The PAX Rising section of the show floor has a huge selection of couch multiplayer games, and one that caught my eye was Blockpocalypse by Dime Studios. A pixel-art platformer, Blockpocalypse is a four player party game, that includes cooperative and competitive modes.
In my play session, I got a chance to try out the survival mode where all players must work together to keep away from the lava that is rising on screen. You can pick up objects and place them on top of each other to get to the next area, also being able to change the orientation, to change the height and reaching the platforms much quicker. I unfortunately died early on, but was able to be revived mid game during a checkpoint, we all successfully escaped on a helicopter.
The second mode we played was a 2v2 basketball game where it included the object building mechanic, but had a basketball in play, where you had to fling it through the other team’s ring to score a point. There are TNT and rockets placed around the map, which you can use to knock around your opponents, or take the ball away from the opposing team. From the matches I’ve seen, and even the one I was playing, they can get really hectic – this mode is reminiscent of games like Battleblock Theater’s ‘Ball Game’, or #IDARB.
You can choose from several characters like ‘Dark Lord’ a pixelated Palpatine, or the famous ‘Left Shark’. Its great to see a variety of interesting characters, hoping the roster gets continuously updated, adding new characters. The game is currently on Steam Greenlight, so check it out if you’re interested, and want to help out local indie developers.