# Flotilla puts two friends in command of a space fleet Explore a randomly assembled galaxy and plan three-dimensional ship battles together in Flotilla’s two-player split-screen Adventure. [PLAYNEXT](https://playnext.party/) · Published: 10/2/2026 ![Blue and red ships trade laser fire above pale asteroids in an orange three-dimensional battlefield.](https://playnext.party/steam-images/d7848b8c-54be-433b-bdc2-5045692773a8/ss-efa6b21bbb4fb02ebda681f9728059483cdd4f6e?width=1200) Flotilla is a compact space strategy game where you and one friend guide a fleet through a strange, randomly assembled galaxy. Its Adventure mode supports two-player local split-screen co-op: you visit planets, deal with oddball encounters, customize your ships, and plan fleet battles that unfold in three dimensions. On one PC, player one needs the keyboard and mouse while player two joins with a gamepad. Steam Remote Play Together lets one person host the shared session and stream it to a friend. There is no separate online Adventure lobby. ## A shared voyage, not a space dogfight campaign The setup is simple. Your captain learns that their time is limited, then sets out for a last trip across space. Flotilla gives you a small fleet and a galaxy dotted with planets. Visiting one can lead to a story event, a trade, an upgrade, or a fight. The narrative is more a frame for these encounters than a tightly connected campaign: you’ll meet spacefaring animals, pirates, bounty hunters, and other characters through short text scenes and portraits rather than long dialogue sequences or voiced cutscenes. That structure suits an evening when you want to get into a tactical match without committing to a long scripted plot. An Adventure is made up of a finite set of planet visits, and the sequence of planets, characters, upgrades, and encounters changes between new runs. You start again with a fresh universe after an adventure ends, so the story snippets and rewards can arrive in a different order. That randomization gives repeat trips variety, though it also means the game doesn’t build toward a single authored narrative or a branching campaign with a persistent cast. The co-op mode brings your friend into that same Adventure. It is local shared-screen play with a split view, with both players joining the same host-run game rather than running an online campaign on separate PCs. Adventure co-op is for two players, without a larger crew to fill out a group call. On PC, player one uses keyboard and mouse, while player two joins with a gamepad. The game’s interface is largely mouse-driven, so this setup matters if your group prefers to play entirely on controllers. Controller support is partial, so plan on having a keyboard, mouse, and one gamepad for two-player play. ## Plan in 3D, then watch the turns resolve Most of Flotilla’s strategic depth sits in its battles. Combat moves through an order phase and an action phase. During orders, you set each ship’s movement, direction, and target while the enemy fleet is being commanded too. Once both sides have their orders, the fleets carry them out at the same time. You watch missiles, beams, and ships cross the field, then stop again to plot the next set of orders. This lets you think through a turn without needing quick reflexes, but the action phase itself is hands-off: when it starts, you watch the plan play out. There is no fixed “up” in this battlefield. Every ship can move horizontally and vertically, and its angle matters as much as its position. The front and top are the better-armored faces; a ship’s rear and underside are weaker. A clean line of attack might mean moving around a target or changing altitude before firing, while a ship in the wrong orientation can expose a vulnerable surface. The camera and grid give you visual clues about distance and height, so combat is about reading a three-dimensional arrangement rather than lining up on a flat lane. Camera controls let you change the view’s angle and height to inspect how ships line up across the battlefield. Each ship order offers a choice between attack movement, a faster flank that gives up firing, and focus fire, which increases firing at the cost of movement. You also select an orientation and can assign a priority target when it is in the ship’s line of sight. The basic orders are quick to understand; optional manual mode lets you adjust yaw, pitch, and roll more precisely. Weapons and ship types affect what a fleet can do, and the shapes, trajectories, and short firing windows give even a small battle a distinct rhythm. In co-op, this planning phase is the shared activity around the split view. You and your friend are part of one Adventure and make decisions across the fleet together, then watch the opposing plans collide. There are no separate character classes or specialist roles: you and your friend make decisions across the shared fleet during one Adventure. Each turn gives the pair a pause to review ship positions, movement, orientation, and targets before both fleets’ orders play out together. Think of it as joint control of a strategy run rather than two players flying independent characters with unique abilities. Your friend’s presence adds a second person to the same decisions, not a separate role to manage. Battle results can change what the rest of the Adventure offers. Ships can be destroyed, surviving vessels gain