Muddledash Review: Multiplayer Switch Game
We play a lot of 4 player Nintendo Switch games. Muddledash was recently added to our library of couch games. It’s made for 4 players that enjoy some competitive racing.
Muddledash is a side scrolling race where you play as octopus or squids or jellyfish, whatever they are. The idea is you have to deliver a package to a party to win. We started in a room with a package, whoever delivers it wins. Someone had to pick it up for the door to open. Then the fun begins.
The octopus with the package has to race through the map avoiding obstacles, cannon fire, and of course the other squids trying to bop the package away from you. There’s hills, valleys, loops, with plenty of jumping and dashing.
The way the race is setup the person in the lead is at a disadvantage. They’re setting off canons, traps, and knocking down grass. Which made it easier for the rest of us to catch up. The lead squid had to figure out the shortest path and avoid obstacles. We found firing the cannon doesn’t help anyone in the lead, only the other squids.
The track is automatically generated so no two races are the same. The first and last rooms are the same but everything in between varies.
I found Muddledash to be simple in concept and game play. However, even though there isn’t much to this game its hilarious. As we played the package changes hands many, many times during the race leading to a lot of unexpected fun.
Why Muddledash?
If you’re looking for a party game to play with friends Muddledash is a good option in my opinion. Anyone can sit down and play in my experience. It’s meant to be competitive, but in a fun way.
If you like games that make you laugh Muddledash is good for that. We laughed throughout the entire session playing it. It’s just goofy fun knocking that package from squid to squid.
From what I saw, there’s no learning curve. The first times we played we had it down by the time we reached the party room.
It’s hilarious fun for 4 people sitting on a couch. Muddledash is accessible for all ages. Kids and grandparents can play too. You don’t need to be a hard core gamer to enjoy it either.
We tested it with 4 players, 3 players, and 2 players. We discovered it can’t be played solo. In our experience 2 or 3 players had fun too. It was the funniest with 4 players.
Comparable Games
Comparable games from what I’ve seen are Fling to the Finish, Can’t Drive This, Chalkdash, or Boomerang Fu. All are chaotic races. Except in this game we had to get the birthday package into the party room. Being the first to enter the room doesn’t count.
Muddledash isn’t as challenging as Fling to the Finish or the others. The obstacles mildly slowed us down. We didn’t have to figure anything out. There wasn’t any trial and error to Muddledash compared to the others.
We mostly dashed or jumped to go faster. Failing any jump or dash didn’t result in any consequences. Other than being slowed down.
There isn’t a point system in Muddledash like the other games. It kept track of our times but the main goal is just being the first to enter the room with the birthday package.
Pros and Cons
Muddledash has average graphics and sounds in my experience. The graphics weren’t anything spectacular but adequate for what this game was. Which made the lag shocking. We’ve played many games and rarely ever experienced any frame rate lag on our Switch.
After playing several games in a row we noticed some lag mid race which kept showing up in other races halfway through. The lag went away when we closed and reopened the game. But after playing 7 or 8 games in a row it seemed to consistently come back.
There’s a lot going on during a race. Racing is so chaotic and fast we couldn’t stop laughing at all the antics. Many unexpected place changes occur during the race.
The drawback is this isn’t a game we could enjoy playing for hours at a time. It’s incredibly fun the first few times we played. But that level of fun is hard to maintain. We play Muddledash in 30 minute sessions to keep it from getting stale.
The fun turned into stiff competition once someone figured out an exploit. If one squid raced out of the room without the package to slow them down. They could keep the lead the entire race by spamming the dash button and avoiding any obstacles.
It’s extremely difficult to keep up with the lead squid, especially when they didn’t carry the package, the screen focused on them, and you had to get your bearings from the frequent respawning.
The lead squid basically dragged everyone, and the package, to the end. At which point they grabbed the package as it respawned or simply knocked it away from an approaching squid. Then ran into the party to win. Since they were closest to the party room they had the advantage.
Review Summary
Our Muddledash review gives it 7 out of 10 stars. We enjoy the game in shorter sessions. If you fight over the package throughout the race then it’s hilarious. If you prefer a competitive game, then just race to the end without the package. Either way Muddledash is a fun game I like to play over and over.
FAQ
Muddledash review brought to you by David M.
I’m David M. I’ve been playing video games a long time, my pong game was fire. Now, my kids run circles around me but we always have a good time. We mostly play party and family games. Strategy and battle games are still among my favorites. I like writing about games almost as much as I do playing them. My favorite games are: Moving Out 2, Out of Space and Overcooked All You Can Eat.
