Loop Lariat
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Link those lasso-bits, and round up them outlaws! Yee-haw!
It's tough out there. Out on the range. But that's exactly why they brought you here, isn't it? The town's been absolutely infested with do-no-good outlaws hailing from the Meeple Crew, and they're wrecking up the place. You've gotta take 'em out with your trustiest tool...your lasso. Well, many lassos— you get it.
Loop Lariat is a rootin'-tootin' spaghetti-western block puzzle game, where you wrangle bandits one move at a time. Make efficient use of the limited space...or, hope some dynamite comes your way if you make some bad choices. There's cool visuals, addicting gameplay with multiple modes to mess around in, and heaps of cowboy spirit.
Made during Falling Block Jam 2026. Yee-haw!
Controls
On a gamepad (or on your Playdate!)...
D-pad — Move
A — Confirm / Place Block
B — Back / Hold Block
Start/Menu — Pause
On a computer keyboard...
Arrow Keys — Move
Z — Confirm / Place Block
X — Back / Hold Block
Esc — Pause
(You can re-map keyboard bindings in-game, too.)
- Art, code, music, and SFX — Rae
- French localization — Voxy
- Root Beer font — Font End Dev
- xorshift PRNG implementation — Eli Piilonen (2DArray)
- LÖVE2D Knife library — airstruck
- LÖVE2D HUMP library — Matthias Richter
- Tween easings — Yuichi Tateno and Emmanuel Oga
- Lua JSON parser — rxi
- Thanks — davemakes, Voxy, Toad, Winter, Devon, and the Café!
Download
Install instructions
Windows
To play this game on Windows, download and unzip the associated file. Then, just run "Loop Lariat.exe"! If you'd like to move the application elsewhere, create a shortcut to the application inside its folder instead — the executable requires the files around it to run properly.
macOS
To play this game on macOS, download and unzip the associated file. Then, just run "Loop Lariat.app"! Chances are, you'll encounter some kind of "App could not be verified" error. To get past this, open System Settings > Privacy & Security, and scroll down until you see a message labeled ""Loop Lariat.app" was blocked to protect your Mac". Click "Open Anyway", and follow the prompts to allow the app to run.
Linux/Steam Deck
To play this game on Steam Deck (or any similar flavor of Linux), download and unzip the associated file. Then, run "AppRun"! Deck/Linux support is a tad experimental; let me know if you run into any problems!
Universal
To play this game from the universal source file, download the associated file, as well as the LÖVE package for your preferred operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux) at https://www.love2d.org/. Then, enter your terminal/command line, and run:
love "Loop Lariat.love"
From there, you should be ready to start playing!
Playdate
You'll need a Playdate (or Playdate Simulator) to play this game. You can get the game onto your system by sideloading through usual means. (Not sure how to do that?)
For information on the differences between versions, visit https://rae.wtf/manuals/loop-lariat.
Comments
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Aaaaaaaaaa, fun Pipe Dream-esque game! :D I love how due to ropes not disappearing inside loops, you can kinda think ahead with your piece placements to try and set up the foundation for the next capture while you're working on your current one, and it's neat to have moments where I leave myself open to bail out on a bigger clear in favor for a smaller one if it seems like I'm not getting the pieces I need, heheh
Also the TNT having delay is a cool choice too, even ended up having a moment where I was almost out of time in Arcade mode but had a lone Meeple that was easy to capture, so I sped through my piece queue and held a TNT so I could reach the piece I needed in time, meep(le)!
Nice music (especially the twangy instrument on the title screen) and sound effects, cool J2ME-esque aesthetic (I know it's being designed for the Playdate which is also a lo-fi platform, but this game gives me old flip phone game vibes which I loooove, and shoutouts to there being a daily challenge mode as well (though on the Windows version, it did give me the ability to play again (albeit with a different starting arrangement of Meeples), just as a heads up)! 💙
thank you for all the kind words!! 💖 AAUGH yeah i noticed the daily replay earlier — the jam versions locked in stasis now, but i'll have it fixed for whatever happens next with this game hahah. it having a different layout is weird, though; i'll look into that deeper. 🙂↕️
gunpey? in 2026? preposterous