Grab your favorite flannel and a group of friends because we are diving into Lumberhill. From creators 2BIGo and ARP Games and publisher All in! Games comes a crazy multiplayer game that has you and a group of friends taking on the roles of lumberjacks. But life isn’t simple. While trying to complete tasks, players will have to race against the clock while dealing with a boatload of other issues. But is the mayhem fun? Is it worth jumping into over other multiplayer games? Let’s talk about it!

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Timers, Lumber and Mother Nature

Each level in Lumberhill has a series of timed tasks that need to be completed within the level’s overall time. Instead of telling me what they were in the beginning, they dropped a few at a time. If my friends and I completed the task within the time limit, we got points towards our overall score. If we failed, then the task disappeared and was replaced with a new one. These two basic tasks we came across were cutting down trees and herding animals into the barn.

But it wasn’t as simple as just cutting down trees and chasing animals. Those little buggers never wanted to be herded and we couldn’t precut down trees to make lumber tasks easier later on. But this made the game so much better! Had we hoarded materials and got the animals in the right place, it would have been easier to just sit next to the lumbermill or barn and complete tasks the moment they popped up. Instead, we had to communicate who was taking what and how to deal with mother nature’s wicked side.

The dinosaur zone in Lumberhill.

Mayhem with Friends

When Lumberhill says that things are going to get chaotic – they aren’t lying. The first match I played was with a group of friends and it went as well as you expected. We spent the entire time tripping over each other, cutting down trees, herding sheep and avoid falling off the map to our deaths. And we laughed, cried and screamed our entire way through it! We were having fun and still feeling the pressure of trying to get everything done for that perfect score. Eventually, we would get ourselves sorted out and then the game would throw something new at us.

Those new things came in the form of mother nature’s attitude. Each group of levels had a specific theme and those themes brought different troubles. Sometimes thunderstorms would begin and catch the trees on fire. On the prehistoric maps, I had to worry about dinosaurs swooping in and taking our animals. Even on the Hawaii maps, I needed to watch out for sharks! The only downfall was that after a while, these tasks became rather repetitive when playing for long periods at a time. I can only chop trees and chase animals for so long before I need a break.

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Solo Player Options

Here is where I was most worried about with Lumberhill. It is a multiplayer game geared towards bringing friends together. So what happens when I want to play, but my friends don’t? Normally I would just let the game collect dust until my friends were ready to come back. Thankfully though, Lumberhill offers options for those solo players. Right off the bat, each level scales to the number of players. This means I could go in and play on my own or with another person and not feel overwhelmed because we were shorthanded.

When I didn’t feel like playing by myself, Lumberhill also offered a way to connect with other solo players. I was able to create a lobby or join one. And because they have in-game interactions to let other players know what I was doing, I didn’t need to be in voice chat with them. Of course, things got a bit more chaotic when I couldn’t voice exactly what I would be doing, but that just added to the overall fun. I even grouped up and did some player versus player matches where a random player and I teamed up to try and beat another group’s overall score. Let’s just say there was quite a bit of sabotaging to stay on top.

Forest zone in Lumberhill.

Overall

Lumberhill summary

So how does Lumberhill stake up against other multiplayer party games? Pretty darn well, actually. And it isn’t just the flannel and fun-themed zones that I loved. The chaotic gameplay kept my friends and me on our toes while simultaneously laughing our heads off. Even when my friends didn’t want to play, I could group with others and keep the fun going. And while yes, it does get a bit repetitive in the tasks, it is a game you can put down and pick up without feeling like you are missing out on anything. It makes it perfect for virtual game nights with friends!

Lumberhill is available now for PC through Steam! Check it out and let us know what you think!

 

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Julia Roth
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