Inside gaming's fastest-growing trend, including the newest hit Big Walk
Recent viral games focus on co-operative multiplayer madness instead of sweaty competition
It might sound like an insult, but the fastest growing trend in video games today is something called "friendslop."
uncertain
trend → grow → games
Games like Peak, RV There Yet? and Meccha Chameleon have sold millions of copies over the past year or so, thanks to simple-to-learn scenarios, a relatively low cost of entry and a willingness to embrace the chaos of multiplayer gaming.
asserted
Games → sell → gaming
"The idea is you play these games co-operatively with your friends to achieve ... oftentimes a menial task, that is made more difficult by the fact that you guys are basically just a bunch of idiots," said Patrick Thornley of Langley, B.C., who plays several friendslop games with his friends across Canada.
asserted
who → play → Canada
"You're there to play around and have fun and not take it seriously."
asserted
You → play → it
A new game out this week, Big Walk, has many of the hallmarks of friendslop.
asserted
game → have → friendslop
But it elevates the form by mixing emergent chaos with a meticulously crafted world that carries the DNA of classics such as Myst and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
asserted
that → elevate → Wild
It is a delightful contender for game of the year, thanks to its focus on what friendship and mutual discovery can look like in a video game sandbox.
asserted
friendship → look → sandbox
An X user with the handle @wooosaaaahhhhh is widely credited for coining the term in 2025, primarily in reference to Lethal Company, a co-operative multiplayer horror game released in 2023.
asserted
user → credit → 2023
"Its sole purpose of existence is friendfarming," the user offered as an explanation.
asserted
user → offer → explanation
Online discussions, including those on Reddit, define it as either acquiring as many friends as possible or simply spending time with the friends you already have.
asserted
you → include → friends
Nevertheless, friendslop has come to describe multiplayer games that share several characteristics.
asserted
that → come → characteristics
They are often low- to mid-budget games developed quickly, with simple visuals compared with the realistic graphics of a game such as Call of Duty.
asserted
They → develop → Duty
Their premises are usually straightforward: Climb a mountain in Peak.
asserted
premises → climb → Peak
Many feature proximity chat.
asserted
Many → feature → chat
When players communicate by voice, they sound fainter the farther apart they are, forcing them to stay close or find walkie-talkies or other devices for long-distance communication.
asserted
they → communicate → communication
"If you're playing together and you do something for a laugh, it's often to your detriment in a traditional game," Thornley said.
asserted
Thornley → play → game
It's to goof around and ... the consequences are minimal at best.
asserted
consequences → goof → ?
"
Making a friendslop game is certainly no guarantee of success, but the genre has produced some of the most viral releases in recent memory.
asserted
genre → make → memory
Peak, from independent studio Aggro Crab, was built in only a few months and has sold more than 10 million copies since June 2025.
asserted
Peak → build → June
The two-person team behind Meccha Chameleon — in which players camouflage themselves by painting their bodies to match their surroundings — says the game sold 10 million copies in its first 16 days.
asserted
game → camouflage → days
Big walk, big talk
Big Walk arrives in this environment from Melbourne studio House House, the developer of 2019's charming Untitled Goose Game.
asserted
Walk → arrive → Game
Groups of two to 12 players take the form of cartoon characters with round bodies and wiry arms and legs, like figures from a children's playset.
asserted
Groups → take → playset
Players explore a large outdoor area modelled on the Australian outback, encountering stations with puzzles that require teamwork.
asserted
that → explore → teamwork
Solving each puzzle yields a red, gourd-like object.
asserted
Solving → solve → object
Deposit enough of them at a nearby station and you receive a key to the next area.
asserted
you → deposit → area
Many friendslop games generate a new environment for each session.
asserted
games → generate → session
The mountain in Peak, for example looks different each time.
asserted
mountain → look → example
By contrast, Big Walk offers a single, meticulously designed landscape.
asserted
Walk → offer → landscape
Each puzzle has one solution, ranging from deceptively simple to impossibly baroque.
asserted
puzzle → have → baroque
In an early example, a red gourd hangs from the top of a small construction tower.
asserted
gourd → hang → tower
Players must learn they can stand on one another's shoulders to reach a button that unlocks it.
asserted
that → learn → it
Things quickly become more complicated, with rooms requiring several people to perform different roles at the same time.
Strip away the laughter and chatter as friends fumble toward a solution, and the game can feel like a reworking of Myst, with strange clockwork contraptions scattered across the landscape as though left behind by a long-dead civilization of tricksters.
asserted
game → become → tricksters
The characters have a range of motions to communicating.
asserted
characters → have → communicating
They can wave their arms, point in any direction or jump.
asserted
They → wave → direction
Players must quickly develop their own conventions for giving instructions because some tasks block their lines of sight or mute voice chat.
asserted
tasks → develop → chat
Objects found throughout the world help players navigate.
asserted
players → find → world
Walkie-talkies keep teammates in contact over long distances.
asserted
talkies → keep → distances
A lost player who finds a flare gun can fire it to reveal their location.
asserted
who → find → location
At the same time, Big Walk is more interested in how friends communicate and learn to work together than in how many tasks they complete.
asserted
they → communicate → tasks
Detours are encouraged.
asserted
Detours → encourage → ?
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
