The Don’t Starve devs’ new cutesy co-cop dungeon crawler is out in early access today

“If only you could talk to these creatures” is never more funny or true than in games like Rotwood, where you play cat people and orcs sent to biff snail worms and flies with scythes. From Klei Entertainment, the gang behind Don’t Starve, Invisible Inc. and Oxygen Not Included, to name but a three of their fine games, Rotwood is out later today in early access, ready to provide co-op highjinks in a roguelike dungeon crawl that is really a forest. A forest crawl. You’ll get muddy knees.

The world, says the Steam page, has been thrown into chaos. So rarely are worlds thrown into order, dear reader. Anyway, in this case it means that the Rotwood, which I presume was previously just the normal wood, is throwing out corrupted beasts, and you (playing solo or with up to three of your pals) must defend your home. Between runs you can upgrade your gear and weapons – which include a spear, a big mallet, and what appears to be a dodgeball – to improve your chances on the next go. On each run you’ll get different powerups, so no two attempts are the same. Hey, there’s the roguelike stuff!

There are a number of huge bosses to attempt, including a massive owl, a tree full of eyes, and a big fly and a big frog (the two genders). I really like the art style, which is the 2D animated cartoon look employed by e.g. Cult Of The Lamb. Rotwood actually reminds me a lot of that, because of how cute everything looks. All the corrupted monsters look like they’d be a pet for a lisping girlchild in a 90s Nicktoon. It would eat the neighbour’s dog, and she would love it.

My caution would be that, as I pointed out, you and your pals look pretty similar to the enemies on screen, so it might get very hard to read what’s going on. Even the gifs are giving me a touch of the angs. But! Early access, innit. I admire Klei for never making the same game twice, but always making a good game (Crypt Of The Necrodancer!), so I have trust. Rotwood is out literally today, wowser!