SplitFiction and the Rise of Intentional Co-op Games

In the golden age of online multiplayer, a new wave of games is emerging that treat co-op not as an add-on, but as a design philosophy. These aren’t just shooters with squads or MMOs with raids. This is about narrative entanglement, emotional synergy, and gameplay built for two (or three, or four). At the heart of this rise is a project we call SplitFiction.

A Game Meant to Be Shared

SplitFiction is a narrative puzzle-platformer where two players are split between timelines, perspectives, and sometimes even realities. Every level is a shared story fragment: one player might control the protagonist in the present, while the other plays as their mythologized memory in the past.

Design Pillars

  • Asymmetric Storytelling: Players experience different parts of the same narrative from divergent angles.

  • Reliance, Not Redundancy: Co-op isn’t about doubling output, but requiring mutual understanding to solve challenges.

  • Emotional Syncing: Dialogue choices and actions ripple across both players' paths.

Why Co-op is Having a Moment

Games like It Takes Two, We Were Here, Unravel Two, and A Way Out proved there’s hunger for shared experiences that require two people. Not competitive, not optional, but the kind that makes you high-five through headsets.

Even more recently, co-op design is leaning into complementary play:

  • Animal Well teases communal puzzle-solving across the internet.

  • Bramble and Birth show emotional storytelling that feels more intimate in shared settings.

What SplitFiction Wants to Explore

We want to make a co-op game that isn’t just clever—it’s connective. Not just challenging—but conversational. Where you don’t just need your partner to beat the level, you want them there to witness it.

We’re experimenting with:

  • Narrative Drift: Players slowly trade roles as truth and myth bleed.

  • Emotion-Powered Mechanics: Puzzle elements that shift based on emotional resonance, not just logic.

  • Desynchronization Moments: Temporary solo paths that reframe shared memories.

Final Thoughts

Multiplayer design is evolving from loud lobbies to shared memories. We think co-op is becoming more poetic, more personal, and more potent.

"Some stories can only be told together."