When game developers and childhood friends Rizal and Kashif first founded 1+1 Studios, they wanted to create a co-op experience inspired by the splitscreen couch gaming that defined their early years of friendship. The result was Duo Quest, a two-player deckbuilding game that puts your friendship to the test.
In the game, you and your co-op partner are Pal-adins, two heroes who embark on a journey to defeat The Demon King who has laid waste to the lands with his evil invention, The Bondbreaker. In order to restore peace to your world, the two of you must learn to wield the Duo Gauntlets, a powerful weapon whose strength is tied to its users’ bond.
We had the pleasure of joining a closed playtest of the game in conjunction with Southeast Asia Games Onward 2025, which showcased the first area and two playable characters.
A unique blend of turn-based combat and social gameplay, Duo Quest is as much about strategic card gameplay as it is about knowing your partner inside and out. Each battle begins with a straightforward combat section, where you and your partner can play cards to deal damage or guard against enemy attacks.
Once you deal enough damage, the enemy harnesses the power of The Bondbreaker to interrupt combat with a series of quirky, intimate, and sometimes revealing questions. From ‘what is your partners secret shame playlist?’ to ‘who is most likely to eat something off the floor?’, the key is to give the same answer as your partner in order to unleash a powerful combo attack.
But beware, you only have a few rounds to deal enough damage or risk letting the monster ask you a question. If you answer incorrectly on the monster’s question, you take damage instead. Considering you only have one health bar from start to finish, and very few opportunities to heal throughout your run, this is probably the point in the game when you start reevaluating your friendships.
Like most social games about predicting behaviour, Duo Quest is less about knowing the right answer and more about predicting which answer your friend will pick. In that sense, we found that the game progresses smoother if you play it with a close friend, but there is a certain novelty to playing it with friends you want to get to know better.
Luckily for its players, the game features a roguelite system that grows with you. Not only do you unlock new cards and permanent upgrades (such as health and card levels) the more you play, you also get to know your co-op partner better over time. Answered wrongly on a question about your partner’s personal style? Maybe it’ll give you an edge on the next question about fashion.
Even in our short 2-3 hour playthrough between close friends, we uncovered plenty of new ‘lore’ and stories that have never been told before; simply because it never came up in conversation until a video game decided to ask us about it. And if you’re not afraid of a little confrontation, the game is also a fun way to find out what your friend really thinks about you.
Having played my fair share of co-op games, it’s rare to find a game that immediately feels like a different experience depending on who you’re playing it with. We can probably credit this to Duo Quest’s tabletop roots, the board game version featuring more than 16 question themes and supporting 2-4 players.
Meanwhile, the digital version on Steam adds a different level of accessibility, as you can activate Steam Remote Play to share one copy of the game with a friend even if they’re halfway across the globe. Even in these early stages, the Steam Remote Play functioned smoothly for us even with both players remotely sharing one keyboard.
As a wise equine scholar once said, friendship is magic — and Duo Quest manages to harness that into a highly social and replayable experience that will pull you out of your bubble without even realising it. We had a great time with this early build, and we’re looking forward to trying all the new characters and enemies in the final release.
Until then, don’t forget to wishlist and support this Malaysian-made game on Steam.
