Your Only Move is HUSTLE, colloquially known as YOMIHustle (which used to be its official name before the game was briefly Screwed by the Lawyers), is a game by indie developer IvySly that was released in open beta on November 10th 2022, with the 1.0 update being released on Steam on February 3rd 2023.
YOMIHustle is a 2D Fighting Game with one major twist: instead of having to remember and execute commands and combos on the fly, you and your opponent pick actions one at a time from a menu, and after your actions are locked in the game unpauses and executes those actions. This flips the dynamic of a match on its head, resulting in something that plays more like a fast-paced Turn-Based Strategy game than a traditional 2D fighter.
Despite the game's minimalistic graphics, YOMIHustle lends itself to some absolutely bonkers fight scenes
due to the way it works, essentially allowing it to be used as both an unorthodox fighting game and a tool to create your own fight scenes reminiscent of late-2000s "Stick Fight" animations. This mix of spectacle and strategy has allowed the game to carve its own niche in the realm of 2D fighters, with a vibrant modding and competitive scene.
The game's Steam page can be found here, and the download for the beta (which is no longer updated and essentially serves as a free demo) is here.
Tropes found in Your Only Move is HUSTLE include:
- Aggressive Play Incentive: Moving away from your opponent or constantly blocking will build up a hidden "sadness" meter. At 66% sadness, a "SAD!" warning will appear on the sad player's side, and that player's super meter gain will be severely reduced. At 100% sadness, "SADNESS" will appear instead. When a player receives this effect, all of their super meter will instantly deplete to zero (and it can't be gained back unless sadness is reduced), along with the player taking constant damage and losing their ability to use defensive options, like blocking.
- Anti-Air: The Robot has two grabs, Try Catch and KILL PROCESS, that only hit opponents who are in the air. However, they deal massive damage to anyone unlucky enough to get caught in them.
- Expy: While three of the four base characters are based on specific fighting game archetypes (the Ninja is rushdown, the Wizard is a zoner and the Robot is a grappler), the Cowboy is very much inspired by Johnny, being a flashy, quick and Difficult, but Awesome swordsman (though the Cowboy differs by wielding a gun as well as their sword, whereas Johnny purely uses swordplay and the occasional implied magic).
- Game Mod: The game has a whole library of mods, including custom characters, stages, UI elements, and quality of life features.
- Genre Mashup: The game is a mix of traditional 2D fighting and Turn-Based Strategy gameplay.
- No Plot? No Problem!: Nothing in this game is explained. Why can the Cowboy seemingly manipulate time and space through teleports, temporal rounds, and foresights? Where did the Wizard and Ninja learn the spells and techniques that they utilize? Who made the Robot?
- One-Hit Kill: The Robot's KILL PROCESS super, if used in neutral and with 9 bars of super meter, will KO the opponent instantly.
- Pun: One of the Robot's abilities is called "Command: GRAB." This alludes to the concept of command grabs, special moves that involve grabbing or grappling the opponent upon contact, which the attack itself is.
- Stick Figure Animation: The game is based on late 2000s animations that would star two or more nondescript stick figures fighting, usually with similarly nondescript but noticeable combat techniques, which matches the concept of the game itself and its fan created mods, each character focusing on a general theme but not going much further than that.
- Sword and Gun: The Cowboy primarily wields a katana, but also makes use of a six-chambered revolver in a few of their attacks.
