Imagine a high-stakes art heist, but instead of sneaking through lasers, you’re racing against the clock to sloppily recreate iconic paintings using only your mouse, a timer, and sheer panic. That’s Sloppy Forgeries, and after getting a chance to play it early, we’re absolutely hooked.

Developed by the indie minds at Playful Systems LLC, Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced, competitive art game that mixes creativity and chaos. 

You’re shown a classic painting and challenged to recreate it as closely (or wildly) as possible. The catch? You only have a short amount of time, and so every stroke counts.

As you can imagine this can lead to some pretty hilarious attempts, of which I will show some of mine in this article!

We’ve been playing an early build thanks to a Steam key from the dev (huge thanks again!), and the experience has been equal parts hilarious and genuinely addictive. There’s something oddly satisfying about trying to replicate a masterpiece while the timer ticks down, and everything just falls apart (At least for me!)

I had the chance to Ask some Questions to the Dev about the game, which will be included in a separate article below, be sure to check it out,

Gameplay – A Stroke of Genius🖌️

The game plays very well, for an unreleased game it feels solid, and it does the job, i was given a painting to copy, and I did my best, there’s a good selection already of over 30 classic paintings, and there’s so much more potential, I can already imagine the competitions to get your artwork in the game, or Merch to be able to get your best (or worst) paintings on a small canvas for your own keeping! There are so many different directions this game could go, it’s incredibly exciting to follow its Journey!

The game Particularly Shines in multiplayer, and with it’s mouse v mouse local multiplayer, it makes it even easier to play with those around you, (although there will be a standard multiplayer option as well) 

The game scores you on how accurate your painting is to the real thing, so this creates some very funny moments of panic, trying to get those last few brush strokes in before time runs out.

There’s a healthy amount of Strategy involved here too, Do you go for the broader shapes quickly, or focus on those smaller details that may boost your score? Either way no two matches really felt the same when I was playing, as I was trying different ways to optimise my accuracy score

Why It works🧠

Beyond the laughs, Sloppy Forgeries taps into that same accessible creative itch games like Drawful or even Skribbl.io do, but with a surprisingly artful twist. It manages to celebrate fine art while also absolutely butchering it in the most amazing way, 

The Dev clearly has a strong love for art, combined with some absurdity in a perfect blend, the game also seems to sharpen your mind, you think quick and really tap into your inner artist, i’ve never been good at art, in fact, even in school my worst nemesis was shading a circle! (story for another day) but this game made me actually enjoy it, and want to see how good I could actually be!

So When Can You Play it?

The game is currently unreleased, but it’s already making waves in indie circles. No hard release date just yet, but it’s one of the most uniquely fun party games we’ve played in a while. It’s expected in 2025, so be sure to add it onto your wishlist, and keep your brushes at the ready, this is absolutely one to keep a close eye on!

We’ll be watching this one closely here at InsideXO, and we’ll update as soon as more info drops. 

Let us know Your Thoughts below in the comments, or Join the Official XO Discord, and come chat!

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