Big Hops, the indie 3D platformer centered on a frog wielding its tongue as a grappling hook, now supports eight-player co-op across its entire campaign. Developer Heliocentric Studios expanded the game's multiplayer scope following inspiration drawn from Mario community mods that offered similar cooperative experiences.
The update transforms Big Hops from a single-player adventure into a chaotic cooperative romp. Eight players control frogs simultaneously, each capable of using their tongue mechanics to solve puzzles, navigate levels, and interact with the environment. The tongue grappling hook, the game's core mechanic, becomes exponentially more tactically complex when multiple players deploy it in tandem. Players can now coordinate tongue usage to manipulate objects, reach otherwise inaccessible areas, and create chain reactions across levels.
The inspiration from Mario modding communities matters here. Fan-created Mario mods have long experimented with expanded multiplayer functionality and cooperative campaign modes. Heliocentric Studios recognized this appetite among players and baked similar philosophy into Big Hops, but with the frog's tongue as the central cooperative tool rather than standard platforming abilities.
Big Hops originally launched as a single-player title, establishing itself within the indie platformer landscape as a refreshing mechanical twist on the genre. The game earned recognition for its creative use of tongue-based locomotion and puzzle design. Adding eight-player co-op doesn't strip away that identity. Instead, it amplifies it. Every level becomes a coordination exercise where tongue timing, positioning, and synchronization determine success.
This update positions Big Hops as party-game material. The chaos of eight frogs tonguing their way through obstacles simultaneously creates inherent comedy and unpredictability. It mirrors the cooperative energy found in games like Moving Out or Overcooked, where mechanical simplicity breeds emergent multiplayer moments