The evolution of the term “Friendslop” was interesting. Slop, a common half of modern portmanteaus, was first associated with low-quality, absurd and/or fake digital content, usually produced by generative AI, and usually still is. Even “friendslop” was initially used as a derisive term. However, it is such a fun word that its origin and most common definition can now also have a huge gap between them. More commonly, Friendslop describes a subgenre of cooperative games (typically on Steam) that have a low barrier to entry and emphasize social interaction.
Between us is often said to be the first friendly game, although the game existed long before the term was coined, and Top has been considered the ideal Friendlop game since its launch. As the genre has grown, so have the games, with a strong roster from REPO and RV still there? on YAPYAP and upcoming titles like We are so cooked. More than “Friendslop game of the week” the title is called FixForceand anyone who likes the genre or any of the games mentioned above should check it out. What is perhaps most surprising about this new Friendslop game is that it was developed by Surgent Studios.
Executive producer Alix Wilton Regan discusses Tales of Kenzera: Zau's BAFTA Award
Actor Alix Wilton Regan, who also served as executive producer on Tales of Kenzera: Zau, discusses his BAFTA award “Game Beyond Entertainment”.
Surgent Studios was founded in 2020 by Abubakar Salim (Bayek's actor in Assassin's Creed Origins) and has previously released two video games –Tales of Kenzera: Zau and Dead Take. The former won the “Game Beyond Entertainment” category at the 2025 BAFTA Game Awards and is a Metroidvania game inspired by Salim's grief over the loss of his father. The latter is a horror game featuring the talents of Neil Newbon (BG3's Astarion) and Ben Starr (FF16's Clive) in roles that explore the many dark sides of the entertainment industry. With such premises, perhaps no one could have guessed that Surgent Studios' third title would be a silly Friendslop game. As with its predecessors, however, it continues to showcase the sheer talent of the studio.
I recently played a game FixForce with Salim, Design Director Joe Kinglake and Game Director Zoe Brown and my immediate response was send FixForceSteam page to my friends. Here's the deal: I'm socially awkward and kind of soft and will never play a multiplayer game with randoms (not that developers Salim and Surgent Studios are random, of course). I am the quietest introvert of all introverts. But within minutes, FixForce had me laughing, betraying the developers for fun, and — of course — being betrayed in return, all in a game where we're supposed to fix things, even if breaking them is just as fun. If a co-op game can get me to open up that quickly, then it's a damn good game, plain and simple.
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Start
Drag your weapons to fill the grid
Easy to medium hard
So, what is FixForce?
Find. Operate. Load. Complete. Exit.
FixForce is a co-op game where players and up to 5 friends put themselves to work as robots, attempting to repair key machines (and other options and objectives) and satisfy the company's monetary quota. To do this, players use a handy drill wrench that is similar to the Gravity Gun of z Garry's mod to create paths from leftover parts, load necessarily repair items like a toaster and steal friends' bodies. Once the objectives are completed (or failed), players must make their way to the extraction van to complete the level…at the risk of being left behind, of course.
The Drill Wrench basically works on every object in the game world except basic structures. Even the businessman, a large computer screen with a face—not officially named Larry, but alias Larry—can be manipulated with the Drill Wrench.
FixForce players have a limited pool of lives, but going through those lives is technically optional. After taking enough damage, players explode and control only their head. Friends can erect your body so you can get back to work, or they can steal it to complete their all-important bridge. As the head, you can bounce and push lily pads across the water to get your friends to safety, or you can steal someone else's body out of nowhere as an RKO. Or you can reconstruct yourself at the cost of a life – and an explosion to get there thieves friends.
In addition to the all-important head and body, players also have a battery to power them. Players can function without it, but everything is easier with it. Some special batteries can also provide benefits such as reduced fall damage. In addition to the player, however, these batteries can be used to power elements on the game map. There are three basic maps FixForcebut aside from the central skeleton, the exact layout is randomized in each game, adding more variety to the experience.
FixForce offers contactless chat, which is always great for a Friendslop game.
abbreviation FixForce is a chaotic co-op game-like game Top, sans cannibalism (no robocannibalism for now) where the core of the game relies on creative physics. The mechanics are simple, creative, and perfect for a friendly game that almost feels like a simpler version of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Ultrahand abilities. It is now available in Early Access on Steam and will be coming to other platforms in the future.
A game of sadness, a game of abuse, and a game of dumb, dumb fun almost feels like a life story in itself—one that understands how often that “buddy fling,” that precious time spent laughing with friends, that dumb, dumb fun, is actually a refuge from the heavier things we carry.
Some of the funniest moments I've had at FixForce (so far)
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Salim and I tried to jump while heading for the extraction van and died a few times. Brown also got involved as the clock neared zero. Then we were left behind by Joe “No Fixers Left Behind” Kinglake.
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After spending a significant amount of time building a bridge to an extraction van in the next match, he exploded. We were just four heads, lost in the waters FixForcewhen we got to the extraction van.
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Once I watched as Salim gleefully pushed Kinglake on the lily pad towards our destination like a head. They were both wearing cowboy attire, so it had a definite 'til sunset vibe, even though we were in the middle of the game.
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More than once I snuck up on someone and stole their bodies. Sorry about that, everyone. It's so satisfying.
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In order to reach our destination, we had to climb a higher tower at one point, enter and exit. Unfortunately (but luckily for laughs) there were several mistakes and more than once we all just circled the steps.
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Brown, in a kind of irreverent belief that we would need them, brought a bunch of disco balls to the game. They lasted less than a minute before “errors” occurred and were discarded into the void.
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At one point I realized that Larry was missing and that someone (if not everyone, I don't know who) had constructed a massive Larry robot that was equal parts confusing and impressive.
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Outbursts of revenge are always a good time.
FixForce perfectly describes the Friendslop genre
The premise of the best Friendslop games is often simple (climb this, ride that), because it's not so much about how much mechanical depth you can offer, but rather what kind of sandbox you can give players. Creativity in FixForceSandbox is on par with some of the best in the genre and has a lot to add before the eventual 1.0 release. There's actually a simple “fix it” premise here, but the way the sandbox facilitates social interaction by breaking something, exploding for whatever reason, or pulling any kind of cheat still makes for a fun environment.
As mentioned earlier, FixForce is something unlike the previous two games from Surgent Studios. Salim himself pointed this out when FixForce it was revealed:
“Yes, FixForce is completely different from anything we've ever done, but look: we made one game about grief and another about abuse and thinking, 'Can we have some silly, silly fun for a while?' I promise we'll go back to darkness and depression after this.”
But I think he does FixForce such a strong addition to Surgent Studios' growing game, going beyond a strong understanding of the genre itself. Maybe I'm just waxing poetic here, but a game about grief, a game about abuse, and a game about dumb, dumb fun feels almost like a life story in itself—one that understands how often that “friend scum,” that precious time spent laughing with friends, that dumb, dumb fun, is actually a refuge from the heavier things we carry.
FixForce is now available through Early Access on Steam. A FixForce Steam code was provided to GameRant.
