QWOP



"You are Qwop, our small nation's sole representative at the Olympic Games. Use the QWOP keys to move your legs. Ideally you will run 100 metres... ...but our training program was under-funded. Remember, it's not about whether you win or lose."

- Title screen for Qwop

QWOP is a Flash-based Sports Game by Foddy in which you must get the titular athlete to run 100 meters without falling over. Uniquely, you control Qwop's individual thighs and calves. It is much harder than it sounds. It has a two-player sequel named 2QWOP.

Despite the game first coming out in 2008, it achieved massive internet popularity and Memetic Mutation in December of 2010 after Ray William Johnson showcased a Let's Play video of it.

Warning: make sure you periodically look at the time. A related game also by Foddy is Winner vs. Loser which is likewise based on track & field, and its Spiritual Successor is GIRP for the idea that controlling basic human motions is difficult.

"NATIONAL HERO you ran to the end of the track and jumped! In the end, you went: X metres"
 * Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Only seen when Qwop falls.
 * A Winner Is You:

"PARTICIPANT showing real courage, you ran: X metres everyone is a winner"
 * Bonus Round: When you finally hit 100 meters, you hit a long jump pit. In this case, it's more like a long stride pit, but still.
 * Deconstruction Game: On complicated controls.
 * Determinator: To an extent, both the player and the player character. No matter how many times you flip 720 degrees and crack your skull, you just keep trying for those 100 meters.
 * Dungeon Bypass: You're supposed to jump over the hurdle at 50 meters, but you just knock it over and keep running.
 * Epic Fail: It is possible to walk backwards behind the starting line, not only achieving a negative distance but also slamming into a wall behind you. Assuming you don't fall through the ground.
 * Face Fault
 * Gravity Screw: The low gravity makes running at more than about 1.5 meters per second impossible, so don't expect to break any world records.
 * Guide Dang It: You probably won't figure out that the right way to move forward is to without looking it up.
 * Hand Wave: Qwop's questionable motor abilities are the result of his nation's poorly-funded training program.
 * Have a Nice Death


 * Leitmotif: get Qwop up to speed and you'll start hearing the intro to the Chariots of Fire theme.
 * Meaningful Name: QWOP's name refers to the keys you use to control him, Q, W, O, and P.
 * Nintendo Hard: No checkpoints. You fail with the slightest brush against the ground, including landing on a knee too hard.
 * The Pratfall: The difficulty of the game makes these nearly inevitable.
 * Ragdoll Physics
 * Rhythm Game: Contains rhythm elements.
 * Sickening Crunch: Whenever Qwop falls over hard enough, including hitting a knee with too much force, there will be a CRUNCH, then the game over message.
 * Silly Walk
 * Slow Motion Fall: The physics and gravity in this game makes every fall slow.
 * Some Dexterity Required: Used intentionally.
 * Sports Game
 * Stock Shout Out: to Chariots of Fire.
 * Yet Another Stupid Death: Or rather, another stupid backflip.

"[-PARTICIPANT showing real courage, you wrote: 25 examples everyone is a troper-]"