Game: Terrible Lizards
Developer: WDR Studios LLC
Publisher: Digital Pajamas · Behaviour Interactive
Genre: First-Person Horror Parkour
Released: October 29, 2026
Price: $24.99 (launch discount)
Platform: PC (Steam) · Xbox Game Pass
🦖 How we reviewed it: on PC, via Steam. Terrible Lizards launches October 29, so we’ve also drawn on early critic impressions of the full campaign (it currently sits at 75 on OpenCritic) where it helps. Heads up: expect chase sequences, body-horror creature designs and plenty of first-person swaying (the accessibility menu can fix that).
1992Route 66
6–10Hour Campaign
100K+Wishlists
75OpenCritic
$24.99Full Price
🚗 Know this first: Terrible Lizards unlocks on Steam on October 29 at 10 AM PT. It’s $24.99, and the developers say a launch discount will bring it closer to $20 for roughly the first few days to a week. It’s also on Xbox Game Pass from day one. Want to try before you buy? The free demo is still on Steam. Beat the game and you’ll unlock New Game Plus with four silly modifiers, including bodycam visuals and low gravity.
🦕 You Should Not Be Here
It’s 1992. You’re Jordan, a college student driving Route 66 through the New Mexico desert, when your car dies in the middle of the night. No cell phones. No rideshares. The only shelter is Dalton’s Dinos, a once must-see roadside attraction across the street, and its doors are strangely unlocked.
The staff have vanished, the mascot costume is missing, and there’s a trail of black ooze leading deeper inside. A voice on a telephone begs you to help find a missing child. Then something starts hunting you. There are no weapons. Your only option is to run, climb and survive.
Mirror’s Edge meets Jurassic Park in a haunted roadside attraction.
Running and hiding have been horror staples for decades, but WDR Studios asks a different question: what if you could wall-run? Back when we told you why Terrible Lizards deserved a spot on your wishlist, the parkour-meets-dinosaurs pitch sounded almost too strange to work. The finished game, published by Digital Pajamas and Behaviour Interactive, is the debut from a small team of about six developers, and it turns that odd combination into something surprisingly confident.
Our verdict: “This indie horror parkour gem brilliantly blends Route 66 nostalgia with genuine dread, demanding skill and speed as you unravel the sinister secrets of Dalton’s Dinos.”
Run. Climb. Survive.
Critics keep reaching for the same comparisons: Mirror’s Edge and Titanfall 2. Jordan starts with running, jumping, climbing and sliding, and later levels add swinging, wall-running and bounce pads. None of it is groundbreaking, but it feels fluid, momentum-driven and intuitive, with a lot of room to master. Ledges you can grab are clearly marked with yellow paint. Some players will roll their eyes at that, but at this speed, that clarity really matters.
🏃 Parkour
Run, slide, swing and wall-run. There’s no combat at all.
🦖 The Creatures
Body-horror dino designs. One critic said the first reveal made their jaw drop.
📼 Tapes & Notes
Audio logs and notes fill in what really happened at Dalton’s Dinos.
🎬 FMV Scenes
Live-action, Remedy-style cutscenes, plus a cameo we won’t spoil.
There are no health bars, ammo or resources to manage. That lets you focus entirely on movement and escape. Failure isn’t harshly punished, and exploring pays off with extra lore and collectibles, so the game works for both speedrunners and careful explorers.
The Chases Are the Main Event
🦴 Split-Second Decisions, Collapsing Caves
Terrible Lizards is at its best when one of the titular creatures is right behind you. The chases demand split-second decisions at a frantic pace, often triggering cave-ins and collapsing infrastructure that heighten the adrenaline. One critic said these moments evoke the very best of Mirror’s Edge. Another, who’s normally averse to being chased in games, said they’d rarely had this much fun running for their life.
The game also knows when to hold back. There are long stretches without the dinosaurs, so each appearance feels like an event rather than just another obstacle. And since you can’t fight back, keeping the monsters around while you solve traversal puzzles would just get frustrating. Saving them for the right moments makes a lot of sense.
