Ready, Steady, Ship! is a simple but challenging couch co-op puzzle game developed by a solo developer Martynas Cibulis. The factory needs your help! Fix the conveyer and deliver boxes to the customers!
Inspired by games like Moving Out and Overcooked, Ready Steady Ship! tries to recall their carefree but at the same time challenging spirit. Alone or with a friend we have to fix the conveyer and deliver boxes to the customers.
But let’s start to take a closer look at what we have at the moment. Unfortunately we have only a trailer, some gameplay videos and an interesting developer’s diary.
Trailer and Gameplay
The first thing that catches the eye is the colorful and cartoonish graphic. Models are simple but they match very well the spirit of the game. It’s all smooth and deformed and personally I found it cool. Music and Sound Tracks are captivating and fulfill their role perfectly.
The factory needs your help getting boxes out of the warehouse. Fix the conveyer and deliver boxes to the customers. Each shift can go bad anytime, the player has to strive to make smart, well-timed decisions to ensure the factory runs like a well-oiled machine!
From the gameplay we can see how the game works. We can select a level, composed of three stages to complete for the next one. It’s our first working day and once we choose our avatar we can start to work. The first tasks are easy: take missing conveyor parts and put them in the empty slots. Our avatar has to take, push, pull and rotate these parts in the right direction. After this we can pull the lever and start the conveyor. If we fulfill the required number of boxes, we can go to the next stage. We have limited time to complete the levels and this affects the stage score.
Things Get Serious
Advancing in the campaign we will face other troubles and we will have other mechanics to care about. Some conveyor parts are too heavy to be rotated, so you can only push or pull them in the right direction. Some others start to break down if players won’t fix them.
Broken parts need to be put in a shredder in order to get a new one.
Players will face different game mechanics like spin machines, cranes or forklifts.
Obviously our avatar, conveyor parts, boxes and other mechanics are highly influenced by physics.
If you want more information about all the stages of the game development, you can watch the Game Devlogs. They are interesting and comprehensive sources of information also for those wishing to get into deep and technical details.
Pros and Cons of Solo Developing
The development of the game is primarily carried out by Martynas Cibulis, a passionate developer who is working full-time at a game studio. The development of the game takes place during free time, outside of work hours at the studio. To enhance the game experience sound, marketing and graphics are outsourced to freelancers, who are contracted using developer savings from the project budget.
This approach allows the developer to focus on the core aspects of the game while relying on the expertise of others for complementary skills. By utilizing a combination of in-house development and freelance talent, the game is brought to life in a cohesive and efficient manner.
Release Date and Impressions
The game is planned for the second half of 2023. Upcoming for PC and Nintendo Switch, we don’t have an early access or demo yet. I hope to try one of these as soon as possible and find out the gameplay by hand. It seems to have all the makings of a fun and challenging puzzle couch co-op game. Simple but spot on graphics style, good soundtracks and an average number of game design ideas.
See you at work!
Useful Links
