My memory is saturated with fond memories of couch multiplayer. There is something uniquely enjoyable about sitting on the couch with your friends, competing against one another. With the advent of online gaming, these experiences are slowly fading to become a memory of the past. That said, ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS aims to provide players with a fun, co-op experience meant to be shared with friends. While its success at this task is a bit of a mixed bag, the game employs a vibrant, eye-catching aesthetic that will lure you in.

ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS makes no attempt to gently guide gamers through the controls. As you boot up the game, you are greeted with a menu that allows you to either learn how to play or simply start your game. The lack of a mandatory tutorial is welcome, given it is a game meant to be played with friends. One would hope the owner of the game would happily explain the controls, rather than making their friends trudge through a tutorial.

ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS lets you jump right into the action with friends!

The base game is easily understood by anyone who has played video games before. You are a rocket. You shoot missiles at other rockets, either controlled by AI or your friends. If you hit the other rocket enough times, you win. Rinse and repeat. The simple controls give way to fast-paced rounds, which are over within a few minutes. You can also change your rocket to suit your play style and personal aesthetic.

The game isn’t particularly challenging and doesn’t require players to be skilled, but that is the joy of a traditional couch multiplayer. Either player has a chance to win and the short rounds mean that even if you lose, you’ll get another chance soon enough.

At the end of each round, players are awarded “trophies” that reflect their play style. Though my friends and I found them amusing, we were a little disappointed that their meaning wasn’t described anywhere. Often we found ourselves going, “well, it’s nice that the game thinks this about me . . . but what exactly does it mean?!”

What does it mean that I made a peaceful protest?!

The game offers some variety as well! There is zen mode, which is ultra-chill. You (and as many friends or AIs that you wish) get to simply fly around the sky, making beautiful patterns with your ship. In addition, you can set up the game so that you and your friends only control one ship. This makes for a really enjoyable co-op experience that requires players to communicate clearly.

However, much like the trophies with muddy meanings, finding the co-op mode of play wasn’t intuitive. It took clicking through several different windows to find co-op and it wasn’t even in a place you’d expect (in this case, under “miscellaneous”, in the “settings” menu). This lack of clarity makes the game less than user-friendly and, honestly, it annoyed both me and my friend. We were so grateful for an additional play mode, but why was it in such an out-of-the-way place?

Under settings, you can also adjust the ~ a e s t h e t i c ~ of the game.

Despite the variety of play modes, my friend and I got bored playing after an hour. You can only make quick rounds of simple gameplay enjoyable for so long. This isn’t a game meant to be played for long stretches; at times, it does end up feeling a little too repetitive and simple.

This is a shame because ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS has style. The bumping techno music had me bobbing my head as I controlled technicolored rockets through a beautiful, minimalist sky. The whole experience is a sensory delight. And, if the aesthetic pictured above does not appeal to you, the game also has a menu where you can adjust the graphics. You can make your ships bigger, your tails longer, your sparkles more prominent, and more. This ended up being a really fun time, especially given how inclined I am to soak in trippy visuals. Beyond that, certain graphic settings upped the difficulty, which made the game even more fun.



Changing the graphic settings to this made the game about 100x wilder.

As a whole, ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS is fun. I had a good time, as did my friend. However, it was like an unsatisfying taste of something that I wanted more of. If the game was a little less repetitive and a little more intuitive, it would be a much more enjoyable experience. That said, given the five dollar price tag, this game is well worth it for anyone who regularly entertains guests of the gamer variety.

To be honest, in terms of couch co-op, I much preferred Robotto; consider checking it out! If you enjoyed this review and want to chat with us, consider joining our Discord. We have memes and puns! It’s a good time! Finally, we keep our site running through donations from viewers like you. Consider buying us a coffee!