It’s a funfest riddled with rubber duckies and skull-covered swords. It’s a clever poke at reality TV culture, wrapped up in silliness. It’s also one of the most polished team-based co-op games I’ve played in years. I spent nearly two hours of hands-on time with a PC build of this hack-and-slash dungeon game, getting to grips with its demented world and the televised challenges within.
King of Meat is part humorous fantasy – with dragons and chattering skeletons – and part satire, with a narrative built around themes of corporate commercialism and the quest for celebrity. At the center of this world is a competitive reality TV show whose watchers want to see contestants overcome nail-biting challenges – or die spectacular deaths. And you’re the star.
If you’re in King of Meat, it’s because you’re seeking glory. Fame. Flashy outfits. And to earn any of that, you’ll need to conquer all manner of obstacle-course dungeons. Luckily, it turns out that putting yourself into mortal, comical danger is really fun.w
Rising like a Meat Phoenix (a Meatnix?)
I teamed up with three other players for the early-game “tryouts,” or, as I quickly came to think of them, “descents into madness.” We played a handful of polished levels, each about 10 to 15 minutes long. The combat moves are pretty standard third-person fare: light attack, heavy attack, roll. King of Meat makes a big deal about its “Glory Moves,” however; these are particularly flashy damage-dealers that really wow your audience, driving your fame sky-high.
Equipped with these skills, we ventured forth into varied dungeons. Some were platforming puzzlers, requiring coordination and teamwork to overcome barriers. Others had obstacles with more teeth: spear-filled pits and sawblades. Yet others were stuffed to the gills with waves of angry skeletons and giant trolls.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the puzzle-based dungeons, though I appreciated the teamwork needed to solve them. I preferred dungeons that allowed me and my team to go to town on our enemies – it felt especially satisfying to see the more hilarious details of combat, such as a defeated enemy exploding into steaks.
It’s worth mentioning that all the dungeons I played were designed by King of Meat’s development team, Glowmade – and the style and quality of other dungeons may vary dramatically after release, when players begin designing and submitting their own. More on player-made levels in a bit.
I’ll admit that King of Meat’s gameplay didn’t feel particularly different to other hack-and-slash games I’ve played, though it is clearly hyper-polished and fine-tuned to ensure that you feel cool when executing combos. But what really stands out is the skin it’s in. The silliness. Steaks raining from the sky upon completion of a dungeon. Or, most gloriously, the “meat phoenix”: a respawn point where your body bursts out of a can in a gelatinous blob. Eww.
The path to Glory (Moves)
When you’re not embarrassing yourself on television, you’ll most likely be in the Ironlaw Plaza upgrading something, whether that’s your weapon or your ‘fit. The tavern’s bartender rewards gold for completing quests, like “play your first dungeon,” and this is the currency used for all things cosmetic in King of Meat. That’s the reason you’ve entered this unhinged reality show, after all: so everyone can see how ridiculous you are. So put on some googly eyes, or slap a pink donut on your avatar. Equip a foam sword, or a shield adorned in hearts.
Of course, there’s more to your evolution than just style. In the plaza, you can explore your skill progress and unlock new abilities (for instance, the “authorisation” to wield new weapon types) and stronger moves, in line with your progress through dungeons.
There’s one NPC dedicated to Glory Moves: I was so excited when I bought “Clusterduck,” which let me throw a rubber ducky that then exploded into 50 more rubber duckies, and all those duckies then exploded into 50 more duckies and… you get the picture.
Dungeons by design
I was only able to play developer-designed dungeons during my time with King of Meat, but Glowmade plans to launch with tools so you can make your own, too. They will be the same tools that their level designers use, so theoretically, if you can see it in-game, then you can build it as well.
Building is modular – so you can snap rooms together and then begin to fill each one with lava, imps, meat, or whatever else takes your fancy. You’ll be able to jump into your level at any time, in case you want to test out any of your own devious puzzles or traps. Once you’ve built a dungeon and can successfully complete it yourself, then you’re able to open it up for other players.
The tools are said to be optimized for controllers, which is likely to translate to intuitive building. I’m especially curious to see what community may form around the more popular player-made dungeons, and how Glowmade can work with top creators to sustain King of Meat for (hopefully!) years to come.
Steak-ing your claim to fame
King of Meat isn’t the sort of game where you need to be ultra-competitive; I went in with no delusions of skill and had a terrific time. It's a solid online co-op game thus far, skinned in absurdity. A clever commentary on a culture that idolizes brands, former reality TV contestants, and “doing it for the ‘gram.” A font of creative and social possibilities. Basically a giant, sinister bounce house.
King of Meat is somehow all of these things at once, and already looking strong at this early stage of development. While a release window hasn’t been announced yet, Glowmade says that King of Meat will feature cross-play across PC and consoles, and will launch with more than 100 official dungeons off the bat. Best of all? There’s no paying to progress, or paying to win. Everything you can experience is rightly earned.
