The party brawler
that's secretly a
physics sandbox.

The hook

The party brawler that's secretly a physics sandbox.

Description

Party Ships is a physics sandbox with a body count. Four friends share one screen and one arena, and items drift in as bubbles: a wheel of cheese, a bucket of popcorn, an ice cream, a railgun, a rubber duck. Grab them before your mates do.

Every item is simple on its own, and every item reacts with the others. Freeze a friend and bowl them into a wall. Tie them to the cheese. Hide behind popcorn until someone sets it on fire. It is a chemistry lab on steroids, and your friends are the test subjects.

One hit and you are out. A round lasts about a minute, the arena is trying to get you too, and the next round opens somewhere new. Anyone can pick up a pad: one stick, three buttons and a horn.

Features

• One to four players on one screen. Online play is in development.
• Eighteen items that react with each other, from cheese and popcorn to lightning and a duck.
• One hit and you are out. Rounds last about a minute.
• Nine arenas that fight back: Asteroid Field, Dino Yard, Blossom Pond, Gatehouse, Factory, Crusher, Pinball, Hedge Maze and Floor Is Lava in the alpha, sixteen at launch.
• Two modes today: Party (one life a round, first to five rounds, and a Shake-Up card draw when someone pulls ahead) and Brawl (respawns against the clock), with four more coming.
• Four pilots, drawn by hand: Alien, Neko, Robo and Dino.
• One stick, three buttons and a horn. Press a button to join.

History

Party Ships began in February 2025 as the game two brothers wanted for their own couch. It has been built in evenings and weekends since, shown at IGDA Melbourne and PAX Aus, and tested between builds by the studio's Discord community. Its Steam page is live and taking wishlists.

About Lil Indie Games

Lil Indie Games is an independent studio in Melbourne, Australia, owned and run by two brothers. They grew up around one television, shouting, and they make games that put people back in the same room. Everything in Party Ships is made in-house: design, code, art, music and sound.

Credits

Rayner Brandon, design and code
Josh Brandon, art

Using these files

Everything on this page may be used in coverage of Party Ships, in print, online and in video. Please don't alter the logos. For anything not here, interviews or a build to play, write to admin@lilindiegames.com.