I have been playing a lot of couch competitive/party games recently, the most popular among my roommates and I being Gang Beasts. I started wondering, what actually makes this game fun? Why has it grown to be so popular among my otherwise non-competitive roommates?
Having just revived the RIT Game Development Club, I had the perfect opportunity to ask fellow developers/designers what they thought. I asked people a couple of questions:
The group came to a couple conclusions about how the simple mechanics of the game can lead to some very fun dynamics between players.
The basic mechanics of the game are to punch, grab, and therefore kill the opposing players. You win by being the last person alive. Each map has a different environmental hazard, that allows for more varied ways to be victorious.
If you were to break down all these things into the types of fun as defined by the MDA Framework, then we came up with the following:
Being a local multiplayer game, the people that you are playing with can either make or break the experience for you.
This is mainly for newer players, that have to discover what each of the buttons on the controller does for themselves. Along with discovering how to play the game, each map offers new ways to defeat the opponents, which you need to find out for yourself.
If you are playing with more experienced players, then the matches can last quite a while. This will invoke some more challenging strategies in the game.
If you are looking for a great competitive game to play with your friends of all skill levels, then Gang Beasts is a fantastic addition to the ol’ Steam library.