Music might be the industry with the most ridiculous amount of genres and subgenres, but gaming can't be far behind. It used to be simple: sports games, adventure games, space combat. Then came the Roguelikes, multiple varieties of shooter, and suddenly we have mouthfuls like Metroidvania and MMORPG.
The fragmentation has only intensified under the influence of digital algorithms. Meanwhile, a constant blending of styles has resulted in increasingly niche micro-genres (dating sim horrors?)
Now even pejorative monikers end up being embraced and adopted as formal(ish) genre descriptions. After boomer shooters and walking simulators, we now have friendslop.
What is friendslop?
It might sound like the leftover supermarket hummus that your least gastronomically adept buddy brings to a party in mismatched Tupperware, but friendslop is a fast-growing video game genre that developers need to watch.
As you probably guessed, the name was initially derogatory. Echoing the use of the term 'AI slop' (see the problems indie developers are facing as they decide how to respond to AI art accusations), it began as dismissive slang for simple, cheaply made and cheaply priced multiplayer indie games designed for groups of friends to play together.
The 2018 social deduction video game Among Us is often cited as the birth of the genre. The Covid-19 pandemic then helped boost it as people sought to connect with friends during lockdowns. But, as far as I can gather, the term 'friendslop' wasn't used until a tongue-in-cheek Twitter post about Zeekerss' Lethal Company went viral last year.
idk how else to describe it but i call this genre of game "Friendslop". its sole purpose of existence is friendfarming pic.twitter.com/0jKwvRMp9uMarch 17, 2025
Friendslop games could more politely (i.e., blandly) be defined as cooperative PvEs (Player vs. Environment) or social-first co-ops. But not all coops are friendslop.
In friendslop, live social interaction is much more important than gameplay or game art, which is sometimes deliberately minimalist. The games are often played for laughs and offer a chaotic or wacky experience with unpredictable shared moments. This makes them unsatisfying to play alone even if it's possible.
Groups of friends often have a mission, but there tends to be no clear win condition, and it's sometimes more fun to fail. Many friendslops are horror games, like Lethal Company, but there are also climbing games and rage games.
Some use proximity chat, the audio feature that allows players to hear the voices of others only when they're nearby in the game – they're mainly PC games for now, but Nintendo Switch 2's GameChat feature has prime friendslop potential.
You might think developers wouldn't want their game to be described as “slop” of any kind, but, like many things that begin as an insult, the term's started to be embraced. It's an easy, fun term that recognises these games' innate silliness and lack of lofty pretensions.
Aggro Crab and Landfall openly described last year's hit climbing game PEAK (above) as friendslop. The game was made in a few weeks and sold 10 million copies in just a couple of months, giving the term serious commercial credibility. Panic Stations later said they were happy for people to call R.E.P.O friendslop.
Gamers have started to adopt the term as an endorsement too, with 'best friendslop games' lists popping up. As well as those already mentioned, the four-player ghost hunting game Phasmophobia, adventure game RV There Yet and rage game Paddle Paddle Paddle tend to feature.
As for upcoming games, Untitled Goose Game developer House House is tapping into the trend with cooperative walker-talker" adventure game Big Walk. Bluespy Studios' imminent release Log Riders also looks fun, filling a space for harder friendslop games (see the Reddit post by the developer below).
The Development Process of Log Riders in 1 Minute from r/IndieDev
As we noted in our preview of 2026 video game design trends, live service games have seen some huge failures while 'friendslop' games are on the rise, clearly resonating with a post-Roblox audience looking for games to play with their friends.
Cheaply and quickly made doesn't necessarily mean bad. Designing a game that works well in a social setting is itself a challenge. And like cozy games and simulation games, there's good reason why they're doing so well.
They require little commitment in either time or money, usually costing under $/£10 or even under $5/£5. People might only play them a handful of times but forge enjoyable memories with friends in the process. For many, that's preferable to risking $70 on a 40-hour AAA game that may or may not be memorable, and it's just the kind of simple, unpretentious escapism they're looking for in 2026.
