Craftlings: A Polished Puzzle-Strategy Adventure That Honors Classic Gameplay

The classic puzzle-strategy genre has seen many attempts to capture the magic of guiding groups of characters toward a goal. For years, the market has felt like it needed a new standout title in this category. Craftlings steps into this space with confidence, offering a unique blend of puzzle-solving and strategic management that feels both familiar and new.

Developed by ARIANO Games, this passion project was crafted by a solo developer who received support from the community. Originally titled “The Settlings,” the game immediately sets itself apart by making every level available from the very beginning. It is not an endless runner nor a strictly linear path. Instead, it presents a refreshing and confident design that lays most of its cards on the table right away.

Beyond its immediate charm and a retro-inspired aesthetic that includes modern touches, it is clear that the developer had a strong vision. The game borrows just enough from classic titles like Lemmings and the Worms franchise to feel nostalgic. You will see many small creatures walking aimlessly left or right in a 2D environment. However, at its core, Craftlings leans heavily into strategy and building management, with a strong focus on automation.

Out of the twelve currently available levels, four are dedicated to teaching new players the ropes. These tutorials cover how to develop a working village and lead the Craftlings to victory, which even includes fighting giant monsters. The tutorials provide plenty of space to learn without being overly restrictive. After pointing out the basics and setting simple goals, the developer chooses a path of “learning through experimentation.” This approach pays off, though some early frustrations regarding key items could have been solved with a few extra pointers.

For instance, wooden signs can force Craftlings to walk left or right when they reach them. A submenu, opened by clicking on these signs, lets players filter who can pass based on their role and whether they are busy. As the Craftlings begin to pick up items and resources, they automatically become more focused on their assigned tasks. Therefore, using wooden signs and “stop” statues expertly becomes essential to success.

As resources begin to dwindle because no one is reaching them or everyone is too busy, you will spend much of your first two hours pausing the game. Since it is essentially a real-time strategy game, you can choose different speeds to meticulously examine every part of the village and every Craftling’s route to figure out what is not working. While I applaud the choice to use a more player-driven approach for the tutorial levels, I can see these confusing bits pushing impatient players to drop the game before it gets into a fun groove.

You might be tempted to point out that this difficulty is part of the challenge, but that would be incorrect. The game makes its challenges and objectives abundantly clear from the start. The complex “automated village” layer is simply a means to an end, allowing for experimentation in potential replays. Craftlings is ultimately not about building bustling villages, though it is funny to see the little beings move around in their daily loops. It is about helping the settlers achieve their goals. The town layouts are just a part of the puzzle, and placing everything in the right spots is a rewarding ordeal.

This overarching philosophy also leads to Craftlings’ biggest shortcoming: it does not really shake things up once you have gone through the early levels. The variety of level layouts and end goals is good enough, but beyond the addition of new enemies to overcome and spells to cast at the right moments, the game feels old-fashioned to a fault. Regardless, its breezy pacing and non-linearity almost completely nullify any potential repetitiveness. If you cannot figure out a specific level, you can try out another one that might push you to learn about the power of floating crates.

What I know for sure is that seeing Craftlings fall to their doom and ascend to Heaven after producing the funniest “little freak” sound effects in recent memory has not gotten old yet. As new ones respawn through a portal, you shift pieces of the massive puzzle around in hopes of getting them to pick up the damn pitchforks. Once armed, you cast a spell to lift them to the level above their heads, but a monster instantly annihilates them. Something was missing. Even in failure, Craftlings feels unlike anything else out there at the moment.

Craftlings is available today, January 15, for $14.99 on PC. No console versions have been announced at the time of writing.

CRAFTLINGS VERDICT

Craftlings successfully rediscovers genre-bending mechanics and systems to deliver a puzzle-strategy adventure that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but feels thoroughly polished and focused.