When comparing Don't Starve Together vs BattleBlock Theater, the Slant community recommends BattleBlock Theater for most people. In the question“What are the best Online Co-Op games on Steam?” BattleBlock Theater is ranked 3rd while Don't Starve Together is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose BattleBlock Theater is:
There is a modified co-op campaign that requires players to coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes it a fun couch co-op game due to the importance of communication (as well as how fun it is to grief your teammate in person).
Specs
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Pros
Pro Couch co-op makes the game even more fun as you all learn together
Getting together a group of friends to play Don't Starve Together adds a lot of enjoyment to the game. If you're all first timers, learning how to survive as you go along is amazing, since you get to share in the learning process and the experience together. As you craft and build your own forts, farms, and more, you find more and more ways to learn how to survive, making things less daunting than if you play the game alone.
Pro Pleasantly twisted sense of humor
There's a dark sense of humor that pervades the game. There's a humanoid spider boy who can grow a beard of silk. There's a living chest called Chester who acts like a dog. There's also silly info text, werepigs, trees that retaliate when you chop them, and many other things.
Pro Deep and varied crafting system
The crafting system has a lot of depth to it and there are tons of items to make. Starting with the recipe for a torch and a pickaxe. You can also make weapons, armor, and various laboratories that enable new technologies. Building new stuff and advancing is the key to surviving the coming winter.
Pro Tweak the gameplay settings to fit any skill level
The game gives you a lot of customization options. You can change the length of day, weather patterns, and spawn rates for resources and monsters. This allows you to adjust the difficulty level to suit your skill and preference.
Pro Unique mix of 2D and 3D art offers a change of pace
Don't Starve Together has a very unique art style that places two-dimensional characters in a three-dimensional setting. Even the waves in the sea look like cardboard cutouts used in a puppet show. This look and feel to the graphics is a nice change of pace from ultra-realistic games.
Pro The further you get, the more you will learn
Starting out you'll only be gathering twigs and grass, maybe chop a tree. You'll also gather basic food such as mushrooms and carrots. Then you'll start building your encampment, learning how the day/night cycle and the seasons work. Later on you'll start building massive farms, refridgerators, fortifications, and many other things. All of this is done for the sake of not starving.
As the game progresses, you will encounter mechanics such as drought, forest fires, the rainy, season, the cold and many others. To counteract these you need to plan properly and will probably die the first time around. Once your knowledge reaches a certain level, you'll be able to survive indefinitely.
Pro Great replay value
Don't Starve Together has randomly generated (customizable) levels, unlockable characters, a story mode, and you can also play it with up to 5 other friends. All of this helps keep subsequent attempts/playthroughs fresh.
Pro Co-op adds a completely new element of coordination to the gameplay
There is a modified co-op campaign that requires players to coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes it a fun couch co-op game due to the importance of communication (as well as how fun it is to grief your teammate in person).
Pro Thought-out presentation that balances style and humor well
The witty humor, enjoyable songs and cutscenes all demonstrate the high level of care and consideration that went into BattleBlock’s design. These things all add up to a game with polish that still stays unique enough to stand out.
Pro Good mix of co-op and PvP multiplayer modes keeps the game enticing
The 2-player co-op campaign is very similar to the single-player one, except that it requires cooperation between the two players. It can be played online or with 2 local players. There is also an arena mode with competitive levels that supports up to 4 players (local, online, or mixed). This gives a good variety of online and local play modes, which should keep the game fresh.
Pro No difficulty spikes, the game is very well balanced
The difficulty curve for Battle Block Theater is so evenly programmed that the player will barely notice things are getting harder. It really does an impressive job of training the player to handle any challenge the game throws at them.
Pro Endless replayability through the level editor and its easily sharable creations
The game has a built-in level editor, and levels (or level packs) can be shared through the Steam Workshop. This makes for a situation where there is an inordinate amount of content for the player to try out, or even create themselves.
Pro Sort of funny but not too much
Light hearted gaming that you can play with your significant other.
Cons
Con Steep learning curve
The first few attempts will last only a couple of in-game days. This is because the game has various punishing mechanics, which you can only learn through trial and error. One such mechanic is the darkness, which will kill you in under a minute if you don't have a light source. Followed by packs of hounds that randomly spawn to kill you. In most cases preparation is key and you can't prepare without knowledge.
Con Can get repetitive
You'll have to repeatedly collect a lot of basic materials like twigs, grass, and ore. This is because most of the starting recipes share the same required materials. Even later in the game you'll be doing many repetitive tasks. Gathering enough firewood for winter is especially bad because you have to chop down dozens of trees. All of this is made worse by the limited inventory space, causing you to make the same trip multiple times.
Con Competitive play feels lackluster
Competitive play is not as enjoyable as the co-op modes due to stiff combat. The mechanics of this wear out pretty quickly.