Gang Beasts is a comedy focused physics driven arena brawler game. It’s also one of the best local multiplayer games that you can play with friends.
Created by Boneloaf and published by Double Fine, Gang Beasts has a very simple premise. You’re a neon coloured plasticine styled humanoid shape in an arena. Your opponents are a collection of neon coloured plasticine styled humanoid shapes controlled by your friends. All of you are wearing incredible costumes.
All you have to do is get your opponent to leave the stage. But, they won’t want to do that on their own so you may have to help them. Violently.
A press of the left and right triggers of the controller swing the relevant arms. Hold them and your character grabs and lifts whatever they swing at. After that, you’ve got jumping and using those swinging fists to grab the world. With a little practice you can even climb or use physics to hurl yourself around the map. It’s loose and a little clunky to start with, but as players get more comfortable moving around, the wackiness just grows.
On top of that, the variety of the stages, and the way they take advantage of the in game physics, are the hidden core of the game. Fighting in a wrestling ring and throwing your opponent out is straightforward. Then fighting on top of a giant fan so you need to grip the ground when it spins up is something else. Standing astride speeding trucks and trying to spar while signs sweep towards the combat is something else entirely.
There will be multiple games in any session of gang beasts that end with multiple people dangling from heights or edges. Feverish cries of “get off or we both lose!” are commonplace.
So Gang Beasts is, in a word, Silly.
It’s a comedy game, using bright primary colours and soft edges to bring forth a slapstick brawler. Beyond that, it never fails to elicit laughs from the audience playing it.
Available on PS4, Xbox and PC with all of the sellers available through the game’s site