Bare Butt Boxing clenches up for May early access release date

Among the games that caught our eye at PAX West 2022 was an indie party game called Bare Butt Boxing. We're not made of stone here at Shacknews. We saw "butt" and we took ours to the demo station and it turned out to be a wholesome good time. However, the brawler from indie developer Tuatara Games has come a long way since then and has more aspirations for the future still, so Shacknews jumped online and took part in a few sessions of the game's latest version.

For those who may not remember our PAX West 2022 preview, Bare Butt Boxing puts up to six players in a single arena. Players will take on the role of a wacky mascot figure, one that looks like a cross between a Fall Guy bean and one of the blobs from Gang Beasts, only with boxing gloves and an ample sized bottom. The idea is to throw punches at opposing players and send them flying into nearby vortexes for points while avoiding contact themselves. It's a simple premise, but one that has evolved over the past few months.

Since that PAX West build, developer Tuatara Games has been steadily making additions to the game. Online play has been getting a bulk of the team's attention, allowing friends to drop in and out in mid-session. New cosmetics have been added, as has an in-game currency system. Players will earn coins for each match completed and can unlock items at a fairly rapid pace.

The presentation within the game has also received some upgrades. Bare Butt Boxing has been adding Mario Kart-style power-ups to aid players in battle. As of now, there's a flowerpot for a quick melee smash, an electrical field to slow foes down, and a remote control that activates a vacuum across each vortex and sucks down any players standing too close. More power-ups are planned for the future in hopes of making sessions even more chaotic. These can also be helpful for anybody who's near the bottom of the scoreboard, since anyone who successfully knocks out a player from last place can pick up an extra comeback bonus and make up ground fast. Other improvements planned for down the road include combo indicators, taunts, additional animations, and new maps.

As it is now, Bare Butt Boxing is somewhat bare bones, but even as a raw product, it's still a lot of fun. It should be interesting to see how it develops over the course of its time in early access. Bare Butt Boxing is coming to Steam Early Access on May 4. Look for it to fully release on PC and consoles sometime in 2024.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?