# Sideway: New York turns graffiti walls into a two-player platformer

Explore a shifting graffiti world with one friend in Sideway: New York's two-player local co-op, built around quick platforming, paint powers, and changing perspectives.

[PLAYNEXT](https://playnext.party/) · Published: 10/2/2026

![Two graffiti characters run across a wall between hanging orange lights, shown with separate player status bars.](https://playnext.party/steam-images/a477dad8-c9e0-4fd2-8d6e-089f72141a94/ss-0c49ebd02891ba3b704e923c43262e24d505148b?width=1200)

The co-op is drop-in and drop-out, so your friend can join during a level. Steam Remote Play Together lets a remote friend join by streaming that local session.

Your characters are two-dimensional figures moving across a three-dimensional city. The viewpoint makes that idea playable: a brick wall becomes the floor, the building's edge turns into a route around a corner, and a rooftop can become another flat surface for the same kind of side-scrolling movement. You follow Nox through a graffiti world after rival artist Spray pulls him into the painted dimension. The rescue story gives the trip a destination, while the real draw is learning how the city's walls connect.

## One friend joins the same painted route

Sideway's co-op supports two players locally across the campaign. Both characters share the level and move through the same sequence of platforms, enemies, checkpoints, and bosses. It is a cooperative campaign rather than a race or a versus mode: you are both moving toward the same exit and facing the same obstacles. The game supports drop-in/drop-out play, so the second player can join without restarting the entire adventure. There are no separate roles to assign, classes to build, or multiplayer playlists to unlock.

That setup makes it easy to turn a short platforming session into something you can talk through in the same room. Both characters run, jump, attack, collect items, and gain access to the same expanding set of moves. You are not solving a dedicated two-person puzzle where one player has a different tool or view. The shared challenge comes from moving through a level together while the camera and gravity keep changing what “forward” and “up” mean.

Controller support on PC is partial. The game does not specify the required input arrangement for two players, so check your devices before relying on a keyboard-and-controller combination. Cross-play with other stores or platforms is unspecified.


## A city that turns every corner into a new plane

The first change is visual, but it quickly becomes part of the platforming. Nox appears painted onto one side of a building. When the route reaches an edge, the view swings around to another side, and the character continues across the new surface as if the wall were a floor. A rooftop can become the new backdrop after a leap. The level remains a side-scroller, but the 3D building lets its path fold around corners and change orientation without cutting to a separate stage.

That shifting perspective changes how you read ordinary jumps. A ledge that seems to hang above the path may connect to a different face of the building; a pipe or window can serve as a foothold on the current wall; and switching surfaces can reveal a route or collectible that was hidden from the previous angle. The camera rotates to follow the route, so you and your friend are often reacting to a new orientation as you move. The visual trick is not a separate puzzle mode. It is woven through the campaign's regular runs, jumps, and short fights.

Some levels add simple environmental puzzles. You can push blocks to reach higher areas, interact with objects, or move to a different plane to open another stretch of the route. Spray-painted platforms can appear under your character and then fade, making them temporary footholds. Later movement abilities give you more ways to get through these spaces, including a double jump, glide, slide, and swinging or grappling moves. These abilities make backtracking worthwhile because an earlier room may hold a path or collectible that was out of reach before.

The pace alternates between clearing a route and reading the space around it. One moment, both characters can move across a broad painted wall; the next, a narrow sequence of ledges or an abrupt camera turn asks for a more precise jump. A character can fall into water or land on spikes and return at a checkpoint. That keeps ordinary mistakes from erasing a long stretch of progress, though the jump's loose, floaty feel can make narrow landings harder than the colorful presentation suggests.

## Paint powers work for movement and combat

Nox starts with basic jumps and punches. The campaign gradually adds moves that affect both travel and combat, including slides, stronger kicks, paint grenades, a shield, and ways to cross gaps or reach higher platforms. A slide can slip under an obstacle and also stun certain enemies. A jump or dive attack can finish an enemy from above, while a ranged paint attack lets you hit threats that are not close enough for a punch. The same growing move set keeps the platforming from being only a sequence of jumps.

