Ship of Fools Critic Reviews

Ship of Fools is a truly exciting co-op roguelike, with frantic action. plenty of upgrades to enjoy and a banging soundtrack.

Team 17 has brought us some absolutely fantastic roguelike games in recent years, such as Rogue Heroes and Neon Abyss. It’s also responsible for publishing some excellent co-op titles, including Overcooked! and Moving Out. With Ship of Fools, both genres are combined, mixed together to make an absolutely excellent seafaring adventure that we’ve struggled to put down. This is one we’re going to be dipping into for many months to come.

Ship of Fools brings an unusual and very well balanced mix between traditional tower defense and the essence of a beautiful roguelite. Even though it carries with it the burden of a model that presupposes repetitiveness, it is fun, chaotic, beautiful and, as a whole, quite entertaining.

An interesting take on the roguelike genre that offers a unique and entertaining way to play the game, but feels geared towards co-op over single-player.

Whilst multiplayer games are plentiful, it’s still surprisingly difficult to find decent two-player local co-op games. Thankfully, with Ship of Fools, you and a friend don’t need to worry, as you’ll be happily blasting sea-beasts for hours, days, weeks, and months to come. Ridiculously fun and stupidly addictive, Ship of Fools is a delight!

An enticing mix between regulated and micro-managing gameplay, all garnished with tasty fish sauce.

We have tons of roguelites on the market right now, but Ship of Fools manages to feel unique in its own way.

Playing Ship of Fools will have you intimidated at first and shortly after the fun starts to sink in, you'll realise just how repetitive it all is. There are still good times to be had, though, so you may only want to take short excursions on this ship.

This nautical roguelike is chaotic, frantic and sometimes frustrating if you’re on your own. There’re too many variables in the trinkets/weaponry via RNG to squander your enjoyment and an AI that can feel unfair at times. But with a co-captain, there’s some treasure to be had, and a presentation that could cure scurvy.

Ship of Fools offers some spirited couch co-op fun and could be a good way to introduce the concept of roguelites to more casual players. Unfortunately, a lack of variety and depth eventually poke holes in this boat’s hull. Don't be afraid to pick up Ship of Fools if you’re just looking for a pleasure cruise with friends, but you shouldn't expect an epic sea odyssey.