Twistales, a dark fantasy spin on Cinderella from indie developer and publisher CatOnTree Studio, has posted a new teaser on Twitter. It features gameplay of enemy priests chasing down the protagonist.

In Twistales, Cinderella must traverse corrupted fairy tale worlds to undo a dangerous curse. You’ll need to explore and solve puzzles, mastering a magical sword and various spells to survive.

Twistales is currently expected to launch in 2025. According to a previous trailer description, it will be available on “PC and consoles”. You can wishlist the game and try a playable demo on Steam now. Here is today’s full priest teaser:

☠️Before becoming a warrior, #Cinderella must flee and survive the apocalypse that strikes her world! And face this priest ⚔️ who seems to want her life! 👀

📷Wishlist here : https://t.co/9KindZ7GRJ

#madewithunity #IndieGameDev #demo #steam #wishlist #TrailerTuesday pic.twitter.com/Qs3c4Hp2ki

— Twistales, Forever after – Demo available ! (@twistales) December 5, 2023

At first glance, Cinderella may not sound especially ripe for a dark twist. However, these original fairy tales could get quite unforgiving. And the enormous popularity of Lies of P will likely have fans searching for something much like Twistales.

Although Twistales certainly shows its budget, the art design looks imaginative, and the animation is solid. The movement itself captures each character’s personality. The settings are consistently stark, but there appears to be a decent variety.

Twistales promises a fine degree of nuance in its world and characterization. I detect enough of the classic imagery that one might expect in order to appreciate the various alterations.

It raises my curiosity about the other potential fairy tales. For those who were frustrated with the nostalgia of Wish, Twistales might serve as a more inventive celebration of such worlds.

Twistales also has a touch of old school aesthetics that harken back to platforming adventures from the early thousands. This gives Twistales a natural charm, but it doesn’t rely on that alone. Which is fortunate, because that exact nostalgia has been trending lately.

The fundamental mechanics of Twistales seem pretty straightforward, although enemies will be weak to different spells during combat. But the narrative, enemy variety and puzzles may help hold interest.

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