If you’ve ever wanted to team up with friends, dive into total dimensional chaos, and maybe get half-melted by acid in the process (in a cute way, of course), then Fish Stick Protocol might be your next obsession.
Announced by indie newcomers Maracas Studio, Fish Stick Protocol is a bizarre and wildly unpredictable co-op adventure for 1–8 players, set to launch later this year. The game tosses players into procedurally generated dimensions full of killer plants, shifting gravity, and anomalies that make zero sense—and that’s exactly the point.
You and your crew play as overworked employees sent by “The Owner” to fetch valuable artifacts from these unstable, deadly worlds. Think Lethal Company or Content Warning, but instead of horror, Fish Stick Protocol leans hard into absurdity, slapstick violence, and chaotic teamwork that somehow mostly works out.
Born in Charleroi, Belgium, this is Maracas Studio’s love letter to the “fear-with-friends” genre—but with a twist. Rather than playing it dark and spooky, the devs are going for a kind of Happy Tree Friends-meets-corporate-dystopia vibe. Bright colors, lovable characters (even if they’re missing limbs), and a manor you upgrade with stolen artifacts set the tone for a hilarious, cynical, and oddly cozy experience.
“We’ve spent countless hours in games like Lethal Company and R.E.P.O., and we wanted to create something that keeps the co-op fun but ditches the horror,” says Fabrice Daniel, CEO of Maracas Studio. “Instead, we focused on unpredictable environments, cute-but-gory art, and a narrative that’s deeply cynical—but fun—about corporate greed.”
What to Expect in Fish Stick Protocol:
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Chaotic online co-op for 1–8 players (and possibly more!)
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Solo play support if you prefer flying solo in the madness
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Ever-changing dimensions with procedural generation
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A home base you can decorate and upgrade with recovered loot
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No permadeath—keep progressing no matter how many times you explode
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A tone that blends Saturday morning cartoon vibes with gory slapstick
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Full localization in 9 languages at launch, including English, French, German, Japanese, and more
Fish Stick Protocol is set to launch in 2025, with the exact release date still under wraps. You can wishlist it now on Steam to stay in the loop.