Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 78 | 13 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 91% | 85 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 2 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 6 reviews sampled · 5 total reviews in window · weighted 3.2 up / 0 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (26)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 85
“Heave Ho is a quirky little platformer to play on your own that really shines when you take on multiplayer mode.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Heave Ho doesn't quite reach the lofty heights of Snipperclips, but it's still one of the best couch co-op titles to hit the Switch. ”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The opportunities for creative puzzle-solving few and far between, but it's fine for low-stakes couch co-op action.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“While having played so many indie games on the Switch is interesting and exposes you to all sorts of takes on multiple genres one admitted downside is that it can also make you a bit jaded...”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Heave Ho is an insane party game that ramps up the craziness to the maximum.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Before we knew it, we had been playing for four hours, laughing so hard I fell off my couch on several instances. It is the perfect game to pull out during a friendly get together or party, with a control scheme that anybody can wrap their head around and shenanigans that will cause just about any group to laugh until they cry. If you enjoy local multiplayer games, you owe it to yourself to give Heave Ho a try.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“...a low-stress, easy to pick-up game and a perfect backdrop for a wild Friday night with friends”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Heave Ho is a game that both destroys and strengthens friendships and you’d be remiss to not include it in your game night line-up.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Heave Ho is the life of the party: wild and magnetic with a few surprises up its sleeve. Play it on your own, however, and it's not quite as much fun to hang with.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Friends, pizzas, Heave Ho and I are the assurance of an evening of great quality. Be careful, however, in addition to tension in your fingers, your ribs, your ears, your voice, could suffer the crazy control of these heads to arms, between laughter and hilarious confusion, for the final, also a moral: only we go more quickly, to many we go further (and died of laughter).”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Needless to say, if you like local co-op games and own either a Nintendo Switch or a PC, Heave Ho should be considered absolutely essential. It really is one of the best local co-op games available.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“In Heave Ho, players will have to work together, like legless trapeze artists, to fling themselves to the flag. And they'll surely have fun doing it.”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
Nintendo Life
VGChartz
Nindie Spotlight
Cubed3
NintendoWorldReport
Checkpoint Gaming
MonsterVine
TheSixthAxis
Gameblog
GameSpew
Screen Rant…and 14 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Patch Note 1.6Mar 19, 2020
- Patch Note 1.5Jan 22, 2020
- Patch Note 1.4Oct 23, 2019
- Patch Note 1.3Oct 8, 2019
- Patch Note 1.2Sep 16, 2019
- Patch Note 1.1Sep 10, 2019