Messy Up

I don't usually cover party games but Messy Up crossed my desk and I gave it a proper session with three other people, which is exactly how this thing is designed to be played. The concept is asymmetric multiplayer: up to three players control pets - cats, dogs, each with distinct abilities and skills - whose entire job is to destroy the furniture spread across a multi-room level before the fourth player, the owner, hunts them all down and locks them in the dark room. That is the whole loop, and in the right company it absolutely works. The two main modes split the experience cleanly. The story-driven co-op mode, called Mess Up, walks pets through a structured campaign with star rankings per level, giving completionists something to grind. Battle mode drops the campaign structure and opens things up to custom settings, letting the owner role rotate freely and turning the whole thing into a scrappy PvP-adjacent brawl. Levels are not just open rooms - there are springboards, timed doors, vacuum tubes, and secret passages that give the pet team real options for splitting up the owner and baiting them into dead ends. When your squad actually coordinates, the tactical depth catches you off guard. There is also a home construction DIY mode for building your own pet stage, which is a nice touch for groups who want to sink more time into the game between sessions. Here is where I have to be straight with you, though. The player feedback is rough in spots. The stamina meter as a pet feels constantly starved, and reviewers note the owner camera is weirdly zoomed with no option to pull out. Control remapping for multiple gamepads has generated legitimate frustration in the community, and there are reports of geometry bugs that trap pets outside the map with no respawn. Remote Play is supported natively but the developer openly recommends third-party software like Parsec if Steam's own relay introduces lag, which is an honest heads-up but also a flag that the netcode leans on external infrastructure. The UI is cluttered enough that newer players will spend time fighting menus before they fight the owner. None of these are dealbreakers at this price tier, but they add friction that a tighter game wouldn't ask you to absorb. The overall Steam reception sits in Very Positive territory, driven mostly by groups playing locally or with friends who commit to learning the level quirks. Solo play is basically a non-starter - the game has nothing interesting to offer a single person. If you are buying this for a couch session with younger players or remote co-op with patient friends, the core loop of coordinated furniture demolition is genuinely fun and the content volume punches above the asking price. If your group gives up easily or hates friction, the rough edges may end the session before the game gets good.

Fred · Scout Team

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