Developer: Seethingswarm Studios
Platform: PC / Steam

The Bold and the Burned Out

They say dinosaurs went extinct, but my heart pounding in my chest as a T-Rex chased my family tells a different story.

If you're tired of press-X-to-win sequels and ancient game mechanics dressed up in shiny new scales, this dino-stuffed Metroidvania doesn’t just stomp onto your radar—it leaves a crater.

Right now, originality is rare, and this experience wears its weirdness like a badge. Whether I was frantically scavenging for berries as my kid wailed, or sharing a grateful high-five with my couch co-op buddy, the journey forced me to care—I mean really, genuinely care—about more than just my own hide.

Dangerous World That Cares if You Survive

While the game is billed as a co-op 2D platformer, survival here is a family affair. The stakes aren’t abstract either. Dragging my prehistoric spouse and dino-orphan across molten caves and bioluminescent lakes, I wasn’t just platforming—I was parenting, protecting, and occasionally facepalming at my own poor decisions.

Aesthetically, there’s a confidence in the palette that the developer paints, a willingness perhaps, to let colors run across each other like a Saturday morning cartoon. But as they say, sometimes art doesn’t clarify so much as it mystifies; and that’s where the game occasionally stumbles.

You see, there were plenty of "what am I even looking at?" moments when the visuals tripped over itself. Dinos, particle effects, lights, and neon foliage blending into an explosion of pixels that made my eyes dart for safety. 

At its best, the graphics invites you in; at its worst, you’re left momentarily groping your way out of a living impressionist painting. Still, it's gorgeous, if not a bit much.

Not Your Mom’s Metroidvania (But She’d Probably Like It)

And forget unlocking the 57th double-jump upgrade just to progress. Here, it’s the gear—torches to burn away nasty vines or alien doodads to pop open doors—that opens new routes. Maybe it’s a bit less “pure Metroidvania,” but I actually preferred solving a puzzle over remembering which of my six jumps I needed next.

The survival and crafting elements are more than a gimmick with every trap I built or concocted made the difference between my family munching on dino-stew... or becoming it. That being said, the resource juggling got a bit fiddly mid-game. I wished for one fewer type of berry to remember.

Hug Your Dino—Or Blame Them

Inviting a friend to play as the adorable (yet vicious) dinosaur companion didn’t just pad the fun, it sometimes carried entire boss fights, especially when I spaced out and got stomped. But hey, nothing like mutual panic to build lifelong gaming memories. And the soundtrack? A prehistoric caveman's dream, though a few tracks looped a bit too long for my taste during the tougher levels.

While the game is wickedly fun, it’s not flawless. Some challenge spikes made me grumble “UGH!” and there were a handful of bugs that, just maybe, belonged to the Cretaceous.

Still, the sense of journey, family stakes, and that all-important player agency made this one fresh in ways most big-budget games only pretend to be.

So if you want a gorgeous Metroidvania adventure where your mistakes matter, your wins feel earned, then this is a must-play. Just keep your snacks out of reach; because in this game, the dinos actually do bite.