Apparently 2025 is the year of retro styled dinosaur games, with Theropods being the third I cover this year. The others are Primal Planet (out now!), and Dinolords (coming in early access, this year or the next). This is great for dino-lovers like myself, but how do Theropods compare?
Theropods is a point & click adventure in the most classical sense, with an old-school pixel graphic style, and combining items until success as its primary gameplay. The demo is very short, but it’s enough to set up the premise. You play as a young, redheaded female adventurer living in a prehistoric timeline, together with dinosaurs roaming the lands that seemingly have an appetite for humans. When you were a child, your mother was devoured by a giant T. rex lookalike, which shaped your life to eventually take her place as a great hunter. Mom’s heroic act that led to her death meant that you and your dad could live. Compelled destiny, anyone?
Dino life
The story takes place years later, with you now being a formidable hunter by yourself, and this is where the gameplay mechanics come in. You are hunting a herbivore dinosaur with two other hunters from your tribe. To catch the creature, you have to use your wits in a typical adventure sense – where the easy option is always the wrong choice.
The puzzles were not difficult, but still charming in its simplicity. Much of the appealing atmosphere is credited to the pleasant visuals and the incredible soundscape of the jungle. The narration I found a little slow, but it sure picked up at the end. It finishes with an asteroid burning through the sky on its way to hit the tribal village as the protagonist looks on in horror. I got to say: intriguing foundation for an adventure game set in an age among apex predators that want nothing else than feast on your tasty corpse.
It’s set to be released late 2025, according to Steam. So maybe a cozy adventure title just in time for Christmas? That would be perfect. Check out the demo for yourself, if you got an affinity for dinosaurs! It’s short and sweet.
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 