A rope as your only weapon
Red Rope: Don't Fall Behind drops you into a labyrinth with more than 100 hand-designed levels between you and the exit door. You play one of two protagonists, a couple joined by a red rope that acts as both their bond and their only weapon. The rope restricts your movement and your freedom, but it is also what lets you fight back against the enemies, traps and puzzles filling the maze. Without it you would be defenceless against the macabre presences that haunt the corridors. Combat is deliberate: enemies are unpredictable, so you learn their patterns and plan your own moves. No tactics means death.
Playing together or alone
The game is built for two players on one screen, with each person controlling one half of the couple. The rope between you is a shared resource and a shared problem: you have to coordinate your positioning, keep the link useful in a fight, and work out how the mechanisms in each level respond to both of you at once. Remote Play Together lets a friend join from their own machine if you are not in the same room. Going solo is an option too, and the game states plainly that it will not be easy either way. The developers also note that communication and complicity matter beyond the screen, so talking through what you are seeing is part of how the pair gets through.
What to expect before you start
This is a difficult, atmospheric game with a symbolic, lore-heavy world. Every area, enemy and piece of geometry is placed with intent, and the labyrinth is full of symbols to decipher alongside its bizarre inhabitants. On the path out you face 4 minibosses and 5 bosses, plus dozens of enemies that punish careless play. Progress is tracked on a global chart, and the game warns that every action has consequences. Expect at least 10 hours if you are up to the challenge, and considerably more if you are not. It is described as a hardcore experience where only a few will succeed, so go in ready to retry levels and to treat failure as part of the ritual rather than a dead end.