Developer: Next Big Game Studio
Platform: PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Adventure, Casual
Publisher: Joygame Select, UGC90
Hold Your King is a co-op game that almost plays like Chained Together, except here you and a friend are carrying your sleeping King on a stretcher all the way up to his castle. The game is developed by Next Big Game Studio and published by Joygame Select and UGC90.
The premise is simple, but the game is much more challenging than it first seems. You and a friend each take hold of one side of the stretcher while the King lies asleep on top. Together you will need to jump over obstacles, duck under barriers, sprint past swinging axes and navigate all kinds of hazards to get him safely to the top.
We started off playing on Normal mode, and two additional difficulty modes unlock once you complete the previous one. The mechanics are straightforward and worked effectively throughout our playtime, with no noticeable bugs. The only issue we encountered was a slight latency delay when playing with a friend across the world, especially when trying to communicate and time movements together. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything game-breaking and was easy enough to adjust to after a while.
The game is all about coordination and teamwork. One thing that really stood out was how good the physics felt. When we lifted the stretcher and jumped, you could see the King’s body bounce around naturally. If we walked up a steep hill, he’d start rolling off the stretcher. The physics work really well alongside the movement mechanics and add a lot of funny moments. The jumping itself felt good, too, although I personally struggled a bit with the difference between the short and high jump. That was definitely more of a skill issue than a game design problem, though.
I really enjoyed the overall gameplay loop of moving from one area to another while dealing with all sorts of obstacles along the way. You’ll be parkouring across platforms, pulling levers to open pathways, avoiding rotating hazards, dodging cannonballs and arrows, and dealing with plenty of other challenges that require concentration and coordination to overcome. The King himself is also hilariously short-tempered. If you handle him too roughly or cause too many disturbances, he’ll throw a complete tantrum. Watching him fling himself around like a whining baby never stopped being funny, especially when everything is already going wrong around you.
This game created so many laugh-out-loud moments. There were points where my friend and I were laughing so hard we could barely play. You never know when one of you is going to fall, accidentally launch the King off the stretcher, or find him rolling down a staircase while your partner desperately chases after him.
I’m glad we started on Normal difficulty because of the checkpoint system. The death of the King or yourselves doesn’t feel overly punishing since you’ll respawn at the last checkpoint, making it much more forgiving while you’re learning the game.
The visuals are also really nice. It has a bit of that Human: Fall Flat aesthetic with ragdoll-like characters that you can customise, and there are quite a few options available. The vibrant environments, combined with medieval elements such as guillotines, fallen warriors, and castle architecture, make the world feel lively and grand. Even the King’s facial expressions are hilarious. The soundtrack also deserves a mention, with its grand medieval and mystical sound fitting the theme perfectly.
The in-game voice chat is another great feature, especially since it seemed to have less delay than using Discord while playing. While the game is designed around co-op play, you can also play with up to four players, which I can imagine would make things even more chaotic.
The only thing I wasn’t as keen on was the King’s aggression mechanic. I wish there had been a little more punishment or setback when he became annoyed, as there were times when it didn’t feel like he was getting as angry as he probably should have. That could simply be because we were playing on Normal difficulty, which is understandably much more forgiving.
The game is, in fact, designed for 2 players; however, it can also be played with up to 4 players. You will basically have two pairs, with two stretchers and two kings, where you all follow the same path. It’s not the case where 4 people use one stretcher, but rather two separate stretchers. This does add more obstacles and patience (definitely a lot more coordination is required), as you will be bumping into one another and causing more distractions.
We are very thankful to have received a few codes to playtest Hold Your Kind. First, Vroggo said the following: “Hold Your King delivered a challenging and unique take in this physics-based co-op platformer, and it’s amazing how there were so many opportunities for funny moments to naturally take place between my friend and me, the more we messed up while playing this game.
The physics of the game felt well-developed. I appreciated that the game allows for the adjustment of the king’s position on the stretcher by rotating the stretcher, jumping up and down while holding the stretcher, or just straight up bonking him. You can actually feel the struggles of balancing the king on the stretcher as players try to carry him across the map.
What I found interesting was that there was an aggression bar for the king when he gets dropped around or bonked too much, or else he has these funny tantrums, where he temporarily flails around angrily. This makes him feel much more alive and part of the course rather than some stationary object players have to carry across the map. It’s also something for players to be aware of to keep themselves from restarting from their checkpoint.
Like many long-traversing platforming games, the checkpoints are a godsend. Although the map itself didn’t feel particularly frustrating to cross, some of the platforming layouts were definitely challenging. Especially ones involving lifting the stretcher high or low, but definitely not dreadfully impossible. With just the right communication, it is possible to beat the tutorial in around 40 minutes or less right from the get-go.
I had a more enjoyable than frustrating experience while playing this game with my friend. It’s one of those games where players can enjoy the experience more when you make light of the mistakes made along the way, and make use of good communication and cooperation to make it to the end of the map.”
Secondly, Moody said the following: “Hold Your King is a funny and chaotic game. I think it’s a great game to play with friends for a couple of hours as you try to make your way through all the different obstacles. My only real complaint is that you can only play with either 2 or 4 players, meaning a third person can’t join in. Other than that, I think it’s a great crack of a game and definitely one that’s best enjoyed with friends.”
Hold Your King is a hilarious co-op experience that thrives on teamwork, physics-based chaos, and unexpected moments. It’s the kind of game that constantly creates memorable stories with friends, and even when things go horribly wrong, that’s usually when it’s at its funniest. If you’re looking for both a laugh and a challenge, then be sure to check out Hold Your King!
Overall: 7.5/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
