An eight-player horror friendslop replaced monsters with a tornado and it might actually be a good game

Friendslop is probably the most dominant horror genre at the moment, and even though it's not officially even a "genre," all of us immediately know what kind of game is in question once the word is used. And, while most of the games in this loose amalgamation are rather similar, this upcoming eight-player title might finally break the mold. Enter: Funnel Runners, an eight-player co-op horror title where you and your friends are tasked with finding ways to survive an incoming tornado. You have limited time and resources and must figure out how to escape the thing, lest you be swept up into the clouds, never to be seen again. Or maybe found in a field somewhere out of state. Either way, you're screwed if that tornado comes in too close. You can play it solo or with up to seven others. It is marked by significant destructibility, an interesting art style, and a high-stakes concept that does not require monsters or dark rooms to be effectively scary. The stress and tension of this incoming doom is enough to keep you on edge and is, for once, not broken by the presence of other players, as opposed to many of the other games in the friendslop sphere. The environment is your worst enemy in Funnel Runners. Image via Supernova Studios Horror is often described as a solitary experience, one almost exclusively meant to be played alone, as having anyone watching your back takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. Having to keep an extra eye open is rather horrifying in most cases, and with others to keep them open for you, it's clear why things just aren't as scary. But with this huge tornado bent on destroying you and the town you're in, no amount of players is going to make the experience any less terrifying. Sure, more hands mean more work can be done, and that itself would make the pressure lower, but that is in no way comparable to games like Lethal Company becoming comedy shows once there's more than one or two people in a match. The same goes for those titles that actually do lean into comedy rather heavily, like R.E.P.O. Funnel Runners has the chance to really blow more favorable winds towards co-op horror and proximity voice friendslop as a whole, and I sincerely hope the game succeeds in bringing a new twist(er) on the genre, potentially spawning a subgroup of similar games down the line. It comes out in the second quarter of 2026, with the exact date yet to be revealed. The post An eight-player horror friendslop replaced monsters with a tornado and it might actually be a good game appeared first on Destructoid.

Mar 15, 2026 - 03:45

An eight-player horror friendslop replaced monsters with a tornado and it might actually be a good game

Friendslop is probably the most dominant horror genre at the moment, and even though it's not officially even a "genre," all of us immediately know what kind of game is in question once the word is used. And, while most of the games in this loose amalgamation are rather similar, this upcoming eight-player title might finally break the mold.

Enter: Funnel Runners, an eight-player co-op horror title where you and your friends are tasked with finding ways to survive an incoming tornado. You have limited time and resources and must figure out how to escape the thing, lest you be swept up into the clouds, never to be seen again. Or maybe found in a field somewhere out of state. Either way, you're screwed if that tornado comes in too close.

You can play it solo or with up to seven others. It is marked by significant destructibility, an interesting art style, and a high-stakes concept that does not require monsters or dark rooms to be effectively scary. The stress and tension of this incoming doom is enough to keep you on edge and is, for once, not broken by the presence of other players, as opposed to many of the other games in the friendslop sphere.

The environment is your worst enemy in Funnel Runners. Image via Supernova Studios Horror is often described as a solitary experience, one almost exclusively meant to be played alone, as having anyone watching your back takes a lot of weight off your shoulders. Having to keep an extra eye open is rather horrifying in most cases, and with others to keep them open for you, it's clear why things just aren't as scary.

But with this huge tornado bent on destroying you and the town you're in, no amount of players is going to make the experience any less terrifying. Sure, more hands mean more work can be done, and that itself would make the pressure lower, but that is in no way comparable to games like Lethal Company becoming comedy shows once there's more than one or two people in a match. The same goes for those titles that actually do lean into comedy rather heavily, like R.E.P.O.

Funnel Runners has the chance to really blow more favorable winds towards co-op horror and proximity voice friendslop as a whole, and I sincerely hope the game succeeds in bringing a new twist(er) on the genre, potentially spawning a subgroup of similar games down the line.

It comes out in the second quarter of 2026, with the exact date yet to be revealed.

The post An eight-player horror friendslop replaced monsters with a tornado and it might actually be a good game appeared first on Destructoid.

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