I’ve been following Slam Bolt Scrappers closely this year, having first played it in a hallway at GDC, then in the glowing light of Sony’s booth at E3 and just now in Fire Hose Games’ own booth on the PAX show floor. Each time I’ve played the game a single thing has remained consistent: pure fun.

This time around, there were several additions to the game that hadn’t been shown before. First up were power-ups. While the top of the screen is still populated with multicolored beasts you need to pummel in order to gather more building blocks, there are now golden beasts that give power-ups. You can get the Comet, which will give you a powerful dash attack, the Shield, which will make you invincible, and the Thief, which allows players to pull blocks out of their opponents base in order to steal them. The bigger the chunk they’re attempting to steal, the longer it takes to pull it out. And while you’re carefully prying your goods from the other team, you’re completely unprotected and can be easily beaten up. But to steal a hefty block is sure going to be something to swing power in favor of the thieving team. Eitan Glinert, head of Fire Hose Games, also mentioned that they are toying with a “Hulk” style power-up in which you grow huge and green and can pound on your opponents base with your bare hands. This one is still up for discussion.

One of the new modes we tried out today was that of the cooperative campaign. This mode can be played with 1 to 4 players, and each level is a little different. Our first exposure was to a boss fight against an enormous robot that attacked us with lasers, threw snow drifts on our tower, and altogether tried to kill us. The fight involved both building a structurally sound base with large weapons to attack, as well as turning off the boss’ shield, which was designated by a giant red contraption in his chest. With a combination of deactivating the boss’ shield, clearing snow from our tower, and building clever attacks. We were victorious in destroying the boss. But it was a frantic and fun battle, much different than the versus mode we’d seen in the past.

The other level we tried out took place inside of a volcano, with our team controlling two towers that were placed on a weighted scale. Put too many blocks on one side and it dips into hot lava, killing yourself. We were surrounded by two AI-controlled towers and giant flying hens with sword-wielding riders trying to kill us. It was a lot to balance, but hectic fun with the local co-op. After taking down the challenge on normal, we tried out the mode’s highest difficulty called “Snowball’s Chance” which not only was a play on the popular “not a chance” phrase, but also added, indeed, snowballs to the level. So we had to clear snow, battle off enemies, balance our towers, and altogether stay alive. And we did. It was chaos, but it was that enjoyable chaos that makes you want to try all over again once it’s done.

The game is going to release with four main characters, two beefy builder-types and two scrawnier characters, one being a female. Through gameplay you’ll be able to unlock more as you go. Since the developers know that some characters will never touch the campaign, like many Smash Bros. players, all elements of the game will be unlockable in battle mode.

The game also features some hilarious quirks, such as the option to turn on “beverage mode.” This mode you can play with one hand while you cradle your beverage of choice in the opposite hand. It’s a great way to take on chaos while you’re quenching your thirst. All-in, the game’s growth continues to be exciting and it’s scheduled to hit PSN early next year. They haven’t revealed how many levels will fall into the campaign, but we should be hearing more soon.

For now, to keep you excited, here’s the latest gameplay trailer: