Heave Ho

After playing this game, I really had a good “sit and think” moment about the state of games. I know a lot of gamers (including myself at times) get caught up with the newest and greatest blockbuster titles, which is fine, but sometimes we need to mix things up a bit. Games like Heave Ho are sometimes passed by without a second thought, but in all honesty, grabbing this title for the low price of $10 is an absolute steal. It will give you some solid, challenging play time on your own, and then when your buddy comes over you can have a ridiculous time flinging each other across the map. I would say El Cartel Studio has nailed this simplicity with this one, I would recommend checking it out.

Heave Ho doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of Snipperclips, but it’s still one of the best couch co-op titles to hit the Switch. It encourages communication and careful planning, but remains utterly chaotic and achingly hilarious, with a fantastic selection of unique costumes to unlock as you progress. The fact that you’ll face the same stages whether you’re playing multiplayer or single player is undoubtedly a big disappointment, but it’s great fun whatever way you decide to play it.

It's a good chunk of content for an absolute steal of a price. The wackiness of grabbing your friends, flinging yourself around, making faces and noises, and just causing shenanigans all around doesn't really get old. Heave Ho is a much harder sell to anyone expecting to play it solo, but it's an absolute must-have for any local multiplayer get-together with friends.

Heave Ho isn't really for those friends that are unfamiliar with games shy of Mario Party. It's not insanely challenging, but requires a certain amount of dedication (and acceptance of repetitive failure) to enjoy. The levels are short, sure, but the minutes and hours can quickly rack up as you and your friends throw each other into spikes and over walls. A lack of online multiplayer (at least on PC) seems like an oversight, but it's hard to find further fault in a game that fosters friendships and foe-ships with such unbridled joy.

Heave Ho is an insane party game that ramps up the craziness to the maximum. While there is a single-player option, Le Cartel Studio's wacky title is best experienced with a group of people and a sense of humour. Flinging characters across the stage to land in a pit of spikes is as fun as it sounds, while the joy and elation that transpires after eventually reaching the destination helps to make Heave Ho one of the mainstays of party titles. While it doesn't dethrone the Mario Party, Smash Bros, or Mario Kart series, this can safely sit near the top of party games for when such a time to experience the outrageous and whimsical title arises.