DDraceNetwork

I found a curious game on Steam the other day. Completely free, apparently roughly a decade old, and open source to boot. It's called DDraceNetwork, and it's apparently a standalone mod of Teeworlds (which I have heard of briefly, but never played). At first glance, it looked like a speedrunning platformer, and while that's not entirely incorrect, it's more than that. It's really quite unlike anything I've ever played.

Being an open-source game, one can't really draw a line between what's made by the developers and what's made by the community, since everything's kind of made by the community. As such, there are better and worse maps and servers and I only tried few of them, but I feel my experiences are worthwhile nontheless.
Entering the game, you're greeted by some customization options, but mostly a server browser. Entering a server, there's probably already a map underway - you join halfway. You're given a double jump, a grappling hook, and probably some weapons. The weapons might strike you as odd in a platformer, because DDnet is not a PvP game. Quite the opposite really - most maps partially or fully require the help of at least one more player to complete them. All players have full collision with you, your weapons have various effects on them, generally shoving them in some direction to help move, and most importantly, you can grapple not only walls, but each other. There are multiple mechanics, tools, and building blocks for the world, and many many more clever ways to combine all these. So much so that much of the game is learning and perfecting using these few things you are given to their absolute limits. And some people have been doing this for almost 10 years, making them extremely good at the game.

Upon first entering the game, without reading up on what it was of course, I joined a server of about 50 people. After the initial bewilderment that my weapons were in fact not doing damage, and nobody was shooting me to stop me from completing the track, I discovered the grappling hook and was on my way. For about 3 seconds. I had fallen into a transparent black block and found myself unable to make any further actions. I was amazed that people were spending their time pulling me out time and again, and some even tried to not only complete the obstacle, but juggle me through it as well. "How kind of them towards newbies", I thought, as someone whose skills were beyond my understanding grappling hook flung me up to them before booting me over a wall with a hammer and then rushing past me. But boy, was I about to learn that this was the norm here.
The map was huge, and despite the first obstacle being completable solo, the second one obviously was not. I saw a few people ahead completing it and soon found myself doing the same with a stranger. It just worked, as I leapt into the immobilizing darkness, knowing the one on the other side would pull me across. They did, and then ran off to complete the next obstacle, as it was my turn to help the next person coming. It was a big, amazing, and admittedly quite wonky and inefficient clockwork, but it worked! Obstacle after obstacle we completed, with new and old faces alike helping each other pass, and after an hour, the map was complete.

The other maps followed suit similarly, but often requried some different tricks to get through them. Still, after a couple more, I felt tired of it. The novelty of such a tightly co-dependent co-op experience had worn off, and what was left was the platforming challenges to overcome. Admittedly, it didn't feel that rewarding to have someone pull you across an obstacle without you doing anything, but it also didn't feel very fun trying to get people across who were even less skilled than me. Combine with the much repeated fact that precision platformers aren't my cup of tea, and it's clear why I soon quit the game.
Still, I would recommend you try this free gem. At least complete one of those hour-long levels with a bunch of other people to really experience what true teamwork feels like. This isn't your Counter-Strike or League level teamwork - this is advanced, and the experience alone is worth it. If after that hour you feel like you don't like the game, that's fine, but I believe you'll be richer as a person for playing.