It’s not often I get to fully editorialise in the news, but since we as a site didn’t get to say it last year, I’m going to say it now: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was one of the best games of 2019, and if you’ve got any love for 2D platform games, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Luckily, developer Playtonic is making that much easier with a free demo set to launch this week.
The demo will launch on Steam on January 23. (Switch and PlayStation 4 versions follow on January 30, and the Xbox One date is “TBA.”) The rundown on Twitter suggests the demo includes a handful of standard levels, a challenge stage, and one of the stage transformations, which suggest that you’ll see a reasonable chunk of the early game – with “no time limit.”
The fun part is that the demo will include the titular Impossible Lair. That’s the first level you take on in the game, and the ultimate challenge at the end. Every normal level you complete lets you take an extra hit in the Impossible Lair, but you can tackle it at any time. As the name implies, the Impossible Lair is no joke, but you can theoretically beat the game just through this demo.
You just have to be as good as a speedrunner. Check out the world record below, if you need some inspiration.
If you kept up on the 12 days of free Epic games over the holidays, you might already own Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, as it was the final title in the holiday promotion. (It’s good, you should play it.)