Posted by: Gianna Cosimini | October 27, 2025 | Demo, Co-Op
If you’ve been looking for a game to either solidify your best friendship or send it spiraling into an abyss of mutual resentment, then look no further. Stuck Together is a brutal, brilliant, and utterly unforgiving physics-based climbing simulator that only works with two players. You and a buddy take control of two adorable action figures, except they’ve been super-glued together at the torso. You’re now a four-limbed, two-brained monstrosity trying to escape the house of your sadistic teenage owner.
This isn’t just a simple platformer; it’s a co-op crucible built to expose every single flaw in your relationship. As someone coming into this fresh, here is the raw, honest truth about what you can expect from this unique title. Spoiler alert: you’re going to be screaming, but you’ll probably be laughing too.
The Main Loop: Pain, Physics, and the Pursuit of Progress
The game’s main loop is simple: climb, grab, swing, and try not to fall. The challenge, of course, is that you and your partner each control a side of the conjoined duo. Player One handles the left hand and left leg; Player Two controls the right hand and right leg. To move even one inch requires perfect synchronization. You must coordinate not just your timing, but the direction and tension of your limbs.
The moment-to-moment gameplay is unwieldy, and that’s a compliment. Unlike a typical platformer where controls are tight, here, the physics are floaty and deliberately clumsy. Every single attempt to grab a shelf edge or pull yourselves over a stack of VHS tapes feels like a monumental struggle.
You quickly realize that the most effective way to ascend isn’t careful climbing, it’s often a frantic, ragdoll scramble where one player sacrifices their position to give the other just enough leverage for a successful, last-second grab. Miss that grab, and you both cascade back down to the floor in a flurry of plastic limbs and crushed dreams. This is where the game earns its honest feedback: if you’re looking to chill out, this may not be for you. If you’re ready to sweat and potentially tilt off the face of the Earth, welcome home. The challenge isn’t about the enemies; it’s about mastering your own shared, finicky body.
The hitbox interactions, especially when swinging wildly or trying to clip through a tight space, feel exactly as chaotic as you’d imagine two dolls glued together would. It’s an acquired taste, but once you accept the griefing potential inherent in the movement, you start to find the fun in the failure.
The Co-op Crucible: A True Test of the Meta
Stuck Together isn’t just about controls; it’s about communication meta. You can’t just say “jump.” You have to define the strategy: “Okay, I’m grabbing the edge with my left hand, you swing out hard with your right to give us momentum, then I’ll release, and you clutch onto the drawer handle. Ready? Three, two, one, GO!”
When you succeed, it feels incredible. When you fail, which will be 99% of the time, it’s always because one of you misjudged a motion or, worse, panicked and hit the wrong button. This is why it’s called a Friendship Destroyer. Prepare for the inevitable verbal showdown: “Why did you pull? I told you to push! Now we’re back at the checkpoint!”
And if the regular physics weren’t enough, the developer introduces the Hand-tagonist; the giant, cruel hand of your owner, which occasionally swoops in to swat you off the shelves. This isn’t just a hazard; it’s a grief mechanism built into the level design, designed to crush your progress right when you thought you had the W in the bag. It’s hilariously unfair, which just cranks the Gamer Rage up another notch.
Frankly, this game is an absolute streamer goldmine waiting to happen. The over-the-top reactions to catastrophic failures are guaranteed content gold. But even if you’re playing quietly at home, the pure, unadulterated frustration you’ll share with your partner is an unforgettable experience.
Vibe Check: Aesthetics and The World
The aesthetics of Stuck Together are charming. It leans heavily into a 90s nostalgia trip, set inside an oversized house; the kind of place where everything is chunky, colorful, and a thousand times bigger than you are. You’re navigating a world of giant beds, towering stacks of comic books, and oversized furniture, giving the whole game a strong ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ or ‘Toy Story’ vibe.
The visual style is clean and fun, with a great sense of scale. It’s clear this is a passion project by Hugecalf Studios; the levels feel purposefully designed, not like an asset flip. Each room promises unique hazards—the bedroom, the kitchen, the attic—each presenting distinct challenges that force you to adapt your shared meta.
The fact that you’re escaping a truly messy and slightly twisted teenager’s room, adds a dark but comedic undertone to the bright, almost low-poly charm of the design. It balances the high emotional stress of the gameplay with a light, nostalgic presentation.
The Bottom Line: Who Should ‘Git Gud’?
Pros: The Highs
- Unique Co-op Mechanics: Truly innovative, forcing total dependence on your partner.
- Massive Satisfaction: The payoff for clearing a difficult section is incredible.
- Laugh-Out-Loud Moments: The physics failures are pure comedy.
- Strong Aesthetic: Great 90s nostalgia and sense of scale.
Cons: The Lows
- Extreme Frustration: Seriously, this game will test your limits.
- Steep Learning Curve: Takes a long time just to feel competent.
- High Barrier to Entry: Requires a dedicated co-op partner who is also willing to suffer alongside you.
If you love the challenging precision of “I Wanna Be The Guy” style games but want to share the agony with a friend, then wishlist this right now on Steam. If you or your gaming partner have a low tolerance for do-overs and unpredictable movement, save yourself the therapy bill.
Stuck Together is a fantastic experiment in co-op design. It’s hard, sometimes infuriatingly so, but its unique premise and genuinely rewarding moments make it an indie title worth watching.
Maturity Rating
ESRB Rating: E10+ (for Everyone 10 and older) – Likely for Fantasy Violence and Mild Language (Contextual)
Rating Reasonings: The game features “fantasy violence” in the sense that your action figure characters can be knocked around or damaged (but no graphic violence). The main caution for this game is not its visuals, but the high potential for intense player frustration, which could lead to verbal arguments or strong language between co-op partners. The in-game themes are lighthearted and toy-based.
So, now that you’ve got the full breakdown, do you think your current co-op partner has the emotional fortitude to tackle this Friendship Destroyer, or will you have to find a rando for someone with a stronger mental meta?
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