If you’ve been on the fence about the Yooka-Laylee sequel, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, now’s your chance. Team17 and Playtonic Games have released a free demo of the game on the digital stores for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC (Steam), and Xbox One.

The demo includes the first five levels of the full game, as well as the titular lair and a Pageie Challenge. There’s no time limit on the demo. Any progress you make will carry over to the full game should you decide to purchase it.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair features 40 levels of 2D platforming, along with a 3D interactive overworld map. Players can find game-modifying tonics that alter the gameplay through new graphic filters, difficulty modifiers, or just different character skins.

The story takes place after the events of the original 2017 game, Yooka-Laylee. The chameleon and bat journey to Queen Pheobee’s kingdom to free the captured Beettalion, while gearing up to take on Capital B’s ultimate challenge, the Impossible Lair.

The original game was designed as a throwback 3D platformer and spiritual successor to the Banjo-Kazooie series. It was met with mixed reviews. The 2019 sequel changed direction, creating a 2D platformer in the vein of the Donkey Kong Country series, and was much better received.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC (Steam), and Xbox One. It’s rated E for Everyone.


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Eric has been writing for over nine years with bylines at Dicebreaker, Pixelkin, Polygon, PC Gamer, Tabletop Gaming magazine, and more covering movies, TV shows, video games, tabletop games, and tech. He reviews and live streams D&D adventures every week on his YouTube channel. He also makes a mean tuna quesadilla.