''Gang Beasts'' is a

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels ...

party game Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; ...

developed and published by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

indie studio Boneloaf. The title would originally be published by Double Fine Presents until May 2020 and self-published afterwards, while it would later be published in physical form by Skybound Games The game released for Microsoft Windows,

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

, and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

on 12 December 2017, following an

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

period for the PC platforms that began in August 2014. It was also released on the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

on 27 March 2019.

Gameplay

In the game, players fight each other as floppy ragdolls in multiple

melee A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...

fight sequences, and hazardous environments, set in the fictional metropolis of Beef City. At initial release, it contained eight multiplayer

stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * St ...

, and costume customization. The core

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...

involves using various physical abilities such as punching or kicking an opponent until they are

knocked out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

, and then attempting to toss them over one of the stage hazards. Opponents that have been knocked down are not completely defenseless however, as they can fight back to be released.

Reception

In its

freeware Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for t ...

alpha state, as well as upon Steam Early Access release, the game was met with positive response from critics and fans. Comments include Keith Stuart of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' calling it "probably one of the silliest beat-'em-ups ever made," Jessica Conditt from

Engadget ''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editor ...

calling it "a jolly good time", and Steve Hansen from

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ...

highlighting how its weirdness plays out well. Outside of early access, ''Gang Beasts'' received mixed reviews from critics on both the PC and PlayStation 4 versions of the game. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the game holds a score of 67/100 for the PlayStation 4 version based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". The game was nominated for "Excellence in Multiplayer" at the 2018

SXSW Gaming Awards The SXSW Gaming Awards are awards given to video games during the annual South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), held in Austin, Texas typically in March of that year. The Awards are part of the SXSW Gaming Expo which is part of the SXSW Interactive b ...

, and for "Multiplayer" at the

14th British Academy Games Awards The 14th British Academy Video Game Awards hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 12 April 2018 at Troxy honoured the best video games of 2017. It was hosted by Dara Ó Briain, who had previously hosted the 12th ceremony in ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, gangbeasts.game 2017 video games 3D beat 'em ups Double Fine games Early access video games Indie games Linux games MacOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Party video games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation VR games Skybound Games games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Xbox One games