I enjoy dying in Heave Ho 2. I’m not doing it on purpose, but it’s usually because I miscalculated a swing, was accidentally dropped off a cliff by my brother, or, most often of all, tried to make a comically long jump I had no chance of landing. The act of playing is so ridiculous and fun, and setbacks are so minimal, that I simply don’t mind. I don’t love every level, and the Showdown mode is largely forgettable, but this sequel from developer Le Cartel Studio is a great way to spend a few afternoons with family and friends.
In Heave Ho 2, each player controls a head with two arms, and each hand can grab nearby items or surfaces by pressing a button. The act of moving across a stage is easier said than done, especially at the start, and even once you get the hang of it, you always look and feel hilariously ridiculous. Since the game is multiplayer-only, most levels require you to work together (though others can be completed by progressing forward one at a time), either by linking your arms to make one long chain of hands or by collaborating to accomplish a goal. Regardless, it always looks silly, which never gets old, and as chaotic as it looks, the game controls really well.
While many levels in the co-op campaign task players with getting from one side of the map to the other, some worlds have different objectives or add twists to complicate your progress. I really appreciate how those goals shift across the eight worlds. Flying High has you navigate ski lifts, gondolas, and icy mountains to reach your goal, but levels in Manor Mysteries hide keys to unlock the exit, and Spacebound Squad has you navigating zero-gravity, sometimes teaming up to pilot a spaceship. Each time you boot the game up, you’re in for something new.
Not every world is a winner, though. Chef’s Orders, a world where you stack ingredients on a plate, is consistently frustrating. Heave Ho 2 is built for movement or carrying small items, but my group of players did not enjoy moving the much larger items. Similarly, Medieval Travels has several levels where you transport a king on his throne without tipping him over, and we found it so unintuitive that we accepted help from the game’s cat drone, which appears after you’ve spent a long time struggling and probably need a cop out to move on. I admire, however, that Le Cartel took risks on these unique levels, even if they didn’t always land.
The campaign has about 60 levels, each with two to three optional objectives, like finishing within a certain time frame, finding mysterious hands to grab, or fitting into hidden silhouettes. There’s also an equippable camera that you can bring across the game to complete even more objectives, capturing photos of the party doing specific, often silly tasks. While I beat Heave Ho 2 across roughly eight hours of gameplay, we spent a while getting distracted by side objectives, and I’m confident we could spend plenty more if we wanted to 100% the game. The robust list of achievements is a smart way to make the most out of the game’s modest amount of content, adding significant replay value.
Each objective makes progress towards a series of unlocks. Some are cosmetic, like the game’s roster of crossover skins from other video games (I’ve unlocked everything from an Among Us Crewmate to Henry from Kingdom Come: Deliverance II), but others add mechanical value by giving players items to equip going into stages. The Ima Rock freezes you in the air, allowing a friend to use you as a platform, while the arm spray extends an ally’s arms, making distant platforms easier to grab. The items add great complexity to the game, and I love that most of them are geared around aiding teammates, rather than oneself, but I wish they were unlocked faster. I only unlocked an umbrella (used for Mary Poppins-style floating) after going back to replay old stages, and I would’ve loved to have it when I was playing through the first time.
The game’s other mode, Showdown, is a fine side mode to experiment with once or twice, but it’s far shallower than the co-op levels. Players go head-to-head in a rotating playlist of maps and one of three objectives: a race, a challenge to see who survives longest, or a dash to see who can grab a handle first (which is also just a race, to be honest). The first player or team to get five wins comes out on top. Showdown is briefly entertaining, but that’s the only ruleset it has, and it doesn’t reward repeated play the way the main levels do, so I don’t expect most to spend much time with it.
I have a soft spot for goofy physics-based co-op games in general, but Heave Ho 2 was a hit no matter who I put it in front of. Its wacky exterior is supported by a solid core of great controls and smart level design. Not all of its gambles pay off, but I’m fine accepting a little jank in an otherwise jolly experience.