Heave Ho 2 Review: More Like Heave Ho Squared

Heave Ho 2 Is More Than Just A Sequel, It’s An Evolution Le Cartel Published Jul 29, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. I enjoyed the original Heave Ho just enough that I was mildly excited for the sequel. It’s a great party game to break out whenever you have guests over, with simple enough controls that, even if they don’t play video games, they’ll pick it up pretty quickly. I thought Heave Ho 2 would be more of the same. It’s not. It’s more, and it builds on that simple concept in ways I wasn’t remotely expecting. How Heave Ho Works Le Cartel Let me quickly explain the concept of Heave Ho to those of you who aren’t familiar. It’s a co-op puzzle game where each player controls what is essentially a little head with long arms. All you can do with those characters is use the triggers to control what their hands are grabbing, and the left stick to determine which way they swing while you’re latched onto something or someone. The goal is to work as a team to manoeuvre your way through each level, grabbing each other’s hands to form chains that function as bridges between platforms, swinging when you need to, and perhaps even throwing your teammates should the next platform you’re trying to get to be just out of reach. A relatively simple idea at heart, but it's the way Le Cartel has built on the foundations that makes Heave Ho 2 so impressive. The first few stages are simple “point A to point B” levels to ease you in. However, as the game progresses and the themes change, the puzzles become more inventive and complex. Le Cartel For example, there’s a set of culinary stages where the end goal isn’t a finish line, but a plate of food that needs to be accurately assembled in order to please the Heave Ho chef. There’s also a set of levels that take place in outer space where you and your teammates have to pilot a rocket ship between locations. The levels have difficulty ratings and, if you’re already a Heave Ho connoisseur that doesn’t need to be eased in, you can skip ahead to the more challenging stuff. The Bulk Of This Game Cannot Be Played Alone Le Cartel The need to work together as a team is the one area in which Heave Ho 2 falls flat, as the game cannot be played alone, at least not its story mode. There’s a tutorial which can be played in single player - a terrific idea as it means you can learn the ropes without dragging anyone who already knows how to play along with you - but all of the main missions need at least two people to function. You can matchmake with others online, but my experience with doing it that way typically ended in unorganized chaos, and not the good kind Heave Ho thrives on when at its best. While the inability to play the main modes alone is the biggest strike against Heave Ho 2, one of the best things about it is how much your strategies change based on the number of players you have. I’ve replayed levels with two, three, and four players, and how we tackled them had to change based on how many people were involved. There are levels where you have to climb through tiny gaps together, for example. Quick and easy when it’s just the two of you, but things start to get a little jammed up in those gaps when you invite a third player into the mix. Le Cartel Even though the challenges become more complex as you progress, there’s unlikely to be a point at which even the most casual of players feel out of their depth. I played through the entire game with a six-year-old and, while some stages took a little longer than they might have with a full team of grown-ups at the wheel, we got through every level eventually and had a lot of fun doing it. The game will also send optional assists your way if you take too long to complete a stage. Come For The Campaign, Stay For The Showdown Le Cartel Heave Ho 2’s other main mode, and the best thing about this sequel, can be played alone. Showdown is where you and your fellow players become rivals, and that’s where online matchmaking shines. In Showdown, it doesn’t matter that you can’t cooperate with everyone else, because you’re not supposed to. You either have to race them to the finish, knock them off the screen, or be the first to pull the level’s handle, depending on the type of round you’re thrown into. Co-op is a lot of fun, but once that’s finished, it’s Showdown that’s going to keep you coming back. The stages are switched up and thrown at you in a random order to keep it feeling fresh, and the weapons available, on levels that have them, are different each time so that you can’t just keep using the same strategies over and over. You can unlock Heave Ho versions of characters from other games to use in its campaign and Showdown, too, including Dave the Diver, Ironclad from Slay the Spire, and the glass protagonist from Skate Story. The original Heave Ho didn’t leave me wanting more. It was simply a game that, when presented with friends who have never played it before, I’d bust out at game nights. Heave Ho 2, however, has left me with a very different feeling. After seeing more of the ideas the developers of this series have for this concept, now I’m hungry for more. Whether it be DLC for the sequel or an entirely new game, I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Heave Ho. Systems Released 2026 Developer(s) Le Cartel Studio Publisher(s) Devolver Digital Multiplayer Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op Prequel(s) Heave Ho Genre(s) Casual, Party Game Pros & Cons Simple to pick up, play, and explain to others. So many new and innovative ideas that build on the original. Showdown gives players a great reason to keep coming back. Limited single player options.