A metroidvania with survival and crafting on a dinosaur planet
Primal Planet is a solo-developed 2D action-adventure that mixes the structure of a metroidvania with survival and crafting. You play a cave dweller on a lush planet full of dinosaurs, starting with almost nothing and building up tools, weapons and skills as you go. The story follows his fight to protect his family, beginning with a brutal T-Rex attack and opening out into an alien presence you have to make sense of. Expect dense forests, sprawling plains, treacherous mountains and ocean depths, each with its own hazards and secrets, and dinosaurs ranging from the Apatosaurus to the Carnotaurus. Combat leans on preparation as much as reflexes: crafted weapons, bait, traps and stealth all matter, and bosses ask you to change tactics rather than just swing harder. Gathering natural resources feeds into tools, weapons and healing or protective mixtures, and experience lets you upgrade skills to handle tougher areas.
Playing it together in local co-op
The game runs in local co-op, and the second player can drop in at any time as Sino, a sinosauropteryx who acts as your companion. You work together on obstacles, puzzles and enemies, and Sino levels up alongside the pair of you, growing from a small nimble helper into a fierce and loyal friend. Since player two joins mid-session, one person can start the run and the other can pick up a controller whenever they're free, which suits a group that plays in the same room or over Remote Play Together. The co-op partner is a fixed character rather than a second cave dweller, so the shared experience is built around one main explorer plus a companion rather than two identical players.
Before you start
This is a singleplayer game at heart with local co-op layered on, so expect the story and progression to be driven by whoever holds the main character. Survival systems mean you'll spend time gathering and crafting between fights, not just moving through levels. The tone is emotional and family friendly, but the planet is genuinely dangerous, with regular enemies and bosses that punish careless play. It's built with a pixel aesthetic and is noted as a good fit for Steam Deck, so it works as a couch or handheld session as well as a desktop one.