Keep in mind Lemmings? The dopey green-haired creatures in blue evening robes that will rhythmically stroll throughout your CRT display screen straight into no matter perils lay forward are synonymous with old-school PC gaming. Since then, few video games have tried to modernise that distinctive puzzle formulation the place you needed to take away obstacles, construct bridges, and arrange routes to make sure the security of your senseless minions.
Till now.
From the magical minds at Rogue Solar, a studio comprised of a number of former Lionhead Studios builders (of Fable fame), and within the spirit of Lemmings of outdated, Tin Hearts is a story puzzle sport the place you lead a battalion of little wound-up mechanical toy troopers over 50 vibrant but perilous ranges; kitchens the place large people chop up meals, bedrooms full of toy cannons, and brassy basements full of clanging pipes and different steam-spewing risks–each home area will get changed into an imaginative stage so that you can safely see your troopers by way of.
Because the saying goes, “No mechanical wind-up toy can be left behind,” and also you obtain this by fastidiously laying out the trail forward of them. These troopers do not have a lot in the way in which of initiative, you see, so it is as much as you to direct their path away from hazard. This may be so simple as laying down an angled block to change their course away from lethal hazards, or by organising trampolines, cannons, and blow-up balloons to carry them to increased floor.
Tin Hearts would not happen in any outdated house both, however the house of genius inventor Albert J. Butterworth in an alternative-history steampunk-inspired Victorian home. Which means unusual mechanised issues are afoot, and the home is full of clockwork spiders, little robotic guards, and terrifying jack-in-the-boxes who leap from their cubic enclosures to gobble up your troopers.
However there is a twist right here. See, generally to clear an impediment, you want a courageous tin soldier to interrupt ranks. To that finish, you’ll take management of particular person troopers, breaking them free from the road in order that they will run off and alter issues across the stage. All of a sudden, the sport takes on a 3D platformer dimension, as that soldier will face his personal challenges as he races towards the regular march of his comrades to clear the trail forward of them.
At different occasions, the sport feels nearly a bit like Dungeon Keeper, as your spectral hand manipulates and optimises parts of the stage for the little individuals marching round on it (minus all of the slapping and bullying you’d impose in your demonic minions!).
Tin Hearts is an actual looker too. The world has the sensation of a phenomenal toybox that is been damaged into by a dev group with a penchant for fairytales, and the troopers–propelled by the little brass keys turning of their backs–are richly detailed and animated. Suffice to say when one thing inevitably goes incorrect and certainly one of your males will get smashed into dozens of coggy items, it’s going to hit you proper within the coronary heart.
Tin Hearts marches onto PC (Steam, Epic Video games Retailer, GOG, Utomik), Nintendo Change, PlayStation, and Xbox on April 20, 2023. You may discover all of the hyperlinks by way of the Wired Productions Store (opens in new tab). For those who simply cannot wait to get tinkering, you’ll be able to sign up for the closed beta (opens in new tab), which runs February 10-14.
To get entangled with the group and keep updated, you’ll be able to join the official Discord (opens in new tab), follow Tin Hearts on Twitter (opens in new tab), or wishlist it on Steam (opens in new tab).
A magical mini-world from a few of the greatest imaginations in gaming awaits…