Base-building ARPG The Riftbreaker's co-op update gives it a fresh lease on life

The Riftbreaker wasn't originally supposed to be a co-op game. Its slick fusion of ARPG combat and Factorio-brand base building feels perfectly suited to work with friends, however, and so the feature quickly became an incredibly popular request from players. Now, almost four years after the indie game first launched, developer Exor Studios has delivered exactly that as part of a major 2.0 update. That's not all, however; there's a massive campaign expansion and plenty of gameplay improvements included as well, and to top it all off you can snag the game at less than half price on Steam.

While it's a lot of fun solo, the potential for The Riftbreaker to become one of the best co-op games of its type was clear. Actually making it happen in a game built initially as a single-player experience was no mean feat, but Exor has made it a reality. Combined with the aforementioned Steam sale, the results have been immediate and obvious. After having barely ever broken 4,000 concurrent players since its initial launch peak, this weekend has shot the indie game up to nearly 19,000 active users, just a fraction shy of its week-one record.

Four-player co-op is naturally the main draw here. Whether you're a long-time Riftbreaker fan who's been waiting to bring friends on board, or are just on the hunt for something new, the ability to experience the full campaign and survival mode alongside others is a huge addition. No expense has been spared; there's a server browser to link up with players, difficulty scaling, in-game chat, revives, the ability to teleport directly to your teammates, and power boosts that reward you for fighting side by side.

The Riftbreaker 2.0 update also rebalances and expands the main campaign, and Exor says it adds "as much story content as each of our previous world expansions." You'll get involved with megastructures - new, specialized buildings with massive resource and upkeep requirements that will prove tremendously valuable if you've got the planning know-how to run them correctly. There are more gathering and exploration locations, and an increased outpost limit, along with additional endgame foes known as 'omega-strain' creatures that "make the previous battles look like child's play."

Even that is just the start. Weapons have been overhauled and balanced to make more builds viable or introduce new play styles, and loot drops can now earn you gear that's comparable to (or even stronger than) that which you can make via crafting. The research tree has been redesigned and given a new search bar for easy navigation, you're now able to mass-disassemble unwanted items, and the game's performance has been improved to better handle the "truly massive bases and enemy numbers" you'll encounter in 2.0.

The Riftbreaker 2.0 is out now on Steam, and you can get the game at a 55% discount until Monday September 8, meaning you'll pay just $13.49 / £11.24. There's also a demo you can download for free if you want to try it first. This is a colossal update, one that's been years in the making, so it's good to see that it's paying off for Exor Studios.

Whatever it is about The Riftbreaker you love, we've rounded up more of the best building games and the best games like Diablo so you have plenty of options at your disposal.

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