Over the Radio’s First Trailer Dials In a Trust-Driven Couch Co‑Op Flight Adventure

A cozy-looking co-op that’s actually a communication stress test-in a good way

The debut trailer for Over the Radio caught my attention because it revives one of co-op’s most chaotic, most human tricks: separating what each player knows and making conversation the only bridge. Think Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, but instead of defusing a bomb, you’re keeping a plane in the air while your friend rustles through a real paper map. It’s asymmetrical, local-only co-op, and it’s heading to Tokyo Game Show 2025 under the Selected Indie 80 banner with a playable demo and some swag for test pilots.

Key Takeaways

• Two-player, local-only co-op where one is the Pilot (on-screen) and the other is the Navigator (paper map), communicating to reach destinations.
• Analog meets digital: the map is physical (optional), and neither player can see the other’s information.
• Playable demo at Tokyo Game Show 2025 (Selected Indie 80), booth E-26, with exclusive giveaways for attendees who try it.
• Planned 2026 release on Steam (Windows), with features like replays, multiple aircraft, and varied stages/time-of-day.

Breaking Down the Announcement

Over the Radio is a two-seat flight adventure where the Pilot flies continuously over an open, stylized landscape while the Navigator uses a dedicated paper map to call bearings, landmarks, and course corrections. The plane never stops, so dead air is dangerous. The trailer highlights the back-and-forth chatter, the tactile map component, a replay system to review how your flight went off the rails (or miraculously didn’t), and a sampling of aircraft and stages that shift terrain and time of day.

The game’s showing at TGS 2025 matters: Selected Indie 80 is a curated slice of the show floor, and this is exactly the sort of idea you understand best in person-hands on yoke, friend on paper. The booth is E-26, and if you jump in for a session you’ll walk away with stickers and other goodies. The studio, Polygoose, is targeting a 2026 launch on Steam for Windows, which gives them time to iterate on the feel, the clarity of the map symbology, and the replay/learning loop.

The Real Story: Communication-First Co‑Op Is Having a Moment

This sits in that sweet spot with Spaceteam, Operation: Tango, The Past Within, and of course Keep Talking-games that engineer misunderstandings and force teams to develop a shared language. What’s different here is the tempo: the aircraft is always moving, so instructions can’t become essays. It’s “left bank to the river bend, then climb to clear the ridge—now” energy, not leisurely puzzling. The dev says the concept draws from pilot training, and you can feel that in the design goal: not reflex mastery, but trust and concise callouts.

That’s why the analog map matters. A physical object asks one player to think like a navigator: orient the map to the world, find known points, translate them into simple commands. Meanwhile, the Pilot interprets those commands against the game’s visual cues. When it clicks, those “we did it” highs are the point. When it doesn’t, you get the kind of blame-tinged laughter that powers couch co-op legends—and breakups. The cozy art direction suggests they want this to feel approachable, but make no mistake: good comms are the real skill check.

Open Questions That Will Make or Break It

• Local-only in 2026: bold or limiting? The pitch is unapologetically couch co-op. That rules for living room sessions and conventions, but many duos play remotely now. If full online isn’t planned, Steam’s Remote Play Together could still make it workable—provided the map has a printable or digital counterpart. The press materials call the paper map “optional,” which is promising.
• Procedural breadth vs. handcrafted clarity: the team mentions a “boundless” landscape alongside “diverse stages.” That could mean long procedural routes feeding into bespoke challenge slices. The balance matters—navigating by vibe is fun until every river looks like every other river.
• Onboarding and accessibility: can non-pilot folks read the map at a glance? Are landmarks colorblind-friendly? Is there a practice mode that lets each role learn without sinking the other? The replay feature is a smart idea—streamers and teachers will absolutely use it—but I hope it’s paired with tools to actually improve.
• Session length and stakes: continuous flight implies timer pressure. Is there a forgiving arc for casual pairs, or is the design tuned for hardened Overcooked veterans? Difficulty bands and checkpointing will decide whether couples keep playing after the first argument.

Why This Matters Right Now

We’re in a mini‑renaissance for asymmetrical co-op that values conversation over inputs. After It Takes Two reminded everyone how potent shared-space experiences can be, indies have doubled down on ideas that make players actually talk. Over the Radio leans into that trend with a tactile twist. If Polygoose nails the readability of the world and makes the map system accessible—ideally with easy at-home options—this could be a go-to date night/party game and a streaming darling.

Heading to TGS? Here’s How to Get the Best Read

• Go in pairs and swap roles mid-session. You’ll quickly learn which side of the cockpit you prefer.
• As Navigator, keep callouts short: “River fork, take right; climb to clear the ridge” beats rambling.
• Ask the devs about online options, printable/digital maps, and difficulty scaling. Those answers will tell you how sticky this will be post-launch.
• Booth E-26, Selected Indie 80: try the demo, grab the stickers, and check the replay to see where your comms broke down.

TL;DR

Over the Radio turns flight into a trust exercise: one player flies, the other steers by paper map, and you survive by talking. It’s playable at TGS 2025 with a 2026 Steam launch planned. If Polygoose solves remote-friendly play and keeps the navigation clear, this could be the next couch co-op argument you’ll happily have.