What do you do with yourself after creating a terrifying mutant spider train that haunts my dreams? Apparently, you do a complete 180 and go for some adorably strange mutant… koalas? Mice? Teddy bears? 

Whatever they are (“Jailiens”, according to the trailer at Summer Game Fest), solo developer Two Star Games is back with Cuffbust. It's another addition to the ever-growing “chaotic psychics-based party game” pile, with the developer promising “destructible environments, proximity chats, a multitude of escape roots, and 20 player lobbies.” 

As the name suggests, Cuffbust is all about breaking out of jail with yer pals. Making use of tools like soap, dynamite, and spoons to carve your way out of prison all while avoiding guards and figuring out the best way to escape unscathed. The trailer shows some of the jailiens breaking boxes to squeeze through a vent, or jumping down a rather grimy looking sewer on their path to freedom.

The trailer ends with the freshly escaped jailiens celebrating their victory on the beach with what I can only assume to be a giant joint. Is it okay for mutant alien koala-mice-bear things to be smoking? I'm not sure, but they probably deserve a little treat after a hard day decamping.

I am admittedly quite a big sucker for party games, and for some reason there's something about having proximity chat being baked into 'em that immediately makes me wanna play. Nothing beats hearing your friend scream from six feet down a corridor, and I feel like Cuffbust is ripe for plenty of jailbreaking shenanigans. 

As for when it's out, even Two Star doesn't seem entirely sure. Apparently it's “coming 2025 maybe, IDK TBH.” I appreciate the candour, because who even sticks to release dates these days?