Tunic
2022 · Isometricorp Games · 12h to beat · our rating 85
Has it aged?Why ↓
It looks like a children's picture book and behaves like a cryptic crossword. The real progression isn't the sword — it's the pages, and what you slowly work out they mean.
Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure.
The publisher’s description, from its Steam store page.
What it looks like
the trailer, then the store's own shots
The verdict
It presents as a small Zelda homage and is actually a game about literacy. You collect pages of an in-game manual written in an invented language, and understanding gradually arrives whether or not you can read the words. The moment that clicks is worth the entry price on its own.
85our score
Play it if
Anyone who takes notes while playing, and anyone who liked the puzzle-book layer of Fez or Obra Dinn.
Skip it if
Anyone who wants to be told what to do, or who found the combat in early Zelda games fiddly — the fighting is the weakest part.
Common questions
- Do you need to solve the puzzles to finish Tunic?
- Not the hardest ones. There is a straightforward ending and a much deeper one that requires genuinely decoding things.
- Can you turn the difficulty down?
- Yes. There is a no-fail option in the accessibility settings, and using it spoils nothing about the puzzles.
- How long is Tunic?
- About twelve hours to finish, considerably longer if you chase the real ending.
What everyone else said
we link, we don't reprint- Eurogamer5/5
Our review of Tunic, which turns its many influences into something that feels both familiar and gloriously new.
Christian Donlan
- Rock Paper Shotgun
Tunic is an isometric homage to Zelda that is loyal from top to bottom.
Brendan Caldwell
Has it aged?
How does it hold up today? Based on recent reviews, how opinions have changed since launch, player activity and updates.
% positive each month, last 4 years.
Reviews via Steam ↗Peak: 1.3k in Mar 2022.
Player counts via SteamCharts ↗A little less liked than at launch, but still well liked.
No update in the last year.