What PICO PARK is
PICO PARK is a cooperative action puzzle game for 2-8 players, made by TECOPARK. The goal on every level is the same: collect the keys, unlock the door, and get everyone through it. That sounds simple, but the levels are built specifically around multiplayer, so the tricky part is never the controls — it's coordinating with the group. The Steam version is a port of the 2019 Nintendo Switch release, with online play added on top. The older 2016 release is kept separately as PICO PARK: Classic Edition.
Playing together
There are 48 levels, and each one introduces a gimmick that only works if the players plan it out. As you move forward through a level, new mechanics show up, which means you'll keep having to stop, talk it over, and invent a new way to cooperate. Every level requires everyone to reach the door, so nobody can sit out or run ahead alone. You can play locally or online with people who aren't in the same room. Since communication matters so much here, the developers recommend playing online while on a voice call, using Discord or Zoom.
Aside from the main co-op stages there's Battle Mode, where you compete against friends after you've finished co-op play, and Endless Mode, where you keep going through the stages to chase a high score. In Endless, cooperating efficiently makes your score climb faster, so the better the group works together, the higher you get.
Before you start
Plan for 2-8 people. If you're playing locally with a lot of controllers, there's a note about Xbox pads: if you're connecting more than five of them, enable "Xbox Extended Feature Support" in Controller Settings first. If you're short on gamepads, the TecoGamePad app lets you use a smartphone as a controller — it's available on the App Store and Google Play.
Going in, expect the difficulty to bite. The levels are designed so that one person mistiming a move can reset progress for everyone, and the gimmicks stack up as you advance. Groups that talk through each attempt tend to do better than groups that just keep trying. Expect some loud failures and some very satisfying clears.