

Steam Greenlight is a service that is always chock-full of platformers of various quality levels. I’ve seen the quality range from cubes and spheres all the way up to beautifully hand drawn environments. Platforming games are mainly differentiated by their looks, as there is only so much variation that can occur with that style of gameplay. Recently, I was introduced to a game that was not only visually impressive, but managed to catch my eye with quite the interesting premise. ToyQuest is a platformer in the Metroidvania style set in a world created by your childhood nightmares.



ToyQuest places you in the plastic shoes of Brand, an action figure that has been injected with life, as he fights to defeat the darkness that is threatening his owner. The idea of playing as an action figure is compelling because as a result of Brand’s small size, even the most typical household objects seem gigantic. This means everyday things such as bookshelves become hazardous mountains for the character to attempt to summit.

You have the freedom to explore the entire house, which means that the game features a wide variety of environments to traverse. From the kitchen to the bedroom to the basement, Brand will find himself encountering challenging obstacles of all sorts in relation to what room he is in.



On top of the Metroidvania platforming experience that we can expect for ToyQuest, the game also features a hint of roguelike elements to add a bit of variation to the tried and true method. With procedural level generation, Brand will find himself traversing different rooms on each playthrough, which leads to virtually endless replayability.

Much like other games in the roguelike genre, there are hundreds of weapon and item upgrades which are all in the theme of various ordinary household objects. Each upgrade will give Brand various statistical advantages that lead to him becoming more powerful over time. Every item in the game can be upgraded, so there is almost no limit to the powerful combinations that can be created through the item upgrade system.



In terms of enemy design, ToyQuest has an astonishing 300+ enemy types in the game. Each enemy features unique behaviors that depend on what type of toy they were before coming to life. This will do well to keep the game fresh as you won’t find yourself constantly encountering the same 5 enemies throughout the entire game. On top of the huge enemy variety, there are also 7 challenging boss encounters, each taking place in the bosses’ unique lairs.

An interesting mechanic allows you to rescue friendly toys and gather materials in order to create and defend a home based. While there isn’t too much information given about this feature, it almost sounds like a 2D tower defense of sorts. If so, I think this will be a very interesting addition to a game that already features some amazing gameplay diversity.



ToyQuest seeks to embody the experience of the great platformers of the ’80s and ’90s, while improving on key aspects such as visual quality and sound. Combining classic platforming with a modern aesthetic ensures that the game will have a nice retro flow while maintaining the visual quality we have come to expect in today’s industry.

ToyQuest will be releasing sometime this year, although the specific date is not given as of yet. However, you can currently support the game by leaving a vote on their Steam Greenlight page and providing some feedback.