Enemies have different shapes and attack patterns, so moving forward also means noticing what blocks the route. Some can be handled with a basic attack; others take a particular move or a short sequence of hits. Encounters are usually small interruptions between platforming sections, but bosses turn those patterns into larger set pieces. Their attacks and openings ask you to use moves learned during the campaign, and some players may need a few attempts to understand the intended sequence. A friend beside you can share those encounters, but the game does not give the two players distinct combat jobs.

The campaign is organized as a journey through New York neighborhoods, including places such as Queens, Chinatown, and Times Square. You cross walls, rooftops, pipes, and other building surfaces while Spray's painted minions stand between Nox and Cass. The cast and story stay simple, with a cartoon tone and an exaggerated graffiti look. Buildings, tags, and characters use bright colors against darker city textures; each district gives the route a different backdrop without changing the core format of running, jumping, fighting, and searching for another path.

## Checkpoints make the challenge forgiving, with a few rough edges

Sideway is a moderate platforming challenge rather than a punishing precision test from beginning to end. Checkpoints sit along the stages, so a missed jump generally sends you back nearby. The campaign introduces new abilities as it goes and uses them to make later spaces busier. Some later jumps and boss encounters are less forgiving, especially when a camera shift hides what is ahead or a move's range is hard to judge. The game sometimes provides more guidance after repeated failures, but its instructions can be sparse in the moment.

Collectibles add reasons to revisit the levels. Tags and other pickups contribute to your score or completion percentage, and a few hidden objects are easier to reach after you unlock additional movement powers. Steam achievements and leaderboard scores give completion-focused pairs another goal after a stage. The campaign moves through a dozen or so stages and several boss fights, with individual levels available to replay for hidden tags and higher scores. That suits a pair looking for a contained platforming adventure, though it offers less room for long-term co-op progression than a game built around gear, character builds, or repeatable missions.

The local co-op works best as a shared-screen companion to that campaign, and its limits are visible. Both players follow the same route rather than combining specialized abilities. The level's fast perspective shifts can make it difficult to keep track of the second character as the camera swings around a building. The co-op remains useful for company and shared attempts; groups seeking tightly linked mechanics or independent exploration may find it lightweight.

The soundtrack leans into hip-hop, matching the painted streets and playful enemies, and the bright splashes of color give even ordinary jumps a strong visual identity. Some stages repeat a small selection of tracks, so the music can become familiar well before the campaign ends. The game also moves between relaxed checkpointed runs and bursts of more exacting platforming. You can take in the cartoon city and keep moving, then find a boss or a narrow jump that asks for a few retries. It is an uneven rhythm, but the art direction and shifting walls give the trip a look that is easy to recognize.

For two friends who want a short couch co-op platformer with an unusual visual hook, Sideway: New York offers a complete campaign in one shared world. Its second player is a companion on Nox's route, not a separate role with unique tools. Steam Remote Play Together also lets the host stream the local session to a friend who wants to play remotely. The changing camera, simple combat, collectibles, and checkpoints give you enough to discuss while you play; the limited co-op interaction and occasional floaty jumps are the main reasons to choose it for its style and scale rather than for deep teamwork.

## On Steam

- **Play together:** Remote Play Together
- **Steam reviews:** Mixed, 58% positive of 125 reviews
- **Playing now:** 0
- **Platforms:** Windows
- **Developer:** Playbrains, Fuel Entertainment
- **Publisher:** Playbrains

[View on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/200190/)

## Similar games to Sideway™ New York

- [Pid](https://playnext.party/en/games/pid/)
- [Toodee and Topdee](https://playnext.party/en/games/toodee-and-topdee/)
- [ibb & obb](https://playnext.party/en/games/ibb-obb/)
- [Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe](https://playnext.party/en/games/super-puzzle-platformer-deluxe/)
- [Final Exam](https://playnext.party/en/games/final-exam/)
- [Garbanzo Quest](https://playnext.party/en/games/garbanzo-quest/)


Choose your next game with friends.

[Start a session](https://playnext.party/app/?lang=en)

---

Source: https://playnext.party/en/games/sidewaytm-new-york/

Language: en