1989 Derek Yu, Jon Perry 48 Seaside Drive Arcade, Shooter 1989 Ojiro Fumoto 49 Campanella 3 Arcade, Shooter 1989 Eirik Suhrke 50 Cyber Owls Platform, Shooter, Strategy 1989 Derek Yu, Paul Hubans, Tyriq Plummer 51 Miasma Tower 1990 Unknown
Barbuta
Barbuta is the 1st game in the collection and released in August 1982. It is a puzzle platformer where the player explores a castle, with the ultimate goal to "liberate the castle". There are items and money scattered throughout the environment which the player can collect. The items affect the game in various ways.
Bug Hunter Bug Hunter is the 2nd game in the collection and was released in February 1983. It is a strategy game, which takes place in a cave filled with wild bugs. The player character has to defeat enough bugs within a set number of "days" otherwise they will lose. The player navigates the 5x6 grid and attacks enemies by using "modules" - when all modules are used, the game advances to the next day. This reimburses the player with their modules, but new bugs may appear on the map and bugs left over from last day may evolve to their next form. When a bug turns into an egg, it must be defeated that day otherwise the egg hatches and bugs overrun the cave - resulting in a game over. The main challenge is to survive three rounds in a row.
Ninpek Ninpek is the 3rd game in the collection and was released in April 1983. The game is an auto scrolling precision platformer, about two ninjas who have their sandwich stolen and they have to recover it. Players can double jump and shoot projectiles in a straight line to defeat enemies. Players also have a limited number of lives and losing all lives results in a game over. The game takes just under nine minutes to beat. Once the game has been beaten, a second loop begins which has more difficult enemy arrangements.
Paint Chase Paint Chase is the 4th collection in the game and was released in October 1983. It is an arcade game where players control a car that leaves a trail of paint behind, and try to paint a maze / race track in their own color, while opponent cars paint the track in a different color. When the player car runs into an opponent car, the opponent car gets removed without affecting the player car, so it is often to the player's advantage to remove the opponent cars before they can paint much of the maze. There are various types of enemy units, which have various properties to challenge the player as they try to paint the maze in their color.
Every level has a minimum percentage of the map that must be painted in order to progress to the next level, and each percentage of the map above that threshold that gets painted gets added to the player's score. At certain score thresholds, the player gains extra lives.
Magic Garden
Magic Garden is the 5th game in the collection and was released in February 1984. It is an arcade style game, where the player collects so-called "oppies", small characters that resemble jelly, and "save" them by bringing them to a delivery area. Upon collection, the oppies follow the player character in a tail that lengthens in a manner reminiscent of the classic game Snake, which disappears when the oppies are saved.
The player must avoid running into this tail of oppies, as well as enemy oppies that spawn at regular intervals. Enemy oppies can also arise from friendly oppies not being in the delivery zone when the player tries to save them.
Enemy oppies can be removed by drinking a potion, which puts them into a vulnerable state for a limited time, during which they are removed when the player touches them. Potions increase in potency the longer they are left on the map, with higher level potions making more enemy types vulnerable, giving more points for devouring enemies, and even increasing the spawn rate of the pink oppies on the board.
The game is won when 200 oppies are saved.
Mortol Mortol is the 6th game in the collection and was released in March 1984. It is a platformer where the player can sacrifice their current character to improve the state of the game. The player starts with 20 lives, and a limited number of extra lives can be collected in each level. Because the game continues from one life to the next, terrain that is destroyed or created in a previous life (including the bodies of the previous lives) can impact the gameplay during a current life. In this way, it is often necessary to sacrifice many lives in order to complete a level. The player may sacrifice their character using three different "rituals" - blowing up; flying horizontally across the screen (leaving a platform where the character contacts a wall), or turning into a cube of stone.
Mortol has a sequel in the collection, Mortol II. (These two games were conceived of separately at the start of UFO 50's development by Jon Perry and Derek Yu, respectively, and were made into one series with common theming and story elements during development due to their shared mechanics. Fictionally, Benedikt Chun originally had the idea for Mortol, but Gerry Smolski directed the game because Chun was preoccupied at the time. Mortol II was Chun's chance to make the game in a manner more true to his original vision.)
Velgress Velgress is the 7th game in the collection and was released in April 1984. It is a fast-paced platforming game where terrain crumbles away a short time after the player first stands on it. The player must climb 30 stories to complete each level, and a grinder rises as the player goes up, destroying any terrain, and killing the player if they fall into it. The grinder is the only way the player can lose the game, but various obstacles can stun the player and remove the player's ability to control their character, making it likely that the player will fall into the grinder. Players can collect coins to use at shops after each level to upgrade their character, such as ability to recover from stun faster.
There is also a bird in each level that appears at around the halfway point and drops a key when killed. If the player collects all keys on the way through the game, a secret level will unlock that leads to the game's true ending.
Velgress is the first game to feature Alpha, a recurring character in UFO 50.
Planet Zoldath