Super Chicken Catchers is a colorful party-game created by White Smoke Games, an indie studio based in France. The game was released on Steam Early Access here in April 2019 and already plays amazingly well with regular updates. The team also puts together actual tournaments online for the community on specific dates. You can check out the schedule and sign-up here and become the Supreme Chicken Catcher.

About Super Chick Catchers

Welcome to the wackiest tournament! In this crazy action coop game, a team of two players compete against another one. In each team, one player is the mount, the other is the rider. Both have very different yet complementary abilities. To win they will need to catch the chicken and run away from the other team in order to score points and become the Super Chicken Catchers!

Play on a couch with your friends or online to show off your skills. Split, regroup and pass the chicken at the right time, use your environment to flee, chase or fight your opponents and try to master the duo complementary abilities!

Our Early Access Review

Firstly, we’d like to thank White Smoke Games for providing us with Steam codes to play this adorably quirky game. We wish them all great success and truly can’t wait to get our next fix and catch those darn chickens.

Learning the Ropes

The tutorial at the beginning of the game is quite detailed in teaching you how to be both the rider and the mount. However, it became obvious that I forgot the either-or concept of character selection and for some reason panicked and forgot how to use all the buttons during my first match. I just started mashing buttons which is definitely not the way to win and requires a little refined practice. Although, I was later told that the buttons you need to press are helpfully displayed on the screen at all times, if you dare take your eyes off the prize for one second.

Available Modes

Right now you have the option to either play local split-screen with four friends (no more, no less) or online with four friends. It would be really great if the two were mixable but perhaps this will eventually be added at a later date. When playing online, you can create a Custom Game or a Quick Game. Quick Games are great because you will earn points and therefore coins to be able to purchase items to customize your character in the Lockers menu.

Choosing Your Strategy

When choosing whether you want to be the rider or the mount, you must consider their pros and their cons. Specifically, the rider is very slow on ground when running but can jump, glide, throw bombs, and really can reach the most amazing heights. Alternatively, the mount can’t jump but can charge at the enemy and the chicken, run really fast, and pull-off some really awesome drifting moves. I personally was in love with the rider because I felt so free just flying around all over the place. Also, the rider looks like a Minion and that’s amazing.

Who’s Holding the Chicken?

When you’re playing together with the rider on the mount, which you are free to decide to do at any point, you can basically combine both of their unique abilities. For example, while my piggy partner was running away, I was throwing bombs at the opposition and occasionally flew us into the air when needed. Once the chicken is caught however, whoever is holding it won’t be able to perform one of their abilities. Meaning, if the mount is holding the chicken then it can no longer charge. If the rider is holding the chicken, then they can no longer fly. Feel free to pass the chicken around between the two of you whenever possible.

You really do have to think things through quickly and communicate with each other! Even though the game could be so fast-paced, I found it very easy to know where my partner was at all times. Not only are you both the same color, but there’s also a clear line that links both of you together in case you lose each other. Or if you want to corner the enemy for example. You also know which direction the chicken has gone and who is currently in possession of it with the glowing feather symbol.

How to Win

This depends on what type of game you decide to play. A new goal has been recently added to the latest patch which has a different objective. In the regular game, you need to flee from your opponents for as long as possible and hold on to that chicken. A meter bar at the top of the screen will start to fill the longer you have the chicken and you must reach 100% to win the match. The percentages will not drop even if your opponent takes the chicken away from you so it can make for a very intense game.

The new game is about catching the chickens and then bringing them to your flag location to score points! Earn enough points and you win that round. Furthermore, in this new update, there’s a new magenta chicken (as opposed to green), which will allow you to score five points at once! It only appears a few times per game so you must keep an eye out for it. What I found really interesting was that if there’s a certain team that is ahead, their flag location will start to change places so as to make it more difficult and give the other team a fighting chance.

The Arenas

There are a few arenas to choose from in the game and all of them offer very unique features. I absolutely love how colorful and detailed they are and try to not spend too much time gawking at the scenery while playing. The clever design of each arena offers tons of replayability and ways to change up your strategies. One area had moving window panes that you can choose to fly through, another had targets you can bomb for shortcuts, and another had the occasional burst of lava that could get in your way. I loved them all!

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We highly recommend this game to anyone that wants to have a good time and a good laugh. Below we have 15 minutes of gameplay for your viewing pleasure of a couple of matches I participated in. I’m the blue rider most of the time and I win once! The last game I was orange which threw me for a loop. Just goes to show how this game can keep you on your toes. Also, please excuse my frequent and fervent clicking of the bombs (they need to refresh). Looking for other players to join you online? Check out the Super Chicken Catchers’ Discord right here. If the video hasn’t convinced you yet to try out this game, keep reading below for a nice surprise we have in store.

Giveaway – Win Steam Codes

If all this chicken madness seems like fun to you, and you’d like to give Super Chicken Catchers a try, you can win your very own Steam key right now! We have three keys to give away to give some of our followers a chance to try this hilariously hectic game. Simply comment on the post below that you would like throw your name in the hat, and you will have done exactly that. Two weeks from today, on Friday, July 12th, we will choose three separate winners, each to receive one code! Good luck to all, and we can’t wait to play Super Chicken Catchers with you!

Update: Due to a chaotic E3 2019, we have extended our giveaway to a new date! See the edit above.