Ship of Fools

How much you'll enjoy Ship of Fools comes down to whether or not you have someone to play with. If you do have a friend that enjoys roguelikes and/or tower defence - and has a penchant for sea shanties - then we can guarantee Ship of Fools will give you a handful of hours of frantic fun. And if you have few friends but enjoy this addictive genre, you might eke out enough nautical miles whacking giant crab bosses with your paddle while enjoying the endearing presentation to warrant jumping onboard. Co-op is where it's at, though, so make sure you enlist a mate for this voyage.

Ship of Fools offers some spirited couch co-op fun and could be a good way to introduce the concept of roguelites to more casual players. Unfortunately, a lack of variety and depth eventually pokes holes in this boat’s hull. Don't be afraid to pick up Ship of Fools if you’re just looking for a pleasure cruise with friends, but you shouldn't expect an epic sea odyssey.

A joyous, chaotic co-op roguelite that rewards teamwork and creativity, one of the best two-player runs you can have.

Overall, Ship of Fools is a nice experience. The gameplay is unique, blending a top-down roguelike with an almost Overcooked style crisis management gameplay loop. Enemies, while somewhat simple, clearly telegraph their attacks and kept me entertained throughout my playthrough. The lack of wholly novel bosses and artifacts does make some playthroughs somewhat repetitive, especially as the majority of the challenge comes from the end, but I definitely can recommend this game.

Ship of Fools has a few annoying control issues but is an otherwise fun co-op rogue-lite with an absolute ship-ton of unlockable items that can be combined together for explosive results.

Whilst multiplayer games are plentiful, it's still surprisingly difficult to find decent two-player local co-op games. Thankfully, with Ship of Fools, you and a friend don't need to worry, as you'll be happily blasting sea-beasts for hours, days, weeks, and months to come. Ridiculously fun and stupidly addictive, Ship of Fools is a delight!

If you’re looking for a fun, frivolous-yet-high-stakes couch or online co-op game, round up your favourite fools and give Ship of Fools a go.

Ship of Fools is the kind of game that works well in bite-sized chunks and with a friend in tow. The chaotic nature of fights lends itself better to two players rather than one, while the start/stop nature of the combat flow works wonders to prevent the whole thing from feeling like a slog. It doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the genre, but it produces some solid fun. It could use more polish online and more bosses to fight, but it is enjoyable for genre fans who are looking for something to play with a friend.

If you’re up for testing the strength of friendship—or even a relationship—Ship of Fools puts you in the challenging role of world-savers through a cooperative video game. But don’t expect heroes in shiny armor wielding greatswords and accompanied by a large entourage. In Ship of Fools, you’ll become fools crazy enough to face the darkness itself in this rogue-lite game, clear the restless seas of dangerous monsters, and scoop up the treasure. Highly entertaining gameplay, a charming art style, and the ability to smack your companion with a paddle are the highlights that will keep you entertained from start to finish. It’s just a shame that the end comes too soon and no further updates await you.

Ship of Fools is a beautifully drawn sea-faring roguelike with a play style that will keep you coming back for more, long after beating the final boss. With a derpy cast of characters, an awesome soundtrack and hectic cannon-fire action, it’s a game that’s tonnes of fun on your own but is even better with a friend. It would have a higher score if it weren’t for some performance issues, but some noticeable slow down on the Switch version and annoying bugginess in the online co-op mode acts like an albatross around the neck, keeping it from sailing into the sunset entirely victorious.