

If you’re looking for a good time with some friends who maybe aren’t the most able gamers, Gang Beasts has a lot going for it.

A few modes help flesh it out further (including one co-op) with some variety, and you could hope the potential for some online play would throw some challenges your way periodically, but the joy here is really about in-person play, laughing, smack talking, and making a ruckus as the on-screen action plays itself out. Gang Beasts (prototype) is a silly local multiplayer party game with doughy ragdoll physics and horrific environmental hazards. The fact that Gang Beasts mashes them both together in one pretty silly package is a credit to having some confidence or just plain nerve, and while nuanced fighting fans will likely find playing it akin to fingernails on a chalkboard, if you’re able to take a step back and embrace the button-mashy goofiness of it there’s still just enough strategy in flailing and taking down enemies to give it some appeal. Both “wacky physics” and local multiplayer games have a tendency to suffer from people having extremely positive or negative views of them, Both “wacky physics” and local multiplayer games have a tendency to suffer from people having extremely positive or negative views of them, either embracing and “getting” the style of play or likely despising it.
