10 January 2023

Pile Up, the ideal family co-op!

Cover of the co-op game Pile Up on PC — The game has not been rated by PEGI, but is suitable for the whole family.
1 to 4 players, local or online
Currently available on PC and coming soon to consoles.

I really want to introduce you to a favourite game that won me over for several reasons. Firstly, and this will probably flatter your pride, it is a French game ! Cocorico ! But more than that, and this is my second argument : Pile Up is the product of a long piece of work by students of the École Nationale du Jeu et des Médias Interactifs Numériques in Angoulême. The team behind the game (Seed by Seed) comes from the class of 2018 and was able to benefit from the school’s project incubator to develop and market it. Last argument and not the least : Pile Up is an excellent game, fun, collaborative and very well made.

Screenshot of Pile Up: environments to stack up in co-op

Look at the images scattered through this article. How can you not melt at the super-cute look of these little cardboard boxes? You steer them through colourful environments, as if they had been made out of craft materials. Pile Up’s strong point comes from its collaboration-centred approach. Parents, grab a controller and set off on this adventure as a family ! The controls are very simple to master for moving, “stacking up” and triumphing together over the puzzles that stand in your way.

Screenshot of Pile Up: characters stacked up in co-op — *Playable by 4 players, local or online, notably with Steam’s Remote Play feature (only one copy of the game needed).*

It is a lovely metaphor that is being used here, since it is by teaming up and hoisting each other that you progress towards the exit. You then chain together phases of jumping from one platform to another, seasoned with moments of puzzle-solving where several minds are not too many. But nothing insurmountable. With four seasoned players, it took us about six hours to reach the end. So one might regret this slightly short lifespan. As a family, you can probably count on double that. There is no point in rushing.

Screenshot of the co-op game Pile Up — *You can use both your teammates and secondary boxes to “go hiiigher”.*

As you will have gathered, I was particularly won over by Pile Up and its inventiveness. I recommend it to you and I hope its team will see its record crowned with more… cartons (boxes)!

Screenshot of Pile Up: scene with fire — *Look at this art direction, it’s on fire!*

To play well (and keep the household peace), bear the following points in mind:

Playing and communicating at the same time is not always easy. Remember to pause the game to clarify again what each person has to do.
If one of you tends to go off on their own, give them the responsibility of making sure the last one can keep up.
Playing should be enjoyable and entertaining. If you feel that some people’s patience is wearing thin in the face of a difficulty, it is a sign that it is time to take a break. When you pick the game up again later, you will see that the obstacle suddenly goes by without a hitch.

To discover the game, find videos of players here : https://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Pile%20Up!/videos/all

Niels Weber

Il travaille en Suisse sur les thématiques d’usages excessif des écrans, notamment avec des familles. Il utilise le jeu vidéo comme outil thérapeutique et garde un œil attentif sur l’actualité du média (nouveautés, tendances, impacts, etc.). En parallèle à ses activités professionnels, il dirige bénévolement un site de critiques de jeux (www.semperludo.com), ainsi qu’une association de joueurs à l’échelle nationale (www.gamingfederation.ch), à travers laquelle ils visent une pratique du jeu vidéo responsable.