Ship of Fools Review

I am a huge fan of co-op games that you can play locally with your friends or family, so when I saw the trailer for Ship of Fools, I knew this was a game that I had to play. This seafaring roguelite title is developed by Fika Productions and published by Team17, who has been involved with many other co-op games like Bravery and Greed. Since the game works great with the Steam Deck, I took this opportunity to try it out with the dock.

When the game starts, you get to select if you will be playing with one or two players. Having two players isn't mandatory, but the game will be pretty difficult if you try to face the sea monsters on your own. The characters awaken on a tiny island called the Great Lighthouse, where you will begin when you start a run. Crabs and seagulls are all over the beach, and you can pick them up if you want; it doesn't really affect anything, but it is fun! You will head up to the island where you learn that the Great Lighthouse that once protected the Archipelago is broken. It's up to you — the fools who would willingly get on a ship and sail into the waters full of sea monsters — to protect your home from the incoming Aquapocalypse.

It will take multiple runs on The Stormstrider to defeat all the sea monsters and find items, power-ups, and other characters to power up the ship and your crewmates. The boat is equipped with two cannons that you can move around the ship to fire at enemies and you will receive an ammo dispenser that gives you a never-ending supply of shells to fire at the monsters. When your ammo is low or depleted, run to the dispenser and grab more shells to fill the cannons. This is where playing with two people really helps, one person can fire at the enemy, and the other reloads it. If you decide to try it on your own, the game gives you a cannon that automatically fires at the enemy. As you explore the map, you will find shops where you can buy different types of ammunition and other power-ups. Some items like a "can of beans" will increase your cannon's capacity when loaded like ammo. It is worth experimenting to discover which of these you find more useful to make more progress on your run. But beware as some items won't require sand dollars to buy, but require you to spend HP blocks from your ship. Spend too much, and your ship will sink… I learned this the hard way!

When you choose your route on the map made of hexagonal pieces, you will see little drawings on some of the tiles. As you travel to each hexagon, you will remain at that spot until all the enemies are defeated. If it is an item spot, you will move on once it is collected. These spaces include places where you find treasure chests, harpoons that you can collect and use to pull items in that are floating in the water, question marks where you may find a new character or sand dollars you can spend at the shop, wood planks that will be required to fix the damage on your ship, or later in your run the location of the boss. Personally, I made sure we grabbed as many planks as possible. Enemies will come aboard the ship, making holes in it if you don't hit them off with your paddle fast enough — though try not to hit your shipmate. If the holes aren't repaired fast enough, your ship will sink, ending your run and sending you back to the beach.

When you wash up on the beach, all the items you collected on your run will be gone unless you manage to find some tendrils. You can spend these with Halga for some of her magical soup. These soups will improve some different things for your next run, like giving you more money and harpoons or better ship armour. It is worth checking back here after each run because it is nice to have a slight advantage for the next time you go out. Once you rescue Rust, the blacksmith, she will help to upgrade your cannons, making them stronger as you progress. Slowly but surely you will become stronger to face the monsters on the map. Plus, you will figure out how to work together better as a team, along with which characters you have found you want to play.

There are ten different characters that you can find in the game. In the beginning, only two are playable, but you will soon find more that will be unlocked. Each character is holding their own heirloom trinket that will give them a unique ability that will be useful during your run. For example, Todd, one of the first characters you play as, has a Humble Hood that lets him swing his paddle faster when attacking. While sailing The Forgotten Waters, you will also find trinkets and artefacts that temporarily give you increases and bonuses for that run but will be gone once you sink the ship.

The art style in this game is great; it looks hand-drawn and is incredibly charming. Ship of Fools has a great sense of humour, making it fun to play regardless of age. The playable characters look cute, and I love the designs of the enemies. There isn't a massive variety of enemies, but I was okay with that, especially when you get to the boss battles and you see how cool they look. The music is catchy and full of songs that remind me of sea shanties that pirates and sailors would sing while at sea, just without the singing part. Plus, who doesn't want to play Lotte, who looks like an axolotl? 

Ship of Fools is a short game, as many players online could beat it in four hours or less. But I am playing with a nine-year-old who is more focused on hitting me with his paddle or trying to save the random seagulls that happened to land on the ship. They make great ammo, so he wasn't too impressed when I shot them at enemies. Ship of Fools is a great co-op title; I hope they add more missions to increase the challenge and replayability of the game!