[STEAM] Hela: Of Mice and Magic wants players to explore without fear of failure

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Windup Games believes cozy games can still have plenty of drama and tension — and the company is looking to prove that point with its upcoming title Hela: Of Mice and Magic.

Hela: Of Mice and Magic puts the player in the shoes — or paws — of a mouse who serves as the familiar for a kindly old witch who uses magic spells to protect and serve the residents of her small town. Players traverse the game’s virtual environment to collect magic spell components and potion ingredients to help the witch do her job. I had a chance to try out a demo of Hela: Of Mice and Magic during the week of Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles earlier this month, and found that it was one of the highlights of the event.

During the demo, Windup Games head of studio Alexander Benitez made it clear that his team had explicitly avoided including traditional fail states, including combat, into Hela: Of Mice and Magic. Although the game includes threats to the player, such as owls and foxes, getting caught by these animals results in the witch magically whisking the player away to safety, rather than killing them — the development team’s way of introducing danger and tempo changes without including damage or death elements that could detract from its cozy nature.

“If you’re climbing a high tree or a big mountain or rock, you don’t have fall damage,” Benitez said during the demonstration. “But if you do fall down, you don’t want to be climbing that stair again for two minutes.”

One of the most entertaining aspects of Hela: Of Mice and Magic is the game’s multitude of movement options to help inject variety into players’ travels across its open world. Using magical gadgets provided by the witch, players can glide and double-jump their way through the virtual environment, even swinging from tree to tree in a manner that Benitez described as “Spider-Mousing.” Players can also befriend and ride animals such as hares, magpies, and pikes. Players who love exploration-heavy titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will feel at home moving around the world of Hela: Of Mice and Magic.

“We put a lot of effort into just making the traversal feel really nice,” Benitez said.

Hela: Of Mice and Magic allows for co-op play, with a design that Benitez said is meant to support mixed-skill groups of players. Players can teleport to each other to avoid getting lost, with the team at Windup Games envisioning the upcoming title as a game that kids can play with their non-gamer parents.

“We wanted to make sure that, if you’re playing with less experienced players, you can really help out,” Benitez said.

Windup Games hasn’t confirmed an official release date for Hela: Of Mice and Magic yet, but the company currently plans to publish the game at some point in 2026 across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Nintendo Switch.

“We want people to poke at things — be curious,” Benitez said. “If you ask, ‘what happens if I do this,” we just want to make sure that it responds in a positive way.”

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