Barely AfloatBarely Afloat

Barely Afloat is a first-person co-op game for 1 to 4 players. Take one small motorboat from a mountain pond all the way to the sea, through rapids, storms and ice. She was not built for any of it.

ONE WHEEL, FOUR BACKSEAT DRIVERS

Only one person can steer, and they have to sit down at the wheel to do it, so everyone knows whose fault it was. The rest roam the deck and grab the nearest job: the bucket, the hammer, the harpoon, or a friend standing a little too close to the rail.

KEEP HER FLOATING

Rocks punch holes in the hull. Nail a plank over each one and bail before she fills up. Hit something hard enough and a whole section tears off and floats away. Patches stay on for the whole trip, so a crew that keeps hitting things finishes in a boat that is mostly planks.

THE HARPOON FIXES MOST THINGS

The bow has a harpoon gun with a winch. Drag her off a gravel bar, winch her over a mud bank, swing a sunken coal barge called Doris out of the way, or reel in a friend who fell overboard by the seat of their pants.

THE RIVER FIGHTS BACK

Cannons fire across the river in a rhythm you can learn. Boulders roll down the slopes, cave roofs drop rocks, and lightning goes for whoever stands tallest (crouch, or smell like toast). Forget to duck under a low branch and the driver goes over the stern. Every so often a shark jumps across the river. Nobody knows why.

GET OUT AND PUSH

Some problems need feet on land. Saw through a fallen willow, rebuild a washed-out walkway, fetch the key to a padlocked bridge and pull a log jam apart from the top. Heave the wrong log and everyone standing on the pile goes in.

LOOT THE RIVERBANK

Chests on quiet landing stages shake, pop and throw their finds onto the boards: hull shields, an anchor, an umbrella that takes a lightning bolt for you, and a turbo outboard that gives you eighteen seconds of madness and does not survive them.

ONE LONG TRIP, SAVED AT EVERY DOCK

Nine chapters and 35 docks, from a mountain pond to the harbor at Saltwick, through rapids, locks, a flood, a frozen reservoir at night, a fog marsh and a lighthouse coast at sunset. Every dock saves the trip. Sink, and you restart at the last dock with the boat exactly as she was, patches and all. The trip report at the end says who went in the river the most.

YOUR POTATO, YOUR PROBLEM

Everyone plays a Spud. Pick a hat, a mustache, shades or an eye patch, and your variety, from Russet to Purple Majesty. There is also a cigar. Blow smoke rings, or draw on it too long and cough in front of everyone.

BRING FRIENDS

Online co-op through Steam for up to four. The host picks who can join, and friends can hop into a trip that is already underway. Solo works too, with a little more time on the jobs that need two pairs of hands.

• 1 to 4 players, online co-op
• One boat, one steering wheel
• A bow harpoon with a winch
• A bucket
• Not enough planks
• Nine chapters, 35 docks, one ending
• Cannons, caves, storms, ice, fog and a shark
• Potatoes in hats
• A cigar