How to turn any Soulslike game into a local multiplayer game night

Soulslike games already make the room lean forward. Someone sees the stamina bar empty out. Someone knows the shortcut but says it too late. Someone dies to a basic enemy and suddenly every person on the couch has expert advice.

Most Soulslike nights work best when they follow the campaign's own rhythm. A boss might fall once and stay gone; a shortcut might matter more than a flashy duel. The old setup holds up: one controller, a visible timer, deaths counted honestly, and the whole couch watching to see who can carry the run farther.

Let the route matter

The best turn in a Soulslike night is not always the kill. Sometimes it is the player who opens the shortcut, finds the next checkpoint, survives a nasty room with one heal left, or leaves the next person one doorway deeper than before.

That makes the campaign feel like a relay. The controller keeps moving, the file keeps inching forward, and the couch has more to cheer than one health bar. Track the pieces everyone can see: deaths, time, new checkpoints, shortcuts, enemies cleared, and the farthest place reached.

• Mark new checkpoints, shortcuts, key items, areas reached, or bosses defeated as progress.
• Use the same campaign file when the group wants one shared relay run.
• Use a fresh-start race when everyone should begin from the same state.
• Let big fights be the room's loudest moments while route work still counts.

Use 20-minute turns with a death counter

This is the workhorse format. It does not care whether the next stretch has a boss, a swamp, a shortcut, a dungeon, or one awful knight at the top of a staircase. Everyone gets the same amount of time, and every death matters.

Set a 20-minute timer, pass the controller when time runs out, and record deaths for each player. Lowest deaths wins. If two players tie, the tiebreaker is furthest progress: new checkpoint reached, shortcut opened, area cleared, key item found, or boss defeated.

• Turn length: 20 minutes per player.
• Primary score: fewest deaths.
• Tiebreaker: furthest progress reached during the turn.
• Mercy rule: if someone dies in the first minute, let the group decide whether the timer restarts once.

Try 20-minute enemy-count turns

Enemy-count runs are good when the group wants something more active than watching the death total. They also make ordinary routes matter, because a clean stretch through regular enemies can beat a reckless sprint into a boss room.

Start each player at the same checkpoint when possible, set a 20-minute timer, and count defeated enemies. Highest enemy count wins, with deaths either subtracting points or breaking ties. Keep the math small enough that nobody needs to pause the game to audit it.

• 1 point for each regular enemy defeated.
• Optional bonus: 3 points for a miniboss or major enemy.
• Penalty option: subtract 2 points per death.
• Simple tiebreaker: fewer deaths, then furthest progress.

Run a 1-hour fresh-start race

The cleanest competitive Soulslike night is sometimes a new file. Nobody inherits another player's route, build, upgrades, or mistakes. Everyone starts at the beginning, and the room gets to watch different approaches to the same opening stretch.

Give each player one hour from a fresh save. The winner is whoever gets furthest by the end of the hour. You can judge progress by checkpoints, bosses defeated, areas reached, key items collected, or a group-agreed milestone list.

• Everyone starts from the beginning of the game or the same new-save point.
• Each player gets 1 hour total.
• Furthest progress wins.
• Deaths can be a tiebreaker, but do not make them the main score unless the group wants a harsher night.

Keep the couch involved without adding homework

The best Soulslike house rules are easy to remember while someone is panicking. Give the couch a few useful jobs, but do not turn the night into a rules committee.

One person watches the timer. One person records deaths or enemy counts in Couch Pals. The rest can help with route memory, but limit backseat driving before it becomes louder than the game.

• Timer keeper: calls 5 minutes left and time up.
• Scorekeeper: records deaths, enemies defeated, or progress.
• Navigator: can remind the player of routes, but not command every dodge.
• Table rule: advice is allowed between attempts, not during a fight unless the player asks.

Pick the winner before the first turn

Soulslike sessions get messy when the goal changes after one player has a good run. A fair night needs the win condition written down before the first death.

Keep the winner rule blunt. Lowest deaths over equal timed turns. Highest enemy count over equal timed turns. Furthest progress after a fresh-start race. Those are easy to explain, easy to track, and hard to argue with.

• Death-counter night: lowest deaths wins; progress breaks ties.
• Enemy-count night: highest count wins; deaths break ties or subtract points.
• Fresh-start race: furthest progress wins; deaths break ties.
• Group victory: everyone wins if the couch reaches a target checkpoint before the session ends.

Recommended setups to try

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