Rain World: Downpour will bring co-op, mod support and new slugcats in early 2023

Rain World's wholesome, physicsy slugcat GIFs were breadcrumbs which eventually led to one of this century's most brutal games. Now it's getting DLC. Rain World: Downpour is arriving in January 2023 and will add five new slugcats, hundreds of new rooms to survive, official mod support, and co-op. Check the announcement trailer below.

Each of Downpour's five new playable slugcats will have their own abilities and storyline, and there are ten new regions to explore which each have their own new enemies, traps and weather to deal with. There are also two new modes: Challenge mode, featuring handmade arenas of escalating difficulty; and Safari mode, through which you can revisit past areas as an observer or as other, non-slugcat creatures.

Downpour also adds co-op for the first time, in which up to four players can play locally and explore "all base-game campaigns" together. Finally, Downpour brings Steam Workshop support and a built-in content manager "to fully allow players to control how they truly want to explore Rain World."

I was pumped for Rain World all the way up to the moment when I played it. At that point, I realised its difficulty and its obfuscation meant that it would never be for me. Brendan had a more favourable though complicated reaction in his Rain World review, finding much to love under its prickly surface.

I am once again pumped for Rain World: Downpour. If you loved Rain World, it sounds like more of what you loved; and if you didn't love Rain World, it sounds as if it's offering more ways to play. I absolutely look forward to re-visiting its deadly ecosystem either with friends in co-op or with mods.

Rain World: Downpour is due to launch in January 2023. You'll find more screenshots and details over on Steam.