Two-Player Game Lyrics
Michael, JeremyTwo-Player Game
Michael (Spoken):Apocalypse of the damned!
Jeremy:
Level 9!
Both:
The cafitorium!
(Sung)
Find the bad guy, push 'em aside.
Then move on forward with your friend at your side.
It's a two-player game, so when they make an attack,
You know you got a brother gonna have your back.
Then you stay on track, and I remain on course.
If they give you a smack, you gotta use your force.
And if you leave your brother behind, it's lame!
Cause it's an effed up world, and it's a two-player game, hey!
Michael:
Dude you are cooler than a vintage cassette.
It's just that no one else but me thinks that yet.
You're just a nothing in this high school scheme,
But it's no big cause you and I are a team.
We like out of print games, retro skates, got a Pac-Man tattoo.
Nobody here appreciates, but soon we'll be together where they do.
Cause guys like us are cool in college, cool in college, yes I know.
Guys like us are cool in college, rule in college, listen, bro.
High school is hell, but we navigate it well.
Cause what we do, is we make it a two player game!
Both (spoken):
Zombie!
Watch out!
Ah!
Wha-!?
Aww..
Jeremy (sung):
As users we have fought together for years.
Both Nintendo zombies and our popular peers!
Now we're stuck on a level and I wanna move on.
Michael:
Just wait two years where upon,
You'll realize guys like us are cool in college, cool in college, won't be lame.
Jeremy:
Dude I know, I get it-
Both:
Guys like us are cool in college,
Jeremy:
But we're not in college,
Michael:
All the same. High school is wack, but we have each others' back. It's me and you,
Both:
We make it a two player game.
(Spoken)
AH-
OH-
ZOMBIE!
(Jeremy's dad) Hello?
BLOOD!
(Jeremy's dad) Son?
CLAWS!
(Jeremy's dad) JEREMY!
Pause.
Jeremy (sung):
You know that you are my favorite person, that doesn't mean that I can't still dream.
Michael:
Is it really true, I'm your favowite pewson~?
Jeremy:
Yeah, we're never not gonna be a team!
High school is shit, and you gotta help me conquer it.
It's just what we do,
Both:
We make it a two player game!
Find the bad guy, push 'em aside.
Then move on forward with your friend at your side.
It's a two-player game, so when they make an attack,
You know you got a brother gonna have your back.
Then you stay on track, and I remain on course.
If they give you a smack, you gotta use your force.
And if you leave your brother behind, it's lame!
Cause it's an effed up world, and it's a two-player game!
Two player game! Two player game! Hey-ey-ey!
Song Overview
When Two Player Game first hit my earbuds in the summer of 2015, it felt less like a show-tune and more like a basement-LAN anthem, joystick click-clack baked right into the groove. Four years later, its official Broadway cast version dropped on May 3, 2019 and turned that private thrill into a communal scream-along.
Personal Review
Canonically, Two Player Game sits at track 6 of the Be More Chill Broadway album, yet it plays like the score’s secret handshake. The opening sample — “Apocalypse of the Damned, Level Nine!” — cues a chunky, eight-bit guitar riff. Charlie Rosen’s horns then pounce like coin-collect jingles before crashing into Will Roland and George Salazar’s intertwined vocals.
I love how Salazar’s laid-back baritone curls around Roland’s anxious tenor — a co-op run that nails every harmony pickup. The lyrics zing with retro bric-a-brac: vintage cassettes, Pac-Man ink, and out-of-print games that smell faintly of thrift-store cardboard. Each reference fires like a checkpoint, reassuring every off-beat teenager that someone else still treasures their dusty cartridges.
Song Meaning and Annotations
On paper, Two Player Game is a buddy duet: Jeremy and Michael blasting pixelated zombies after school. Beneath the joystick banter, Joe Iconis folds a manifesto on mutual survival. The meter swings between straight-ahead pop-rock and syncopated shoutbacks — breathless, like those nights when pizza grease slicked your controller and you didn’t care.
Historically, the number premiered in Two River Theater’s 2015 concept album, long before Broadway took notice. Streaming carried the track into Billboard’s Cast Album Top 10 by July 2017, a rare feat for a score without a New York production.
