N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO Threatens To Revitalize 2D Platforming In 2027

Metanet co-founders Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns present themselves as two humble Canadians who simply want to blow your mind with platforming innovations. This is what they’re known for, as the creators of the genre-defining 2D platforming series N, which debuted in 2004 and continued to ignite during the indie explosion of the 2010s. N, N+, N++ and even Ten++a free update that Metanet dropped just last October, are known for offering crisp animations and ultra-precise mechanics in minimalistic environments. Each installment is a clean platforming playground with obstacles, enemies, projectiles and plenty of vertical space, and while the original N was single-player, subsequent iterations added couch and online co-op with great success.

More than 20 years after N went live, Metanet is back with N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO. It’s a multiplayer parkour experience with the series’ signature stick figures and simplistic visuals, though there seem to be a few more drop shadows and gradient hues this time around. N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO is due to hit PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2 in 2027, complete with local and online co-op, single-player options and cross-play.

N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO has five game modes, including two fresh ways to play. You have the classic Trials and Co-op modes, which have been polished for modern sensibilities, and a revamped version of Racing, which is sadly not named Rocket Murder Time even though it includes a new bazooka feature at the finish line. Metanet describes Racing as a faster version of Fall Guysand it has players set traps and collect ammo as they rush toward their complimentary rocket launcher at the exit.

The two new modes are One-up, which takes inspiration from American Ninja Warriorand Team Tag, which is a two-on-two battle about gathering gold and evading capture. Team Tag is the “crown jewel” of N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWOand in it, teams take turns playing as Ninjas or Hunters. Ninjas are trying to stay alive and collect gold, while Hunters attempt to catch Ninjas by touching them. Hunters can also turn into rockets, of course.

Metanet

The new game’s soundtrack features about 60 global artists, all of them hand-selected by Burns, Sheppard and the Metanet crew by trawling Bandcamp in their free time. The soundtrack is largely inspired by UK garage and it’s filled with electronic music from the 2020s, including flowy dreamscapes and intense breakbeats. You know, platforming music.

N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO is built on the same aesthetic and technological principles as the other N games, with 256x anti-aliasing and sub-pixel movement tracking that results in slick animations and incredibly reactive avatars. In a briefing ahead of the game’s reveal at the 2026 Day of the Devs summer showcase, Burns excitedly explained that for most 2D run-and-jump games, the character’s hitbox is square, but in the N games, it’s a circle. This changes everything about how the avatar falls, leans over edges, grazes corners and flows through each space, adding a touch of Bennett Foddy-like slipperiness to the physics. The circle is simply more precise and it lends the N series a unique feel among 2D platformers.

Metanet

Burns and Sheppard took the circle approach after reading a breakdown on 3D object collision from a Bungie programmer in the early 2000s, posted in a long-lost Usenet forum called Game Dev Algorithms. The Bungie developer explained movement in Halo in terms of sliding a spherical object across a triangle mesh, and so the Metanet founders translated that idea to 2D with a circle on a line segment mesh. The result was Nand eventually, N PLUS INFINITY TIMES TWO.