Summary
The world of multiplayer games is vast, spanning a multitude of different genres. Grand strategy games, first-person shooters, and even cooperative roguelites can feature online and local multiplayer. However, it could be argued that multiplayer games are at their best when they’re at their most chaotic.
Chaotic multiplayer games often come in the form of party games, as well as couch-co-op games, though not all of these games adhere to these genres. For example,Lethal Companyfacilitates its hilarious chaos with proximity voice chat and horror-based gameplay, while games likeStreets Of Rogueembrace chaos with emergent gameplay.
Gang Beastsis a physics-based fighting game that focuses solely on its wobbly physics and chaotic combat, offering a streamlined experience with simplistic but well-realized visuals.Gang Beastsis by no means a complex game, but its physics engine and arcade-style gameplay facilitate an abundance of shenanigans.
Gang Beastscan be played in online or local multiplayer, and while the experience it offers isn’t as deep as other multiplayer experiences, its ridiculously silly combat creates consistent chaos.Gang Beastsis primarily a slapstick game; it doesn’t take itself seriously in any sense, and it may not be for everyone, but it can be a great experience for those who enjoy simple and unpredictable games.
This sequel to the 2020 couch co-op game features online co-op and the same slapstick gameplay that made the original so fun to play with friends.Moving Out 2has players working together to maneuver awkwardly shaped furniture through equally awkward levels, carrying all kinds of shapes and sizes to a designated drop zone.
While this gameplay loop may sound simple, and it is,Moving Out 2manages to remain a fun experience through some clever level design and environmental hazards that further the game’s already-chaotic to-me-to-you gameplay.
Due to its immersive-sim influences in the form of its open levels and abundance of player choice,Streets Of Rogueis often a chaotic game even when played solo, but it’s arguably better when played with friends.Streets Of Roguefeatures online and local co-op and the broad selection of playable characters helps to make each run unique.
Streets Of Rogueis a chaotic roguelite that tasks players with working their way through a series of areas, completing a variety of missions to progress.Streets Of Rogueoffers a massive variety of items, playable characters, and different factions to interact with, each of which allows players to take on missions in different ways. Furthermore, the sheer number of variables in the game means that even a single action can result in an outbreak of gunfire, explosions, and complete chaos.
There’s a reason thatLeft 4 Dead 2has lasted as long as it has; even outside the game’sextensive mod support,Left 4 Dead 2manages to provide a consistent playground for groups of friends to fight as a team through hordes of zombies. The chaos comes from trying to work as a team when completely surrounded and steadily running out of ammo.
Outside its chaotic, team-orientated gameplay,Left 4 Dead 2offers something that few other games do in the modern day: a fully-fledged, highly replayable experience that players can drop in and have a good time with right out of the box.Left 4 Dead 2is a relic of a bygone era in which games were just focused on giving players a good time. No wonder it’s still being played over a decade later.
Payday 2may have a more violent theme and tone than is common with chaotic multiplayer games. However, when SWAT pulls up outside as players attempt to break into a vault with a frequently faulty thermal drill, all because a bystander managed to slip past the team’s designated crowd controller, chaos often ensues.
It’s situations like this that makePayday 2frantically fun and equally chaotic, and it’s a feeling that doesn’t quite reach its heights unless played with friends in online multiplayer. The game’s series of heists can be played in full stealth, but it’s when players' plans go wrong that everything becomes a frantic rush to get out with as much cash as possible.
Thisco-operative multiplayer gametasks players with frantically gathering resources in order to build railway tracks as fast as possible, all in order to keep their train on the move. If players fail to produce tracks quickly enough, their train will inevitably tumble off of the tracks, and it’s game over.
Unrailed!is chaotic from the get-go, requiring players to work together quickly and efficiently, which almost never happens. As the game progresses, the train constantly picks up speed, and the new mechanics introduced throughout the game’s many upgrades and biomes help to keep the game from becoming stale.
This sequel to the classically franticcouch co-op, the top-down cooking game takes everything that made the first game so beloved and adds online multiplayer.Overcooked! 2also features a new over-world map and a range of distinct new recipes.
Overcooked! 2still features the original game’s tense,team-focused gameplay, made even more chaotic through the game’s variety of dynamic kitchens. These hazards and obstacles, as well as the shifting geometry of the levels, constantly provide new challenges that force players to adapt their strategies.
It’s no secret thatAmong Uswas, and remains, one of the mostpopular multiplayer games on Steam, and this is arguably due to its chaotic nature.Among Usis a simple game that’s clearly designed to be easy to learn, allowing big groups of friends to sit down and understand the game within minutes of playing.
This accessibility, combined with the game’s surprisingly addictive gameplay loop, is arguably what makesAmong Ussuch a long-lasting game. Despite its time in the sun having passed,Among Usremains a game that anyone can play, and the chaos that ensues as players desperately work to find the impostor is always a fun experience, even if it does get a little repetitive.
This Early Accessindie horror gameburst onto the scene mere months ago at the time of writing, and it’s already managed to garner over 150,000 reviews on Steam, 98% of which are positive as of December 2023.Lethal Companyis a simple game made great through its execution, tasking players with delving into tremendously creepy abandoned facilities, grabbing as much scrap as they can, and leaving before something nasty inevitably kills them or their friends.
Lethal Companyfeatures proximity voice chatthat makes its horror gameplay as chaotic as it is immersive. Players are able to hear their friends screaming at whatever horrors they’ve come across in the next room or strategize over a crackling walkie-talkie, and the chaos that erupts when the group happens upon a particularly nasty monster often pans out in fun and unique ways.
MORE:Lethal Company: Tips And Tricks For Beginners
