Don’t Call It a “Friendslop”, It’s Been Here For Years

Don’t Call It a “Friendslop”, It’s Been Here For Years

Hangout games take this itty-bitty world by storm, and it’s just getting warm.

For adults, video game trends tend to come in waves of alternating pride and shame. The ’70s, games were branded as high-tech “electronic games”: Futuristic machines that could sit in a successful man’s mansion alongside his bottles of brown liquors and books about the stock market. In the ’80s, videogames flipped into the children’s toys space, and any grown-up still playing them was seen as potentially psychologically stunted.  Then in the ’90s, games went edgy and “mature”… until Nintendo Wii came along in the mid-2000s and signaled that they were cute and toy-like again.

With these waves come subtle shifts in how people talk about games, and some early signs show that we may be headed into another shame wave soon. Just look at the “Friendslop” label that some influencers and players have started slapped onto multiplayer games. After years of talking about how games are a prestige medium capable of conveying deep interactive poetry, therapeutic cozy escapes, and the next evolution in spectator sports, now some folks are feeling like taking games down a peg for “only” being a fun thing to play with friends.

This time, at least, it’s not entirely (pejorative); sometimes “friendslop” is (complimentary). Many people say “friendslop” affectionately, not unlike how it became commonplace for folks who exist outside the mainstream to refer to themselves as “trash” a few years ago. When your social media timeline is filled with people posting pics of expensive meals and pricey new skin care routines, it feels good to say, “I’m more like a raccoon eating garbage from a trash can.” Likewise, with games, it can feel honest and authentic to suddenly declare that something that you like is bad, actually. Focusing on the strengths of the gaming medium (and ourselves for engaging in it) can only go on for long before it sounds like the same old company line. Flipping the script with tongue-in-cheek scorn is a way to draw attention to yourself—which is what trendsetting is all about.

But there’s two problems with that. For one, the games people are calling “friendslop” aren’t slop in the current sense of the word. They are often brilliant, painstakingly crafted titles that know how to get out of the way and let groups of people make their own fun. Just because a game doesn’t have an amazing story or deep mechanics doesn’t make it any easier to put together. Sometimes, what a game doesn’t do is just as important as what it does do.

Great co-op multi-player games need low barriers for entry, easily assessable and universally appealing goals, and plenty of opportunities to experiment. They need simple, iconic characters that don’t take up too much space in your head (or else you won’t have room in there to think about your friends). And so, ironically enough, many of the things people see as mandatory in a “top tier” game, like a AAA budget or unique and layered gameplay systems, can actually make a multiplayer romp too sloppy. The time you spend counting the realistic fine hairs on game characters’ cheek or figuring out how to pull off some complex attack combo is time not spent goofing around and getting in a flow state with your buddies.

The other issue with the burgeoning “Friendslop” term is it ignores the long, long history of beloved games that were most fun when played with others, with your brain set into low-power mode. Though it could get stressful as heck, 1986’s multi-player co-op adventure title Gauntlet would almost definitely be called a “Friendslop” game if it was first released today. Gauntlet emphasized coordinating your abilities with buddies, and getting in and out of scrapes that may in part be the fault of a friend (thanks for shooting the food, Valkyrie!!) was a major part of the appeal. Likewise, there are countless beat ‘em ups that don’t necessarily have the most memorable characters or deepest gameplay but were like catnip for the kids in arcades who just wanted to get in there and mess around with another player or five and beat the crap out of various people, places, and things.

And of course, the Wii was packed with fantastic multi-player games sporting simple graphics and even simpler play styles that were fun regardless of if you were winning or losing. While “hardcore” games often sniffed in disdain at the Wii, many of these games are still being played today. Wii Sports continues to be a mainstay at assisted living facilities and hospitals, where players stuck inside need a mix of social lubricant and engaging activity to get through the day. And wouldn’t calling your grandpa’s favorite activity with his senior living friend group “Friendslop” feel a little mean-spirited? Have some respect for your elders.

And at the risk of sounding ageist ourselves (this time against the youth), it feels a little like the “Friendslop” term was born from folks who grew up thinking that Fortnite and Valorant were the best games ever made and are just now figuring out that, as wonderful as it can be, it’s maybe not the Citizen Kane of gaming after all. Fortnite is not “high art”. It’s just an engaging, energetic, free-to-play game that you could enjoy off and on with your besties for the rest of your life, just like most other games that fall into the “Friendslop” bucket. 

Recognizing that the toys you played with were less important than you once thought is a natural part of growing up. But maybe it’s even more grown-up to appreciate those playthings for the positive role they had—and maybe still have—in your life. Is that really “slop”?