King of Meat Hands-On Preview: Be a Contender

King of Meat Hands-On Preview: Be a Contender

As a seasoned gamer who has seen the rise and fall of countless titles, I must admit that King of Meat caught my attention like a neon sign at a seedy arcade. After witnessing its chaotic gameplay and vibrant world during Gamescom Opening Night Live, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia for the over-the-top, absurdity of games like Happy Wheels or Super Meat Boy, but with a dash of the competitive spirit found in titles like Fall Guys.


Developer Glowmade and publisher Amazon Games unveiled their new game, “King of Meat”, during Gamescom Opening Night Live, and as its title suggests, it’s a wildly chaotic experience. Essentially, it’s a dungeon crawler where players participate in a television-style competition, but what sets it apart is the heavy focus on user-generated content for creating dungeons. Despite its simple gameplay mechanics, there’s a depth to “King of Meat” that might not be immediately apparent.

As a gamer immersed in the vibrant realm of Loregok, I’ve found myself at the helm of an extraordinary survival entertainment spectacle known as King of Meat. This unique world is a melting pot of dragons, trolls, skeletons, and even corporate culture, all living side by side.

King of Meat’s Dungeon-Crawling Gameplay and World

In the pre-show area known as Ironlaw Plaza, which resembles a social space for the game “King of Meat”, players initially gather. Here, they can engage with non-player characters, negotiate with corporations, and acquire enhancements, merchandise, and aesthetic items. Once all participants are prepared, they move into the Komstruct Koliseum to select a level, either user-generated or developed by the game creators. Our preview concentrates on this gameplay within “King of Meat”.

In teams of up to four players, the “King of Meat” game offers a chaotic dungeon experience. Here, you’ll encounter numerous opportunities for strategic combat and skill interactions with the quirky enemies and intricate puzzles. Ranging from boisterous laughter at knocking allies off the map to widespread panic when taking on waves of enemies, these encounters are filled with unexpected twists. The standout abilities, or “Glory Moves,” include summoning a massive fist that delivers an area-of-effect strike, which is a fan favorite.

Achieving the gold involves teamwork, maintaining high ratings, and triumphing in every battle – sounds simple enough, but it’s often more challenging than it seems. During our rehearsals, we came tantalizingly close to the gold on multiple occasions, only to come up short because, as expected, the typical Loregok viewer has a short attention span, much like someone hooked on their smartphone. The over-the-top craziness was undeniably amusing in the end.

Absolutely, the allure of fame is what drives the “King of Meat” competition. As players advance through the game, they journey along a path known as the “Road to Stardom,” which resembles a Battle Pass and rewards them with fresh events, settings, traps, and more upon defeating dungeons. This feature has been successfully used in many games before and offers progressive gameplay. We’ve only caught a glimpse of it so far, but it seems to be an effective way to enhance the overall gaming experience.

King of Meat’s Dungeon Creator

During our preview, we didn’t get a chance to observe the dungeon creator in King of Meat, as it was centered around immediate gameplay. However, we did converse with a couple of developers about it. To put it simply, it seems easy enough for a child to use but offers depth that allows for mastery. It comes with a freeform mode, pre-set options, and a straightforward process. Players can place rooms, select enemies and traps, customize these rooms according to their preferences, and even tweak the trap logic to function as they desire. This advanced feature is optional, but it appears that the dungeon creator can be as basic or intricate as one requires.

King of Meat is in development for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X/S.

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2024-08-29 21:13