Ship of Fools - a fantastic new roguelite for 2 players
Our ship has sunk and the sea washes us back to our island. Again. Well, it is a roguelite action game, so every run is supposed to end where it started... at the Great Lighthouse. It is situated on a tiny island, sourrounded by sea monsters and inhabited by just a few people. Most things on this island are destroyed and abandoned. Your job, of course, is to rebuild it to its former glory, to bring back the missing population, rebuild the infrastructure while upgrading your warship.
I came to play the game with my wife. And I kept playing with her. Playing it alone is difficult, maybe not impossible, but difficult. This is the game that I hoped the rather disappointing Trash Sailors: Co-Op Trash Raft Simulator would be. You are on a boat and have to defend it in melee and with cannons, bringing ammo to the cannons, carrying the cannons to the best shooting position, repairing the ship when it is damaged. Foes can come from port and starboard, so you always have to defend on two sides, which makes playing alone hard, even though you are granted an automatic cannon in single player.
Using your harpoon to fetch ressources from the sea, using your oars to smash intruders on the ship, charging your melee attack to return enemy projectiles back to sender, using planks to repair damage to the ship, bringing ammo to the cannons... there are a few time critical things to do during combat, good cooperation with the second player helps a lot to survive. Steering the boat is not required - you just sail from one location to the next, always stopping on the new location until the enemies are defeated. Most of the time this is a fight where you have to kill all enemies, but there are also traders, islands with random items to snatch up or other surprises. Like in a typical roguelike, you sail from encounter to encounter until you are defeated and wash up at the starting island, losing most stuff you have collected. The maps are of course randomized, an icon showing what you expect at the next stop.
Meta progression is rather slow. When your ship sinks you will wash up on the beach empty-handed (except a tendril or two), losing all the fancy equipment you found during the run. There are a few people to rescue on your runs, they might help you on the island in return. A few permanent upgrades can be bought back at home with the tendrils. You can upgrade your weapons (after rescuing the smith) or go to old Halga for her magic soup improving some starting conditions for the next run (more money, harpoons, better ship armor).
Great roguelite action game to play together with a friend or family member. Die and retry - and build a mighty ship to explore the sea to avert the Aquapocalypse.
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