What King of the Couch: Zoovival is
King of the Couch: Zoovival is a 2D battle platformer with 3D graphics, built around animals beating each other up with an assortment of weapons. You pick a zoovivor — a bear, a fish, a frog, a chicken, a penguin, a toothless t-rex, or a sewing lady — and fight across multiple unique arenas. The weapons are described as tools commonly found in nature, which in practice means things like a black hole gun, a cheese wheel running amok, baguettes you can chug at your friends, and a grappling hook you swing to safety with. The arenas are not just backdrops: each one has game-changing mechanics, so the ground you fight on can turn the fight on its head.
How a group plays it together
The game supports up to 4 players versus each other, so a group can jump into a free-for-all and see who comes out on top. It works as local co-op on the couch, and it also supports Online PvP and Remote Play Together, which means friends who are not in the same room can still play along. Matches are quick, chaotic platform fights rather than long drawn-out rounds, so it suits a group that wants to rotate in and out and keep the session moving. The grappling hook is the main way to reposition yourself mid-fight, which keeps the movement loose even when the arena is crowded.
Before you start
Expect a casual, cartoony brawler with a funny streak rather than a precise competitive fighter. The tone is deliberately absurd — natural selection, but with a black hole gun — and the weapon classes are labelled as all-natural and realistic, which is part of the joke. Controller support is listed, so a pad is a comfortable way to play, especially for local multiplayer with four people. The game is Free to Play, so getting a group started costs nothing, and the Steam features include a great soundtrack if you care about the audio while you play.