More Story Than You’d Expect
📞 Goofy, Dark and Surprisingly Ambitious
Developers have cited Jurassic Park, The Goonies and The Descent as influences, and you can feel all three. The cartoony, animatronic museum has a Disney-like charm, and exploring its hidden backstage areas felt a lot like Portal 2 to one critic. The story is equally goofy and dark, ramping up toward the end with solid voice acting.
You’re guided by Stella, a radio navigator with personal ties to Dalton’s Dinos. The live-action cutscenes, reportedly filmed on location in a real cave system, are a real highlight. And if you’re just here to run, the good news is that almost all of the story can be skipped.
Where It Stumbles
⚠️ A Few Extinct Ideas
1. Jank and collision. Collision detection can occasionally make you miss a ledge even after a perfect jump, and that’s frustrating every time. Small things like clipping animations are easier to forgive.
2. Frame-rate drops in the finale. One early review reported two stretches of the final level where performance dropped to single digits, despite a near-flawless 60fps for most of the game. Hopefully a launch patch addresses this.
3. Pacing and level length. The opening area feels too open and not well suited to platforming. Things improve a lot underground, but the caverns can get repetitive, and most of the game’s long levels run over an hour.
4. Weak stealth sections. A handful of segments where you’re stalked while completing objectives fall flat, as the enemy AI isn’t strong enough and can get stuck. Thankfully, they’re rare and not very difficult.
5. Thin characters, abrupt ending. Jordan has no real character arc, Stella mostly delivers door codes and exposition, and one critic found the ending abrupt. The horror is also more thrill than dread, since the speed doesn’t leave much room for scares.
🎮 Accessibility & Performance
If you’re prone to motion sickness, head to the options menu first. Jordan sways side to side while running, but there are robust options to reduce camera shake and adjust FOV. A Hints toggle (on by default) controls how much in-game guidance you get, and turning it off makes the game harder. It has full controller support, and the demo added a Steam Deck graphics preset, although Valve hasn’t rated Deck compatibility yet.
Things to Know
📋 Before You Buy
• $24.99, with a launch discount for roughly the first few days to a week (per the developers)
• Also on Xbox Game Pass from day one
• About 6–10 hours, with one ending, plus New Game Plus with four unlockable modifiers
• Single-player · Steam Achievements · Family Sharing · 9 languages (English full audio)
• Minimum: Windows 10, Core i5-6400 / Ryzen 3 1200, 6 GB RAM, GTX 1050 2GB / RX 560, 25 GB of storage
• A JT Music song and the soundtrack release on launch day
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good |
The Bad |
The Ugly |
| Thrilling ChasesMirror’s Edge-style escapes with collapsing set pieces. |
Collision IssuesMissing a ledge after a perfect jump stings. |
Finale Frame DropsSingle-digit stretches were reported in the last level. |
| Fluid ParkourIntuitive to learn, with plenty to master. |
Weak Stealth AIStalker sections are the low point. |
— |
| Great SettingA creepy, animatronic Route 66 tourist trap. |
Long LevelsOver an hour each, with a shaky opening. |
— |
| Creature DesignBody-horror dinos worth the wait. |
Flat LeadsJordan and Stella lack depth. |
— |
| FMV CutscenesAmbitious live-action story moments. |
— |
— |
The Verdict
Terrible Lizards is almost a spiritual successor to Mirror’s Edge wearing a horror costume, and that’s a compliment. Its chases are genuinely thrilling, the movement feels great, and Dalton’s Dinos is a memorable setting, with far more story and ambition than you’d expect from a debut. It’s not especially scary, but the adrenaline more than makes up for that.
A layer of jank, weak stealth sections, a shaky opening and some reported performance dips in the finale keep it from greatness. Even so, this is an incredibly promising first game from WDR Studios.
The honest read: if you loved Mirror’s Edge or Titanfall 2’s movement and want something with a spooky twist, grab it during the launch discount, or play it on Game Pass. Not sure? Try the free demo first.
For more game reviews, check out our full reviews section.
Score Breakdown
Atmosphere & Setting8.5/10
Story & Presentation7.5/10
Level Design & Pacing7.0/10
Final Score
7.8/10
Terrible Lizards — WDR Studios LLC
Rarely has running for your life been this much fun.
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