Here’s another game that might be in YOUR Pile of Shame. 

Barotrauma. 

It’s not in mine, of course. I’m like a fly to honey, or rather a moth to the flame, when I see a multiplayer game with ‘as deep as they’re rewarding’ systems that can cause game-ending havoc when misused. “I’m sorry. I guess I killed us all,” is a joyful admission of defeat and not a point of debilitating failure necessitating pity from my poor unfortunate colleagues. 

Nevertheless, you will die in Barotrauma, with or without me on your team. Losing is actually fun, and failure is ever present. It’s kind of like what people say about soulslikes, only this is no soulslike. 

Here’s the official description:

Barotrauma is a 2D co-op survival horror submarine simulator, inspired by games like FTL: Faster Than Light, Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress and Space Station 13. It’s a Sci-Fi game that combines ragdoll physics and alien sea monsters with teamwork and existential fear.

And a handy list of features:

Features

  • Play with up to 16 players on board a submarine. Supplement your player count with bots as needed in either singleplayer or multiplayer game modes.
  • 6 player classes with different skills and tasks: Captain, Engineer, Mechanic, Medic, Security officer and Assistant.
  • Talent system: Gain experience and unlock talents to improve your character. Each class has three specialization talent trees to customize your playstyle.
  • Faction and reputation mechanics: Choose who to ally with, help their cause, reap the benefits or suffer the consequences.
  • Procedurally generated world and missions with multiple game modes for virtually endless replayability.
  • Comprehensive crafting system: gather materials, craft equipment, weapons, medicines and more to help your crew survive on Europa.
  • Built-in Submarine, Character and Procedural Animation editors. Share and discover mods directly via Steam Workshop.
  • Most game data exposed in .xml and the game’s source code publicly available on GitHub for modding.

Gather your crew and create a…crew. Dive deep and meet horrors head-on. Panic. Laugh. Die. Think about your mistakes. And try again. Just don’t forget to assign each person the proper duties. Sometimes clear delineation of what to do and what not to do is best for optimization and playing the friendly blame game. Or don’t, and let chaos reign. 

Barotrauma’s really one of the best party games I’ve played in years. The systems may seem daunting at first, but with the right amount of gusto you can brute force your way through the start. Naturally, the rest will fall into place. Or not. Either way you’ll have an evening you’ll never forget with friends. And isn’t that what this is all about?

-RCGinger