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Playtonic has announced that Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is getting a free demo on console and PC.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – the latest game from UK studio Playtonic – received a warm critical response on release last October. The game is considered an all-round improvement on the studio’s first effort, which we found enjoyable enough but also flawed.

If you’re in two minds about The Impossible Lair, you’ll soon have the chance to try before you buy. Playtonic has announced that a free demo is coming to all platforms.

The generous demo includes a selection of the game’s 2D platforming levels, a terrain-transforming Pagie Challenge, and some State Change Tonics to try, one of which gives Yooka a huge head.

The demo hits PC on January 23, and comes to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on January 30. It will be released on Xbox One at a later date. All progress made in the demo will automatically carry over to the full game.

Responding to the news, one Twitter user wondered if it would have been possible to release the demo before the game’s launch. In reply, Playtonic said:

“We’re a small studio (around 30 developers worked on Impossible Lair) so our resources were pretty limited. A demo is a good bit of extra work (plus certification and all that) so unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to get one out before launch this time! :)”

It’s a reminder that creating demos and vertical slices – especially those with transferable save states – is not as simple as you might think. Take a look at the launch trailer for a preview of the game.

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