We Were Here Tomorrow Takes Co,Op Puzzles Into Retro,Sci-Fi Territory – PAX East 2026 Interview

 

By Rob (DadGeek) | PAX East 2026 

If you've played any of the We Were Here games, you will be all to familiar with the feeling. Walkie-Talkie in hand, you are minutes deep into staring at something seemingly incomprehensible. You desperately try to describe it to a partner who is seeing something completely different on the other side of a locked door. Communication is key, understanding how your partner thinks of equal value as is patience. This is the kind of co-op that can push relationships to the brink and simultaneously produce some of the most genuinely memorable gaming moments you'll ever have.

We Were Here Tomorrow is the sixth entry in the series from Total Mayhem Games the Dutch indie studio that has built one of the most beloved co-op puzzle franchises in gaming in recent years, with over 25 million players worldwide.  After that many games in the same setting the dev team is making a bold change for its new release. Though everyone loved the snowy landscape and all its lore, this time they chose to forget the icy medieval castles. This time the adventure is taking a retro-futuristic approach and with it come new opportunities and challenges.

At PAX East 2026 I was able to get some hands-on with the the demo and afterwards I sat down with Luite Douma, Executive Producer at Total Mayhem Games, to talk about what makes Tomorrow feel both familiar and genuinely new.

Welcome to the Norcek Facility

We Were Here Tomorrow drops players into a futuristic fortress known as the Norcek facility a massive complex filled with chunky technology, possible shoulder pads, and futurism aesthetics. The disembodied voice of a mysterious director guides you through increasingly strange "assignments."  The whole aesthetic feels both old and new, think 80's sci-fi vibes with a healthy dose of the uncanny layer of so cozy it is almost enough to feel inviting smeared across it all. The vibes are just weird enough to make you nervous to move through the next door or around the next corner.

"We kind of wanted to change things up. We wanted to go with this retro,futuristic art style that we're all a big fan of in the studio."

The shift in setting also enabled a significant shift in gameplay. For the first time in the series each player has been giving each their own unique ability. Each player has an asymmetric tool on their character that can influence the environment around them in different ways. In our demo, one player could build boxes that could be used as platforms and more, while the other could interact with mechanisms the first couldn't reach by using an elastic goopy lasso. But often both abilities were needed to proceed further. It feels like a natural evolution of the series' DNA . things were still puzzly but with less "what symbols do you see" and more "can you activate this while I hold this lever."

Classic Puzzles and Challenge Rooms

Douma acknowledged this was a new direction in the game but reassured us that it did not replace all puzzles in the full game. He described two distinct puzzle types in Tomorrow. The classic communication puzzles which are the series' signature gameplay type will still be very much present,  but they will be mixed with challenge rooms. These rooms offer faster-paced, ability-driven sections that require more movement and traversal alongside the verbal problem-solving methods.

"The challenges are more focused on using the abilities and they're a little bit more faster paced. You move around a bit more instead of just using your thinking  being more cerebral, really communicating. It's mixed with the classic style."

It is hard to miss that Portal 2's co-op mode was inspiration, alongside teams love love of 80s sci-fi films. The biggest move by Total Mayhem Games was to bring acclaimed novelist Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August  on board to write the script. That is not a standard hire for an indie co-op puzzle game and it signals that the narrative ambitions here are significant.

Two Perspectives on the Same Story

One of the most exciting ways the story telling will take place in Tomorrow is the introduction of the split narrative. When players are separated, which is often, they will be times that they will experience the story from a different perspective. One player might see an event unfold one way, while the other sees a completely different side of that same moment. When they reunite later on, reconciling those perspectives becomes part of the game experience.

"Both players might get a different idea of what's going on and maybe have a difference of opinion. And yes  that will create some tension."

For a series whose entire premise is communication and trust this narrative wedge seem a genuinely clever extension of the core idea of the series. The game is no longer just testing whether you can describe a symbol correctly. It is testing whether you and your partner can build a shared understanding from fundamentally different information, and I am ready to see it all unfold.

Easter Eggs, Answers, and the Ongoing Universe

For longtime fans, of  the series, We Were Here Tomorrow it might be good to hear that though you are in a different place and time the adventure is still set in the same universe as all previous games with direct narrative connections. Douma teased that some long standing questions  including what happened to the Jester after We Were Here Forever might finally be answered. Additionally there will be easter eggs linking back to earlier titles scattered throughout the game, so keep your eyes peeled.

The game is expected to release this year to Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S and will feature cross-play between platforms. Beyond the year, an exact release date was not announced yet, but the line at the PAX booth ran, as Douma noted with visible pride, literally around the corner. People are ready and hopefully the wait will not be too long.

You can wishlist We Were Here Tomorrow right now on Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox now, and keep an eye on Total Mayhem Games' social channels for upcoming reveals. And if you don't have a co-op partner yet  join their Discord and hit up that Looking for Group channel. You can even replay some of the older games to get warmed up.

Watch the full interview video from our PAX East 2026 chat with Luite Douma on YouTube.

 DadGeek (Rob) is the co-founder of GeeksVsGeeks. He is a product of the eighties and never let go of his geek interest and hobbies no matter how often someone told him to stop. His love for gaming and all things geek has been part of his parenting style and permeates throughout the whole family. A family of Geeks vs Geeks.