Percy Bartelt, opinions editor

Within the past few weeks, it’s been hard not to see anyone playing the new hit game “Lethal Company.” It’s everywhere and I am absolutely here for it! Its initial release date was back in Oct. of 2023, and it was popular then — a hit game just like when “Among Us” first came out — and its popularity has only grown exponentially.

“Lethal Company” essentially is a game about collecting and retrieving items, or what the game calls scrap, while also avoiding monsters and every three days you have to collect enough scrap to sell back to meet a specific quota which raises every time you meet it. Should you fail to do so… Well, let’s just say you’re fired (in a perfectly appropriate manner) and you have to start all over again. Despite that high risk — like if you built up or bought a lot of equipment for your ship — somehow, it’s still fun no matter how many times you lose the game! Even I, a chronic rage quitter, love the game; even if I die all the time and end up losing with my friends. But restarting is half the fun! The maps are like a randomly generated dungeon with different hallways, monsters and scraps hiding in different places and you never really know what you’re going to run into for sure. It’s easily one of my favorite games of all time!

The game may visually be of lower quality than the other games released by major gaming companies, but still manages to outshine them in its gameplay. And honestly, the designs are just fine the way they are. In some instances it makes the ambience even creepier because when the game seems tame and you’re doing really well, it can quickly become the horror game it was meant to be with all of its monsters and jumpscares. (e.g., the Bracken. If you know, you know.)

Not only is the game’s huge and sudden success amazing, but knowing who made the game is absolutely astonishing to me. It was one person under the handle “Zeekersss.” ONE PERSON made this entire game all by themselves! Prior to this, they made a few indie games, and was even a well-known and respected Roblox developer. 

Even with “Lethal Company’s” large audience and players, its reviews are among the best I’ve seen for a game of this magnitude — an indie game, made by one person, with low graphics and uncommon gameplay. Google cites “Lethal Company” as having an astounding 97% and 4.7 stars for its approval rating, and it proudly holds a well-deserved 10/10 score on Steam, which is where you can buy this game for only $10! And I absolutely have to mention that back in Dec., during the times of the Game Awards, “Lethal Company” was immediately nominated for “Game of the Year” and “Better with Friends,” even though it had only been out for under two months. Absolutely incredible. 

Once again, “Lethal Company” is by far one of my favorite games, my friends and I have a blast every time and with mods it’s even better. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this game for everyone to play at least once. Until then, I hope you have a good work shift with the Company.