experience, and some encounters award upgrades or artifacts that you can install in the fleet. Veterancy improves a survivor’s damage output and armor, carrying the effects of earlier battles into later encounters. A reward can add armor, weapons, or other benefits; you choose what to equip through a fleet setup screen. Events on planets also ask you to choose how to respond, and those choices can produce gains, losses, or a later consequence. This connects exploration and combat without asking you to manage a sprawling economy: the decisions are small, but they change which ships and equipment you carry into the next encounter. ## Skirmish is for fighting, not co-op exploration Flotilla has a second mode called Skirmish. It skips the planet-hopping Adventure and opens a fleet setup screen where you choose ship types and set up a quick battle. Skirmish allows human and computer-controlled opponents, with shared-screen player-versus-player and co-op options. You can make a two-player match friendly or competitive, or add computer-controlled fleets to a setup. Skirmish tests the same three-dimensional combat with less context around it; there are no planet choices or Adventure rewards to carry forward. This distinction is handy when a group wants an immediate match. If you’re after the shared campaign, choose Adventure: Skirmish is a customizable battle rather than another leg of the co-op voyage. The two modes share ships and combat orders, but the setup and purpose differ. Adventure uses an evolving fleet and randomized events, while Skirmish lets you select the matchup before the first order is given. The split-screen co-op campaign is for two players, so it will not accommodate a larger party. Skirmish does not extend the Adventure into a native online campaign. If your group expects online matchmaking, more than two campaign players, controller-only play, or a sprawling shared story, those expectations sit outside the PC version’s listed modes. ## Tiny ships, odd encounters, short campaigns Flotilla’s presentation pairs battleship maneuvers with a deliberately odd galaxy. Its ships appear as simple, brightly colored shapes against orange space, and battles are accompanied by restrained classical piano rather than a constant barrage of sound effects. The contrast is part of the game’s character: the combat is measured and tactical, while the planet events can pivot toward a joke about animal pirates, strange bargains, or an absurd space emergency. It is not a detailed space opera, and its minimal visuals leave most of the character work to those brief encounters. The Adventure’s short length is part of the appeal and a limit. Contemporary reviewers describe a run as a brief session, often around half an hour, while player reports vary with how long battles take and whether the optional extended Hardcore mode is used. The standard campaign has a fixed number of planetary moves; Hardcore stretches the trip and makes enemies tougher. Losses carry consequences, and the game does not offer the kind of long-term base, technology tree, or persistent character progression that would make every run build toward a large finale. New universes and surprise events offer replay variation, but the underlying loop stays the same: visit, choose, fight or trade, then move on. A few practical details are worth knowing before you start. The game does not provide a lengthy tutorial, and some of the battle controls can take a little time to click, especially while you move the camera and judge height, facing, and weapon range. Reviews praised the unusual tactical premise and humor, but some also found the interface awkward, the battles repetitive, or the campaign too brief. Contemporary reviews report that an Adventure cannot be saved midway. Treat a run as one sitting rather than a campaign you can reliably leave and return to later. Flotilla fits two friends who want a short, low-pressure strategy session with simultaneous turns, joint fleet choices, and a distinctly strange tone. The game gives you time to think before the action unfolds, and the random planet sequence can serve up new combinations of choices on another run. Its co-op is local split-screen, with keyboard and mouse for player one and a gamepad for player two. If your group expects online matchmaking, more than two campaign players, controller-only play, or a sprawling shared story, those expectations do not match the game's PC modes. ## On Steam - **Play together:** Remote Play Together - **Playing now:** 0 - **Platforms:** Windows, macOS, Linux - **Developer:** Blendo Games - **Publisher:** Blendo Games [View on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/55000/) ## Similar games to Flotilla - [NEBULOUS: Fleet Command](https://playnext.party/en/games/nebulous-fleet-command/) - [Particle Fleet: Emergence](https://playnext.party/en/games/particle-fleet-emergence/) - [Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander](https://playnext.party/en/games/cosmoteer-starship-architect-commander/) - [Final Theory](https://playnext.party/en/games/final-theory/) - [Evochron Legacy SE](https://playnext.party/en/games/evochron-legacy-se/) - [Space Impossible](https://playnext.party/en/games/space-impossible/) Choose your next game with friends. [Start a session](https://playnext.party/app/?lang=en) --- Source: https://playnext.party/en/games/flotilla/ Language: en