The basis of Toribash is extremely simple, but the game itself has a very high learning curve. Basically, by controlling certain joints and muscles on the body, the player can set up their own moves in an attempt to disqualify or kill the other player. It sounds very easy, but learning how to control all of the joints in tandem to get the desired effect requires a lot of patient work. It pays off, though.

Each joint and muscle has 4 possible actions that can apply to it. For areas like the torso or shoulders, the text isn't the same as the other joints and muscles, but there will always be 4 possible actions.

• The first action is to Contract the muscle. This causes the muscle to contract, pulling the joint towards the body. This, along with the Extend action, is how you set up things like punches and jumps. The contraction is pretty sharp and jarring, so it should be mixed with other actions to make it more manageable.
• If Contract is the first action, Extend is the logical following. This causes the muscle to extend, pushing the joint away from the body. This is the actual motion of the punch or leap. It can cause the player to come off-balance, though, so like Contract, should be used with other actions to temper its power.
• Next is Raising and Lowering. These are the shoulder and hip equivalents of Contract and Extend and, as one can imagine, causes the limbs in question to raise or lower. When combined with Extensions and Contractions, they can be used to chop and grab at the enemy.
• Much like Raising and Lowering, there's also Turning Left and Turning Right. They are exactly the same, except they cause you to turn left and right. Great for setting up haymakers and grabs!
• Life would not be complete without a Relax option! This causes the muscle to stop doing anything and let inertia and gravity carry it rather than the muscle movement itself. Essential to any great fight as it keeps a player from overextending themselves.
• Much like Relax, the player can Hold a muscle. However, this causes the muscle to freeze up instead of being carried by inertia. This is the game's equivalent to "dead stop" and is perfect for making sure limbs don't end up willy-nilly.

On top of these actions, there's a very specific action for the hands. This action is the all-powerful Grab. Why is it all-powerful? Well, the most gruesome kills in Toribash come from expert use of the grabs. Unlike real life, there isn't as much resistance if you want to tear off limbs, so players routinely decapitate, dismember, and otherwise brutally murder each other. And grabbing is the best way to set it up and pull it off. Want to slam dunk your opponent's head into his body? Use a grab! Ripping off limbs? Grabs are the way to go! You can toggle between normal mode and Grab, so don't worry if you want to just pummel them to death.

Games are between two players that can be controlled by players or the AI. Players can play on the same computer or use the excellent netplay to find other players to play against in ranked matches. The gameplay is divided into "frames", where the player or AI determines the action. After ending their turn, a few frames play and they have the chance to adjust their character to continue the move. This method gives more of a focus on figuring out the best combinations as well as allowing for finer control over the different movements necessary to beat the snot out of the other player. Thankfully, there's also a blue shadow that gives you a short-term look at what actions will do to your characters position, letting you set up more complicated combos.

The graphics and sound in the game may be minimal, but they fit very well. Everything is extremely stylized, from the blood to the bodies. The bodies are little more than circular clumps bound together and the blood is much the same way. The sound is also as minimal as possible, consisting of This simple approach to things has three purposes: reducing the required specifications to run the game, making the UI as uncluttered as possible, and letting the developer use microtransactions!

Yes, you heard me right. While Toribash is free, there is microtransactions. However, unlike other games, buying items in the game's store doesn't actually benefit your gameplay at all. It serves merely as a way to customize your characters and themes to best fit your particular aesthetic style. It's with this in mind that Toribash remains firmly within the realm of freeware, just with the possibility to spend money on it on the side. No game features require any money to be used, although netplay does require you to register with the community.

Toribash is one of the best fighters around through its use of a clever and unique concept, addicting physics gameplay, and minimalist art style. The competitive aspect of it only makes the game that much more sweet. You can download the full version of Toribash for PC, Mac, or Linux from the developer's website. As mentioned earlier, playing online will require registration, which is free.

For another look at freeware games, take a peek at Joystiq's Free Game Club weekly feature!