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Indie co-op climbing game Peak's developer knows that "friendslop" has its haters but argues there's a place for these kinds of games.
Between REPO and Peak, it's been a good year for pick-up-and-play co-op games that came out of nowhere and blew up. But where there is popularity, there is also negativity, leading to the rise of the term "friendslop" to describe these games – effectively saying the games don't have much going for them outside of being something to hang out and play with friends.
Aggro Crab studio head Nick Kaman explains in an interview with GamesRadar+, "There’s backlash because sometimes these games forego traditional quality markers like polished graphics or story, but these games aren’t trying to be Game of the Year, they focus on delivering a specific experience and that can make it very cost-effective for indie production."
Kaman adds, "like with any hot genre you get a lot of fast-follows and low quality attempts flooding the storefronts, but I think it's mainly just fun to be a hater, especially when a term like 'friendslop' is so juicy."
He explains that the pull of "friendslop" is that "There’s a real desire to connect and hang out in online worlds, and friendslop games put that at the front and center of the experience," adding that, " These are games that emphasize teamwork and communication, as opposed to just testing your individual skill in a group setting."
