Controlling an athlete one leg at a time
Ragdoll Runners is a physics-based athletics game covering 8 events: sprint, long jump, triple jump, and hurdles. You control each leg independently with a separate key, so you cannot win by mashing buttons. A third key lets you lean forward when it matters: finishing a sprint, completing a jump, or clearing a hurdle. Early runs tend to look disjointed and clumsy, but with better timing your athlete starts moving like a real champion.
Playing with friends
Solo mode puts you against increasingly strong opponents as you chase a championship in each event. Splitscreen lets you compete with 3 friends on the same computer, with gamepad support. Online, you can take on the world record and your friends' records. The Challenge mode sets you against progressively tougher records from the leaderboards, and the Daily Contest gives you a limited number of attempts each day to score points across the Octathlon.
Before you start
Expect a learning curve built on timing rather than button speed. The store text notes that this game is very different from QWOP.