Running a blacksmith shop with friends
Smithworks is a first-person 3D co-op game where you and up to three friends play fledgling blacksmiths working through contracts in real time. Orders come in with a timer, and customers get angry if you take too long, so the group has to keep an eye on the clock while hammering, heating and finishing whatever's on the anvil. Orders are procedurally generated, so no two sessions hand you the same list of work. There are Steam Achievements to chase along the way.
The game follows Smitta, a new member of the Smithworks Guild who always wanted to become one of the legendary smiths of the past. What she finds instead is a guild with questionable business practices and questionable treatment of customers, including the small matter of same-day blacksmithing. The whole thing plays as a parody, and the guild's own motto sets the standard: "If it looks right, then the customer won't notice." Perfection is not the goal — keeping the guild and the customers happy is.
Splitting the work
The game leans heavily on communication. With up to four players in a lobby, someone needs to be watching which orders to prioritize, someone needs to be handling the forge, and someone needs to be dealing with whatever else comes through the door. How the group divides that up is entirely your call, and the store text is explicit that every strategy is valid. Voice chat is built in, which matters when a customer is waiting and two people both think the other is on the same contract.
Lobbies adapt to the number of players: levels are altered for 1, 2, and 3–4 player lobbies, so a duo or a solo run gets content tuned for that headcount rather than an empty four-person shop. That makes it easy to start with whoever shows up and scale up when the rest of the group logs on.
Before you start
Expect chaos rather than precision. It's a casual, physics-driven game with stylized 3D visuals and character customization, so sessions are loose and forgiving rather than a tight test of execution. The team-based structure means you'll be coordinating under time pressure while customers pile up, which is where the comedy comes from as much as the mistakes.
Controller is supported, so you can play on whichever input you prefer. It's free to play, tagged indie and casual, and it's built as a first-person experience from start to finish. The main thing to know going in: the clock is the real opponent, and talking to each other is how you beat it.