Ready, Steady, Ship! caught my eye because of its adorable graphics and general sense of disorder. Hand me a game where I’m yelling consistently, and you have me sold! Untold Tales saw an opportunity to create some chaos in cozy co-op games, and let me tell you, they succeeded.
Honestly, I was looking for something to play alongside my partner, and Ready, Steady, Ship! seemed like the perfect opportunity. My TikTok feed has been overrun with Overcooked videos, and it felt like the universe was speaking to me when this showed up in my inbox. Ready, Steady, Ship! was the perfect addition to our co-op library, but perhaps also the secret ingredient for divorce.
The general premise of Ready, Steady, Ship! is simple: You’re a packager responsible for getting the right boxes onto the right trucks in time for their shipments. Very Amazon shipping warehouse, if you ask me. Of course, we know it can’t be that simple, right? Each level brings more packages and mechanics until you feel completely out of sorts.
It truly did not take long for me to feel like I was completely out of my element with Ready, Steady, Ship! What started as a cute, cozy couple’s game very quickly descended into anarchy. I was rushing to the next room, and he was sipping coffee in the corner. I couldn’t find the last box, and he was sliding around in the water. We needed a supervisor, for sure.
Ready, Steady, Ship! takes elements from other popular co-op games like Overcooked but blends them with movement that feels like it is from Stumble Guys or Party Animals. If you’ve never played either of those, the movement is less than precise and often leaves you fumbling. This could be with a box, a conveyor belt, or just trying to make your way across the room.
Often, the movement in Ready, Steady, Ship! felt like an unnecessary obstacle in itself. In early levels, it is a cute and welcome visual, but as you progress through each level, the number of mechanics to balance increases, and the lack of precision in movement and placement becomes increasingly more frustrating. I suppose that is the point, but I would really rather the challenges be within the level and not with myself as a character.
“Ready, Steady, Ship! is the newest entry to the world of chaos-creating, fight-inducing, couch co-op chaos.”
That being said, I could see Ready, Steady, Ship! being a game that often takes us late into the night for date nights. I’ll admit, we progressed slowly, but the idea of “just one more level” continued to happen, even though we were yelling at each other and our heart rates were rising. It definitely isn’t an unwind-for-the-night sort of game, but it will definitely keep you entertained.
Toward the beginning of Ready, Steady, Ship!., you are introduced to simpler challenges, like placing conveyor belts in the right direction, placing boxes on them, and maybe unlocking some doors. It gets harder and harder as time goes on, however. Ready, Steady, Ship! begins to introduce other ideas, like needing to pack different boxes on different trucks—in a specific order, might I add—unlocking doors to stop boxes from being blocked, and the use of machinery to move pallets, turn heavier conveyor belts, fill boxes and more. There were even more levels where we were slipping in water, delivering boxes across the sky, and packaging while avoiding acid—oh, and there was a time limit on each level, too.
I can’t say I completed the entire game, and I think it will be a long time before anyone does. There are two campaigns, solo or co-op, with 30 levels each. Even if you beat a campaign, you can replay each level to get three stars and master the mechanics. There’s a lot to unpack here…or to pack, if you will.
The campaigns are separate, meaning you can’t play your solo campaign and add a friend, or vice-versa, which I didn’t love, as I would have loved to be able to have my son jump in here or there. If you begin solo or co-op, you will have to start an entirely new campaign in Ready, Steady, Ship! to play another way.
“…for people who are looking for a ton of content, laughs, and perhaps a few fights, it’s Ready, Steady, Ship! will be a great addition to your game library.”
Developer Jollybits Games (though listed as Martynas Cibulis on Steam, who started the company) aims to develop couch co-op games for consoles, which is something I wish we saw more of nowadays. I played the title on PS5 with my partner and was happy to be able to play together side by side rather than with one of us on the PC and one on the console. There is also Remote Play Together available on Steam, though, if that is more convenient for you.
Ready, Steady, Ship! is the newest entry to the world of chaos-creating, fight-inducing, couch co-op chaos. I do think that the game can get really challenging quite quickly, but for people who are looking for a ton of content, laughs, and perhaps a few fights, it’s Ready, Steady, Ship! will be a great addition to your game library.
