The Lonesome Guild blends puzzles and bonding in an action RPG package that feels right at home on handhelds

Publisher Don't Nod and developer Tiny Bull Studios will release The Lonesome Guild on October 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam). Ahead of its launch, I had a chance to play a preview build of the PC version after attending a media presentation earlier this month to showcase the game. The developers also had a group Q&A following the presentation which featured them explaining how the relationship mechanic and character growth were a good fit for action RPG mechanics. The more I saw of the gameplay, the more I thought The Lonesome Guild would be a great fit for portable play, and I can confirm that is true after spending a few hours with the build on my Steam Deck.

From its announcement and with each showing, The Lonesome Guild has always looked like a colorful action RPG, but I was curious what it would do to set itself apart. It turns out, blending in puzzles that remind me of Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons with an interesting premise were good enough for me. After a brief cut-scene and introduction to the basics of controlling your first character (Davinci the inventor), you run into a spirit who you will refer to as Ghost. Alongside Ghost, you will run into your first roadblock, a block puzzle. The Lonesome Guild features a mix of block pushing puzzles that require a specific number of characters to progress and also others that split up the party. This mechanic is interesting as you can command others to stay or follow you when you are working on pulling levers to let the others through to the next location.

Speaking of locations, The Lonesome Guild is split up into different types of zones within each area. There are secrets, but also a mix of puzzles and combat zones. Once you enter a combat zone, you can't change your party structure, but if you ever have trouble with a specific encounter, you can set your party right and then take it on once again. When it comes to challenge, The Lonesome Guild's normal difficulty feels a bit easy, but there are three difficulty levels available from the start including a Story mode for a more relaxed experience. The combat so far is quite straightforward with a basic attack, dodge, and special skills that charge up with basic attacks. You can also swap between characters on the fly and each unique playstyle helps keep things fresh throughout the battles. 

Given Tiny Bull Studios' prior narrative-focused releases, it is clear the developer wants to keep that focus strong even in The Lonesome Guild. Even the act of introducing a new party member feels appropriately woven into the narrative's core: forming bonds and relationships. This elevates even basic puzzles and combat encounters to something more memorable. I've only played the opening hours of this preview build, but there's a lot of potential with the unique characters and how they control. Relationships also affect character skill trees with more nodes unlocking as you deepen your bond with each other. 

Since I had access to the preview build via Steam, I downloaded it onto my Steam Deck and ROG Ally. Like I said above, The Lonesome Guild is a great fit for portable play. The top-down structure, bite-sized combat encounters, and puzzles are a perfect fit for a handheld, and The Lonesome Guild already plays and runs well on Steam Deck. Since this is a non-final build, I will refrain from judging the performance or working on Steam Deck recommended settings for The Lonesome Guild, but I can say that it is shaping up to be a game I would rather play on Deck than anything else with 16:10 support and how its colorful aesthetic shines on the OLED screen. 

Speaking of handheld play, I asked the developers at Tiny Bull Studios if they had plans for a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 version and was told that right now there is no plan. They thought about a Nintendo version, but for release there is no version for those platforms. but if the response is positive and there is a strong request, a version will be considered. As of now, The Lonesome Guild will release on October 23 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam).

Preview code was provided by Don't Nod and Tiny Bull Studios to RPG Site for this article.