Devolver Digital revealed a brand new party game at Pax East 2019 called Heave-Ho. This is a cooperative, physics-based puzzler for up to four players locally where you control a little face with arms protruding from each side that you maneuver to grab on to various surfaces or other players.
My 30 minute demo was fun and easy to quickly pick up and play. Heave-Ho only uses both triggers and a single joystick on a controller. We stuck with one mode during my playtime,which had us working together to reach a flag in what felt like a trust exercise with the people you’re playing with. Lock hands and swing your fellow players across gaps or around a spiked wall, but make sure no one gets left behind because everyone needs to make it to clear a level. Swinging and using momentum to fling yourself is one way to get around if you’re feeling confident, but you can also create a bridge with arms linked or act like a slinky going in between platforms.
It’s pretty fun and simple to wrap your head around, but all it takes is one person to let go and you’ll quickly find yourself plummeting to your doom asking who messed up. It was fun making plans and finding solutions with the two developers I was playing with, but also just as fun to wing it and throw your body at the goal in hope that it works.
Heave-Ho seems like a great game for game nights with groups of friends. It’s local multiplayer only so it is definitely made in mind with playing with your friends huddled around a TV. Alexandre, one the devs on the game, told me other modes like competitive, racing, and time attack modes will be in the final game along with a single-player focused challenge levels to practice and get better at the game with. Heave-Ho will arrive on Nintendo Switch and PC later this year and will be great for any social gathering.