The emotional arc starts with comic-book bravado (“Find the bad guy, push him aside!”) and swerves into raw confession — Jeremy admitting Michael is his favorite person. That line always lands like a thumb on a bruise; high-school loyalty is fragile, and the boys know it.
“If you leave your brother behind, it’s lame — ’cause it’s an effed-up world, but it’s a two-player game.”
Iconis weaponises arcade language to critique social hierarchies. “Levels,” “force,” “remain on course” — each gaming verb masks cafeteria warfare. By Act II the lyric returns during “The Play,” now dripping with irony as mind-controlled classmates move in lockstep. Strategy guide turned caution sign.
Verse Highlights
Verse 1
Michael’s compliment — “cooler than a vintage cassette” — flips nostalgia into currency: outdated tech becomes status when shared with the right co-op partner.
Chorus
The chorus punches in unison, snare on every down-beat, echoing arcade button mashes. That brotherhood promise? It clangs like a power-up chime.
Bridge
After a “Pause,” Roland’s voice softens, father knocking off-stage, reality intruding. The 8-bit illusion flickers — adulthood approaching, high score still out of reach.
Annotations
Two Player Game from Be More Chill rockets onto the stage like a co-op speed-run, all jittery 8-bit joy and teenage bravado. Jeremy Heere and Michael Mell hunker down in the glow of an old TV, thumbs flying, while real life hisses outside the bedroom door. The song blurs joystick heroics with high-school survival, proving once again that friendship can be the ultimate cheat code.
Overview
The curtain lifts on an ominous fanfare:
Apocalypse of the Damned!—a playful nod to the “zombie apocalypse” thread sewn through the Be More Chill lyrics. Michael and Jeremy cast themselves as pixelated protagonists battling an undead campus, slyly foreshadowing the on-stage chaos that erupts later in The Play.
Gaming & Brotherhood
At the heart of Two Player Game beats an unshakable pact. Michael hammers it home with:
And if you leave your brother behind, it’s lame / ’Cause it’s an effed-up world / But it’s a two-player game.The promise sounds ironclad—until Jeremy’s SQUIP upgrade hijacks his priorities and the duo splinter before “Michael in the Bathroom.” That looming fracture makes the chorus feel both triumphant and tragically fragile.
Retro References
Michael’s slang is proudly analog. He crowns Jeremy:
Dude, you are cooler than a vintage cassette.A quick primer for Gen-Z ears: cassettes ruled home media from the ’70s through the late ’80s, back when rewinding a mixtape felt like time travel. Lines like
We like out-of-print games / Retro skates.paint the boys as old-school artifacts in a Bluetooth world—happy to lag behind the software update.
The detail fans adore:
Got a Pac-Man tattoo.Actor George Salazar sports the real ink—Pac-Man chomping pills instead of dots—a cheeky wink at the mind-altering SQUIPs that drive the plot.
Losers VS. Zombies
Jeremy sums up their shared scrappy status:
As losers, we have fought together for years / Both Nintendo zombies and our popular peers.The word “losers” multitasks—gaming defeats and social stigma in one breath. Their nemesis Rich even scrawls “boyf” and “riends” on separate backpacks, a taunt that fuses into “boyfriends” when the pals stand side by side. Add zombies—literal and metaphorical—and the stage is set for a joystick-meets-John Hughes showdown.
Frustration & Fourth-Wall Flickers
Jeremy’s brittle patience squeaks through:
Dude, I know, I get it.The line breaks the fourth wall; yes, Michael has bragged about post-high-school coolness before. Fun trivia: creators confirm Michael is “player one,” having taught Jeremy the ropes—a dynamic underscored when Michael leans over to adjust Jeremy’s controller during this lyric.
Mid-song the action freezes on a single word—
Pause.—as Jeremy’s dad barges in. The interruption lets the boys address real-world stakes: the humiliating “bathroom incident,” Rich’s shady Payless tale, and the fear that leveling up might mean leaving your best friend behind.
Mock-Tender Moments
Michael leans into baby talk—
Is it really true? I’m your favowite person?—skewering Jeremy’s sudden gush of sentiment. The teasing keeps their bond messy and believable, never syrupy.
