Approximately up co-op guide

How co-op works

Approximately Up co-op is an online co-op multiplayer experience at its core. You and your crew share one fully modular spaceship, and the whole loop is about bolting together whatever holds long enough to fly: giant thrusters, annoying cables, and everything in between. A healthy amount of arguing over thruster placement is part of the session.

Build, crash, rebuild! Explore new planets in co-op multiplayer with your fully modular spaceship made from whatever bolts together long enough to fly.

One player launches the game and hosts the session through Steam Online Co-op, and the rest of the crew joins that ship. The Steam listing flags Approximately Up as Multi-player and Online Co-op, and it does not list a local split-screen option, so plan on each player using their own PC and a stable connection to the host.

• Shared building
  • modules, thrusters, and cables are placed in real time by whoever grabs them first. A crew that calls out parts before bolting them on wastes far less time.
• Shared missions
  • the crew works the same objective list, so progress made during a session counts for the run, not just for the host.
• Steam-based setup
  • invites and connection flow through Steam's online systems, so keep your friends list open and decide who hosts before launch.

Player count and drop-in

Approximately Up supports both Single-player and Multi-player, with co-op listed as Online Co-op. The practical result is a crew-based session rather than a matchmade lobby. You decide who is in the crew, and the player whose save holds the progress acts as the host for that playthrough.

Because the game is flagged Save Anytime, a session is not a single-sitting commitment. If a crewmate has to leave, the host can save the current build and pick things up later. The crew's ship and mission state live in the host's save, so players joining a later session start from that save's position, not from an empty hangar.

• Host matters
  • use the player with the most progress as the session host so the group's build stays intact.
• Drop-out friendly
  • with Save Anytime, an interrupted run can be resumed instead of restarted from scratch.
• Steam Cloud backup
  • the host's save syncs through Steam Cloud, protecting the crew's work between sessions and PCs.

Progression and saves

Co-op progression in Approximately Up is built around shared objectives that push the crew forward: discover new planets, complete wild missions, and haul unusual cargo between worlds. Achievements in the game confirm the scale of those goals, from transporting a sheep from Earth to the Moon alive to reaching a speed of 1,000,000 m/s.

With Save Anytime and Steam Cloud in the feature list, your group's progress is durable. The ship build, discovered planets, and completed objectives carry between sessions, and the host can close the game knowing the crew's work is saved.

• Ship persistence
  • the modular hull stays exactly how the crew left it, bolts, cables, and all.
• Planet progression
  • discovered locations stay discovered, so exploration can resume where it stopped.
• Achievements track per player
  • the game's
  22 Steam Achievements unlock on each player's own profile, whether they hosted the session or joined as a crewmate.
• Workshop support
  • the listing includes Steam Workshop, so crews can also pull community content into their runs.

Tips

The best crew in Approximately Up is the one that talks before it bolts. Co-op sessions run smoother with a little planning, and the game's chaos is more fun when everyone knows the plan.

• Pick one host for the campaign
  • keep the player with the deepest save as the host so nobody loses their work.
• Split the deck
  • one pilot, one builder, and one mission reader covers most sessions and cuts down on "I thought you were flying".
• Call Time Rewind early- achievements like No Rewinds! and Golden Thruster require completing objectives without Time Rewind, so tell your crew before the mission, not mid-crash.
• Chase speed goals together
  • pushing toward
  1,000,000 m/s for the Need For Thrust achievement is a great group project, but check that the hull survives the burn.
• End sessions in a safe state
  • since saving is available anytime, the host can close out when the ship is stable, which keeps the next session stress-free.