Crashlands

Crashlands is a crafting RPG: you gather materials, build up a little base, craft new gear and level up your character. I really like it a lot, because it is calm yet interesting. You are building your own little survival camp on an alien planet.

It is clearly designed for one main player. Player one does most of the deciding: what to build, which skills and attacks to learn, which equipment to craft next. But playing Juicebox, the little robot sidekick, is still fun. He can attack enemies, harvest materials and support the main character with skills like healing or a speed boost.

So if you are happy to be the support for a less experienced player, or to sit back, watch the story and the base unfold and talk through the building decisions together, this is a really nice game for two.

Starting co-op is as easy as it gets: switch on the second controller and press Start, and Juicebox is in.

I love the quirky dialogue and the creativity. This is not a copy of something that already exists, it is something really unique. There is no fixed path either. You build your base the way you want, gather the materials you want and craft what you want from them, which leaves a lot of room for exploration.

It is perfect to decompress after work or a stressful day. It is peaceful and fairly relaxed, not really action-based. There are moments of combat, but mostly it is about setting yourself up on the alien planet.