A great roguelite game where you can sail the seas with your friends - Ship of Fools Quick Review

Ship of Fools is the perfect lighthearted roguelite about voyaging the ocean with friends or occasionally alone. Similar to games like Overcooked, cooperative play is key to success here. Players must shuffle around the ship, delivering supplies to stock their cannons and repairing the deck to prevent the ship from sinking.

THE STORY

In Ship of Fools, I embarked on an adventure to save the world from the almighty Aquapocalypse, a catastrophic event caused by a sea beast approaching the shores of my character’s lighthouse. I needed to jump aboard the Stormstrider and voyage across the sea while manning cannons and slapping away monsters with an oar, all to hopefully reach and defeat the terrifying beast causing all this chaos.

PLATFORMS

Ship of Fools is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S and X. I personally played on Xbox Series S and had no issues running the game.

TIME PLAYED

I played Ship of Fools for two hours and was able to get pretty far, but couldn’t complete the game. It took me twenty to thirty minutes to play through a decent run before dying and returning to the lighthouse.

WHAT’S AWESOME

• Co-op gameplay. Ship of Fools requires a lot of fast movement, decisive plays, focus, and quick thinking. Co-op gameplay was tremendously enjoyable and chaotic, forcing me to rush around and handle problems as they popped up. I had a blast playing co-op and found myself enjoying Ship of Fools most when my ship was full of strangers.

• Characters and items. New characters unlock as you explore the ocean in Ship of Fools, and each one has a unique passive ability. Add in over a hundred items that also provide different advantages, like extra harpoons to reel in loot or health, and Ship of Fools started becoming more and more in-depth with how it required me to play. These items came at a cost, though, and depending on what I wanted to buy, I needed to be mindful of how much I could spend as I never really knew what could be around the corner. This element led me to be careful with my resources and decisively purchase items when it was most needed, inspiring tons of strategy.

• Style. Ship of Fools uses a beautiful hand-drawn visual design, and the background music really got me into a swashbuckling mood.

WHAT SUCKS

• Solo gameplay. The biggest problem Ship of Fools suffers is its solo gameplay. There’s a significant difference between venturing by yourself and playing with friends or strangers that makes the game feel impossible to beat alone at times. Although an automatic turret helps defeat monsters, it wasn’t enough to keep my ship afloat, especially when I was being attacked by multiple sea creatures.

SHOULD YOU PLAY IT?

Yes, if you’re looking for something unique (or something built for co-op) to scratch that roguelite itch. Ship of Fools is an excellent roguelite that truly captures the swashbuckling feel of being a pirate and sailing the seas for treasure and glory.

💬 If you were a pirate, would you sail the ocean to explore it,  to find some hidden treasure, or to slay a mighty sea monster? Tell us down below!