Foreshadowing in 8-Bit
The climactic chant returns intact during The Play:
Find the bad guy, push him aside! … But it’s a two-player game! Hey!Except this time the “bad guys” are SQUIP-linked students who move like one giant controller. By echoing Two Player Game verbatim, the writers remind us that every inside joke can twist into a battle cry.
The takeaway? High school may resemble a zombie onslaught, but Jeremy and Michael’s co-op credo fuels the musical’s heart. Whether dodging digital claws or cafeteria gossip, Two Player Game lyrics insist that life—like the best arcade cabinets—is meant for two sets of buttons.
Original annotations transformed and human-voiced for SEO; quotations © Joe Iconis / Ghostlight Records.Song Credits
- Featured: Will Roland, George Salazar
- Producers: Kurt Deutsch, Joe Iconis, Ian Kagey, Emily Marshall, Charlie Rosen
- Composer / Lyricist: Joe Iconis
- Release Date: May 3, 2019 (Broadway album)
- Genre: Arcade-Pop, Show-Rock
- Instruments: Electric guitar, brass, ukulele, drums, keyboards, theremin, vocoder
- Label: Ghostlight / Sh-K-Boom Records
- Mood: Boisterous yet earnest
- Length: 4 min 02 sec
- Track #: 6 on Be More Chill (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- Language: English
- Poetic Meter: Predominantly trochaic with spoken punctures
- Copyrights: © 2019 Two River Theater Company / Ghostlight Records
Songs Exploring Themes of Friendship
“What Is This Feeling?” – Wicked. Glinda and Elphaba start as frenemies, hurling insults to a waltz. Unlike Jeremy and Michael’s immediate bond, this duet thrives on friction, yet both pieces dissect how peer perception can twist intimacy.
“You and Me (But Mostly Me)” – The Book of Mormon. Elder Price’s egotism mirrors Jeremy’s ambition to level up. Elder Cunningham, like Michael, provides comic relief and unexpected backbone when hubris crumbles.
“For Good” – Wicked (reprise). Where Two Player Game races in joystick euphoria, “For Good” slows to a farewell. Both songs, however, hinge on the same thesis: friendship rewires our operating system.
Questions and Answers
- Was Two Player Game ever released as a single?
- The Broadway track streamed independently on Spotify but never received a standalone radio push. A cabaret-style studio version surfaced in 2018 on the Iconis-Salazar album of the same name.
- Did the song chart?
- While the track itself did not enter singles charts, the original cast album entered Billboard’s Cast Album Top 10 in 2017, fuelled largely by this song’s online popularity.
- Are there notable covers?
- Yes — the 2018 Two-Player Game live album features raw acoustic takes; TikTok creators often chop the “Zombie! Blood! Claws!” segment for comedic duets.
- Will the upcoming film adaptation include the duet?
- Current drafts reportedly keep the number intact, with additional 1980s arcade visuals planned.
- Why does Michael sing in a baby voice on “favowite person”?
- Salazar leans into parody, teasing Jeremy’s sudden sincerity and undercutting sentimentality with playground humor.
Awards and Chart Positions
| Year | Honor | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Drama Desk – Outstanding Musical (Album contribution) | Nominated |
| 2017 | Billboard Cast Album Chart – Peak (Top 10) | Album Placement |
How to Sing?
Range spans A2 to A4. Keep verses conversational, almost spoken-sung, then flip to full chest on the repeated “cool in college” hook. Tempo sits near 128 BPM — practise with a metronome, then add intentional scoops on “Zombie! Blood! Claws!” Breathwise, think video-game stamina bar: reserve extra air before the rapid-fire chorus so consonants pop without chopping phrase endings.
Fan and Media Reactions
“This duet single-handedly revived my GameCube and my hope in humanity.” —YouTube user @pixelatedpiper
“Salazar and Roland play Mario & Luigi if Nintendo wrote showtunes.” —Off-Book Journal review
“Every time the horns hit after ‘cooler than a vintage cassette,’ I smell Blockbuster carpet.” —Reddit user u/nostalgicn64
“The TikTok ‘Zombie!’ challenge owes rent to this bridge.” —TikTok creator @broadway_bites
“Proof that a four-minute musical number can feel like the best kind of boss battle.” —NJ Star-Ledger critic