Shakes on a Plane (2020)

Have you ever played a game that you didn’t hate, nor like, but just felt like nothing? Shakes on a Plane gives me that feeling after playing it from beginning to end, and it doesn’t do anything wrong but it just gives me this feeling of “okay, I beat this… now what?”

In an industry filled with excellent couch co-op games, it's really hard to recommend Shakes on a Plane. The gameplay is incredibly simple, offering very little variation outside of the core campaign mode. Unless you're desperate for a multiplayer game, having finished everything else, this is one flight you can probably miss.

Overall, Shakes on a Plane is inherently pretty average. It has a great premise with some less than great execution in places. However, that great premise is directly ripped from another game and, as the old saying goes, if you come for the king you better not miss. Shakes on a Plane didn’t exactly miss its swing for the co-op cooking game throne but the strength of the swing was equivalent to an ant swinging a toothpick at a giant. If you’re looking for a chaotic game to play with friends to beat the lockdown blues, there isn’t much to promote Shakes on a Plane over the king: Overcooked.

Shakes on the Plane has all the right ingredients for an enjoyable co-op game but much like turbulence on a plane the balance just feels off and much of the game to me was spent frustrated and confused about where we went wrong. A pity because there is fun to be had here. Maybe with some tweaking and patching it could make for a much more enjoyable title. For the moment I would approach this plane ride with caution. Also, don’t forget to fasten your seat belt.

With many great couch co-op games out there, it's hard to wholeheartedly recommend Shakes on a Plane although it is quite charming.