There were plenty of lone wolf players like Ben.
A lot of players were curious about It Takes Two but held back because of the two-player requirement.
But soon they realized something: whether on streaming platforms, video sites, or player communities—
This game was nothing like last year's Overcooked from Lucas.
First of all, the amount of content.
With its cartoon art style and two-player co-op setup, most people would assume it's an indie game or a small-budget title.
But It Takes Two is nothing like that. The size and content of this game could match some big releases.
The key point is this: everything in the trailers Lucas showed earlier wasn't just fluff. It's all actually in the game.
Different stages come with different abilities, and the cinematic camera work throughout makes it feel like you're watching a game movie.
And unlike Overcooked—where everyone starts happy, then gets frustrated and ends up fighting, turning chaos into breakups—
It Takes Two so far has been nothing but heartwarming.
That's because of the content design.
Overcooked was purely about teamwork and coordination.
If you failed to work together, blame was inevitable. If you couldn't control your temper, it easily turned into arguments.
But It Takes Two is completely different.
This game combines puzzles and platforming. If both players are clumsy, it doesn't matter—you just laugh and keep playing together.
If one player is skilled and the other is struggling, the split-screen view makes it easy to see where the problem is.
Instead of Overcooked, where everyone insists they're right and it's the other person's fault.
Once you see the problem, you can patiently help, which actually deepens your bond, friendship, and connection.
Plus, the game's story and level design really help shift emotions and keep things light.
Even the "Book of Love" in the game keeps stirring things up, which in a way takes all the blame away from players and makes it fun.
With a shared goal, arguments almost never happen—it's all about working together.
After launch, especially on streaming platforms, many streamers jumped on It Takes Two because there were no big games at the time.
The funny interactions made for great content, and a lot of players who weren't planning to buy it just couldn't resist anymore.
As for lone wolf players—how do they find a partner?
Naturally, they started searching on gaming forums and communities.
Before long, the forums were full of posts like these:
"Looking for someone to play It Takes Two with! Must have a good temper and be online often!"
"Looking for a teammate, any gender is fine. Must be patient and online for long sessions. I'll buy the game, you just join!"
"I'll buy the game, you bring yourself. Let's play It Takes Two this weekend—DM me if interested!"
A lot of players couldn't experience the game before simply because they had no one to play with.
But under the lure of the game, they started looking for someone to play with.
That's when many players realized they weren't the only ones playing alone.
There were plenty of others in the same boat, people who could only play solo for one reason or another.
In that moment, many who had felt lonely before started thinking maybe they weren't so alone after all.
If there was anything that felt a bit off to them, it was this — in the community forums, many players who raved about It Takes Two were pairs of one man and one woman.
Either married couples or boyfriend and girlfriend.
But looking at these players searching for partners… they were all guys.
While other people played It Takes Two as couples, their version turned into "bro squad co-op," dueling side by side.
…
But whether it was It Takes Two or "bro squad co-op," there was one thing in common.
After playing, everyone was amazed by the level design.
Especially as the story slowly progressed, the game's content turned out to be impressively rich.
Besides the variety of mini-games, the game also showed its creativity in other ways.
Each theme had its own special items.
For example, after moving from the big tree stage to the bedroom, May and Cody got caught by a space gorilla and ended up in outer space.
There, they each got a new item.
May got shoes that ignored gravity, and Cody got a belt that could make him grow bigger.
With these two brand-new items, the space stage gave players a magical and dreamlike experience, almost like time travel.
But from here, the game's story also reached a major point of conflict.
In the game, Cody and May had turned from humans into dolls, which was naturally hard to accept.
At first, they wanted to ask their daughter how to turn back.
But they discovered she couldn't see or hear them at all.
Cody believed they had been put under a spell, and that it was their daughter Rose's tears that turned them into dolls.
So if they could make Rose cry again, maybe they could turn back into humans.
That was also why the space monkey tried to stop them.
The line that stuck with players was the space monkey saying, "You'll only make her cry!"
To make his point, the space monkey even pulled out a tape recorder.
And to make Rose cry, Cody and May agreed to go to her toy castle…
…to destroy her favorite toy so she would be sad enough to cry.
"These parents are too much!" Hannah said, after coming back from hot pot and continuing her playthrough of It Takes Two.
Destroying their daughter's favorite toy to make her cry — combined with the space monkey's earlier line — felt extremely ironic.
"But from a story point of view, it kind of makes sense," Zack said, scratching his head. "They turned into dolls, and when they try to talk to her, she doesn't respond at all."
"That's true," Hannah said after thinking for a moment, then nodded.
"But more importantly, it's about communication. It reminds me of when I was a kid — my whole card collection got sold as scrap by my mom, and I cried for a long time!" Zack sighed.
"That's rough. I had a happy childhood, and my parents never threw away my toys," Hannah said with a smug smile.
"That's the importance of communication and understanding!" Zack replied.
"Totally agree," Hannah nodded.
"So, you'd better never throw away my figures and models!" Zack grinned.
Hannah: …
So that's what you were getting at!
"Oh please, when have I ever thrown away your figures? I even bought you that glass display cabinet!" Hannah said, rolling her eyes.
"Hehe, come on, let's see how to beat this part. Back to the story!" Zack laughed, quickly changing the subject.
(End of The Chapter)
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