Ship of Fools (2022) [Steam] review

“The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure.”
–Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

Pirates are a popular focal point of sea fairing video games from the large open world of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to the strategic Sid Meier’s Pirates! The high seas are rough, unpredictable, and treacherous to sail alone. It’s better to grab a crew and face the seas together! The same principle applies to Team17 and Fika Productions’ Ship of Fools. This top-down cooperative rogue-lite will test your teamwork, combat, and management abilities. Can you tame the seas or will you become shipwrecked?

The High Seas

At the start of Ship of Fools, you are given a ship, basic cannons, and a paddle to defend yourself. As you progress through the game, restart, and acquire tendrils, the survivability of the crew is improved. Tendrils are used to upgrade your cannons and purchase various character stat boosters. The things that you upgrade stick with you through multiple runs so it’s a good idea to visit the shops in the hub area regularly.

To get to the end of the game you’ll need to sail through several checkerboard-type maps going from one space to the next. Not every space on the map has a special characteristic but there are certain tiles that are more important to visit. Most tiles you land on will have you fighting various enemies during an auto-scrolling level but some will give you extra materials, special equippable items, or lead to NPCs. A unique spot on the map will have a symbol representing what you’ll find. On the opposite side of the board is an ever-growing darkness that removes spaces. When it reaches you, it will trigger the boss fight so making sure you chose an optimal route is essential to preparing for that encounter.

Load up the Ammunition

Since Ship of Fools is designed around co-op gameplay, going into the vast sea by yourself is a death sentence. The more sailors you have the better your chances of making it to the end of the game. You can have up to four people in a party, each one can use any character at their disposal along with a cannon. The cannon can be moved from one side of the ship to the other and loaded with various ammo types. They start with basic shells but you can find other types while adventuring. Ammo varies from shotgun-like effects to damage-over-time. It takes a bit of getting used to, the controls are somewhat finicky when trying to get off of a cannon. Keeping your cannons loaded at all times is vital to making it through the gauntlet, especially when going up against the bosses. There are three slots in the middle of the ship to place items like wood to repair the hull, different ammo types, and treasure. You can upgrade your ship with the tendrils to increase the number of slots.

The paddle is used to beat enemies who land on your ship, push larger beasts away from the sides, and parry projectiles. It is a melee weapon that is useful when smaller enemies board the ship. Most characters use a three-hit combo and will swing whichever way you are facing. Larger enemy types will move next to the ship and will need to be pushed back. This takes the full combo but doesn’t always kill them. Parrying takes a second to charge and must be used before a projectile hits. The projectiles can be shot back in any direction that you choose.

Lastly, harpoons are your greatest ally. They can be fired out of a cannon and used to pick up items in the sea that are passing by. Hitting an item with a harpoon will automatically bring it back to the ship. You’ll still need to move it or equip it afterward. This is where the item management gets tricky because any item left on the ship after leaving an area will disappear. You can hold an item to keep it so having extra crew will give you more options.

Something is Fishy

Ship of Fools has a unique cast of characters, most of them found throughout your journey. They all come with different abilities and designs. Quicker paddle attacks, rage modes, and faster cannon fire rates are some of the abilities associated with different characters. There are two characters at the beginning of the game but the roster can expand to ten. Each character is modeled to look like a specific aquatic creature such as a frog, shrimp, or an axolotl. It’s important to choose a character that compliments your playstyle but also doesn’t conflict with a co-op partner’s choice. Just like with most rogue-lite games, the start is as important as the finish line.

A Dry Dock

Ship of Fools excels in cooperative gameplay and will give a better experience to larger parties. The game scales to the number of partners on each run but becomes easier at the same time due to the extra help. When playing with only one other person, it is easy to become overwhelmed as the adventure continues. I feel like the game does give you enough upgrade tendrils per run but it can be frustrating to restart after a substantial effort. I would recommend this game to anyone who has a group of friends to back them up. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend this to a solo player, it is possible to make progress but managing both sides of the ship alone is a big problem. All in all, my friend and I had a fun time working our way through Ship of Fools. Even though we failed to defeat the final boss multiple times it is still an enjoyable time with great music, a fun art style, and unique mechanics.

Thank you to Team17 and Fika Productions for giving us a code for the game!

Pixel Perfect

Recommended

YemmytheFerret (Yemmy) is a podcast hos for the shows Ferret64, Film Freakz, and FerretNFL. He also is a variety streamer on Twitch who enjoys platformers, shooters, and action RPG’s. His favorite game is Banjo-Kazooie and currently lives in Ohio.