What Plunder Panic is
Plunder Panic is a 2D pirate brawler where two rival crews fight over treasure on the high seas. A match ends when one side grabs all the treasure, sinks the enemy ship, or takes out the enemy captain. The pixel-art look takes cues from classic SNES games, and the moment-to-moment play mixes platforming, fighting, and a bit of tactics since you need to decide whether to push for loot, defend your ship, or go after their captain. Stages are not just scenery: each of the 18 stages carries a gameplay-altering effect, and hazards like axe-throwing shopkeepers, spear-shooting Vikings, and a ship-snapping kraken show up to ruin someone's day.
Playing together
Matches support up to 12 players split across two crews of up to 6. You can play locally, online, or mix in AI-controlled players, so a group can fill out a lobby even when not everyone shows up. Crossplay covers 10+ platforms, which means a crew spread across different setups can still land in the same match. On top of the standard modes there are ranked online matches for groups that want something to climb, and retro-style player awards and stats that feed into a sharable bounty poster. The 30+ modify-arrs let you twist the rules between matches, and with the range of modes, items, and stage effects there is a lot of room to find a combination your group likes and stick with it.
Before you start
There is a single-player campaign that takes you through the islands with unique objectives per stage, unlocking items, levels, and modify-arrs as you go. It is a good way to learn the stages and hazards before bringing a crew in. The store page also notes a free demo that includes online matches with crossplay and the first 10 levels of the campaign, which is a low-commitment way to check whether the game runs well for everyone in the group. Controller support is listed, so a couch setup works for local play.