Back in 2024, I had the opportunity to work with Rocket Beans on a game that was pure chaos—Backyard Beans. Despite what the name might suggest, it had nothing to do with coffee. Instead, it was a fast-paced, physics-driven multiplayer battle packed with unpredictable movement, environmental hazards, and just the right amount of ridiculousness.

The Core Idea: Physics-Based Multiplayer Mayhem
The goal was simple—create a game that felt competitive yet completely unpredictable. Players could outmaneuver, outsmart, and outplay their opponents using a mix of skill and physics-driven interactions. Backyard Beans was built with a strong party-game vibe, making it easy to pick up but hard to master.

Movement was everything. We scrapped traditional movement for something more dynamic— as seen in this fight with AI and this follow-up duel, where players launch themselves, ricochet off obstacles, and brawl mid-air.

The backyard arenas weren’t just arenas—they were chaotic playgrounds. In this clip, we turned an entire ballpit into a hazard zone. Players would bounce around unpredictably, adding an extra layer of mayhem to every fight.

Of course, there were plenty of weird surprises. Like in this example, where a giant balloon floats in the lobby… or this one, where you attach balloons to yourself and fly around like a human party decoration. Completely unnecessary, but totally worth it.

Since Backyard Beans revolved around real-time physics and multiplayer, networking was one of the biggest challenges. Physics-heavy gameplay meant latency and desync were constant risks.

One of the first successful multiplayer tests can be seen in this clip. We finally had players connected, synced up, and able to bash each other around without things falling apart.

We worked on smooth, networked throwing mechanics too—this video shows early success in syncing thrown objects across clients.

The first online matches were rough, but they worked! Here’s the first proper match, followed by match two and match three. It was messy, glitchy, and exactly the kind of chaos we wanted—once we fixed the bugs.

The ingame Steam invite system was a cool addition, shown in this demo and the early prototype. Getting friends into a game fast was a key goal.

Of course, there were bugs. Plenty of bugs. Here’s a classic, and some earlier ones here and here. Physics + networking = madness.

The highlight of the project? We surprise-released Backyard Beans LIVE on stage at Gamescom 2024. No pre-announcements. No teasers. Just: Boom! It’s out now! The crowd’s reaction was unreal. Players immediately jumped into matches, and this launch compilation captures that wild energy.

The multiplayer mode had players flinging themselves around, throwing objects like in this clip, and punching opponents into the stratosphere as you can see in this one.

We also added guns because… why not? This gameplay shows the wild shootouts, while this one highlights a match ending in a backyard flood for extra mayhem.

There was a ton of UI work involved, and I’m pretty proud of it. The UI design brought together the whole Rocket Beans vibe, with familiar visuals for fans and intuitive controls for new players.

We went all-in on customization, too. This showcase highlights costumes inspired by Rocket Beans characters and shows how wild player avatars could get.

Finally, we wrapped it all up with some fun levels — garden, train, space, a warehouse, and even a haunted mansion. Every map had its own theme and surprises, keeping things fresh for every match.

Backyard Beans was unpredictable, ridiculous, and exactly the kind of chaotic multiplayer game I love making. Get it on Steam