Total Mayhem Games has been consistently putting out creative, snack-sized two-player co-op adventures since 2017’s We Were Here. In October, We Were Here Tomorrow is playing up the science fiction element and throwing fans and newcomers alike into a big facility run by Norček Industries. At Gamescom, I had the chance to play through entire section with a developer, and this new entry might be yet another perfect pick for a rainy weekend.
Even though the We Were Here series is a playful one with high doses of comedy, these games can also feel quite melancholic. Frozen wastes abound, and navigating abandoned castles, laboratories, and whatnot can feel lonely even if you have a partner by your side. There’s a distinct vibe to the series that might explain why it’s become an ongoing one for Total Mayhem Games. People keep showing up for them because they’re quite inventive without becoming self-serious or quirky to a fault.
I’d rather not spoil the specifics of my time navigating a deserted lab alongside my (more experienced) partner, but We Were Here Tomorrow rarely runs on a single idea for longer than a few minutes. During a 20-minute-ish demo, we searched for keycards, figured out fragmented puzzles, fixed a motherboard, and played with “goopy” guns that could catch objects (and even partners). Throughout the whole thing, communication was key to our success.
“How does it look? What does it do? What’s the sequence?” Figuring out a puzzle or obstacle is only half of the solution. Trying to make your partner understand what only you have access to or can see is the other half, and it can lead to hilarious exchanges and some unwanted results. Total Mayhem Games clearly found the pulse of this series a very long time ago, and excels at coming up with new challenges and environmental opportunities that are never too obtuse or annoying.
My favourite part of the demo involved me getting shrunk and running across cluttered tables and through complex pieces of hardware that Norček Industries’ scientists had used before disappearing. We’re meant to finish what they started while also trying to escape the facility, but there’s fun to be had. As my normal-sized partner guided me through environments that were a bit too big for me to fully understand, I did my best to fix machines and come up with formulas that could unlock the next steps in our search for a keycard.
I like to think we did well on our own, as the accompanying developer never had to just hand me a solution to get going. I feel like he was a better ant-sized explorer than me, though (the roles inverted past a certain point). Before I ran out of time, I suggested a small interview to help me better understand what’s special about We Were Here Tomorrow versus past titles in the series, but I could’ve kept playing for way longer.
This is what executive producer Luite Douma and creative director Martin Mittner had to say about this instalment’s refreshing style, its new sandbox opportunities, and more.
The following interview has been trimmed for better flow and ease of reading.
GW: When you set out to make this new game, what did you want to achieve in comparison to the previous ones?
MM: We knew we wanted to break away from the icy castle motif that we had established over the last four or five games, to do something a bit more colorful and vibrant. We also wanted to get out of our comfort zone in terms of storytelling, do something with a three-act structure that’s sci-fi. We geared everything towards that, and also doing a bit more with the gameplay.
All of our previous games are sort of like puzzle, hallway, puzzle, hallway, etc. We wanted to create a game where the hallways were also sort of puzzles… There’s always something to do, and it added a Portal-esque element and physicality to the game… Every space that you are in evolves as you play.
GW: What is something that you’re particularly proud of in this game?
MM: I think we really upped the graphical fidelity. I’m also very proud of the story we’re telling. We worked with famous sci-fi author Claire North. Across the board, we’re sort of raising the quality bar. We have done voice localization into four different languages. We have a really great actress, Sophie Okonedo, to do our primary antagonist. We created something that we’re proud of in general.
LD: Abilities and the new devices really add new depth to the gameplay. We went through all these different iterations for prototypes, but I think they turned out really fun. It’s great that you have the typical puzzles that are more of a slow burn and then faster-paced traversal mechanics. It’s a nice evolution of our core gameplay concept.
MM: It’s a really good point because the abilities are very sandboxy, right? You can make a one meter by one meter block anywhere in the game, and you can put platforms on walls and stuff. That’s a very difficult design challenge. When the player can put standing blocks on top of things everywhere, we make QA’s life a bit of a headache.
GW: Looking at the pace that you’ve been releasing these games, what is the average dev cycle, from conception to the end of development, for a project like this?
MM: Three years. I think that, for a game of this size, we need about three years. Maybe four, but we’re trying to keep it to about three.
GW: How would you like people to engage with this game, in the sense of like one sitting for a whole playthrough (I don’t know how long it is) or smaller chapter-like bits?
MM: We organized the game into very digestible chapters so that you can do them in like a three, four-hour session. We also have like breaks and checkpoints where you can stop after each puzzle. We don’t expect any of our players to do a 12-to-15-hour play session. It’s designed to be played in chapters.
GW: Is there anything that you want to add before we run out of time?
MM: We’re just really excited to be shipping, and to see people play the game. I’m really interested in the choices that players make at the end of the story. There’s a meaningful choice to make, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how that shakes out.
LD: It’s a fun game to play with a friend or partner, with your children, because it’s all about communication, so you really get to know somebody while you’re playing it. You have to be a good listener as well as just being a good communicator. We also put a lot of things there that you can have fun with in interesting ways. Maybe you can get to know the person you’re playing with a bit better, and see how they feel about the things that you run into.
We Were Here Tomorrow will launch on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in October 2026. It only supports online two-player co-op, and communication via microphone is required.
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