There is something wonderfully nerve-racking about being trapped somewhere you do not understand, surrounded by strange machinery, with the only person who can help you unable to see what you can see. It is a simple premise, but one that can produce some of the most memorable moments in cooperative gaming. We Were Here Tomorrow, developed and published by Total Mayhem Games, builds its adventure around that very idea, sending two explorers into a mysterious research facility buried beneath the Antarctic ice. With memories missing, colleagues unaccounted for and a potentially global crisis looming, the pair must depend on their voices, their wits and their willingness to trust one another. This time, however, the familiar cooperative formula receives a striking new coat of paint, swapping the series’ traditional medieval surroundings for a retro-futuristic vision of the 1980s, complete with peculiar technology, ominous corridors and a synthwave soundtrack.
The change in setting immediately gives We Were Here Tomorrow its own identity. Norček Industries feels like a place imagined during an era when computers were becoming increasingly mysterious, scientific progress seemed limitless and every experimental machine might be hiding something humanity was not quite ready to understand. There is an appealing tension between the facility’s futuristic ambitions and its cold, isolated location beneath Antarctica. You are somewhere that should represent progress and discovery, yet everything about your circumstances suggests that something has gone badly wrong. That contrast provides an excellent foundation for a puzzle adventure in which the answers are never quite as straightforward as they first appear.
Two Explorers, Two Different Realities
Communication has always been the beating heart of the We Were Here series, and We Were Here Tomorrow continues to place it firmly at the centre of the experience. This asymmetrical cooperative adventure is designed for two players, with each explorer receiving different information, tools and perspectives. The partners are often separated, so neither can simply look over the other’s shoulder or solve every puzzle independently. Instead, they must use walkie-talkies to describe their surroundings, explain what they have discovered and gradually piece together a solution from two incomplete pictures.
It is a deceptively effective idea because it turns ordinary conversation into a genuine gameplay mechanic. One player might be looking at a sequence of symbols while the other has access to the machinery those symbols control. Neither possesses the entire answer, and progress depends on translating what is visible into clear instructions that the other can understand. A vague description can lead to confusion, while a carefully explained detail can suddenly make an apparently impossible puzzle fall into place. The satisfaction comes not simply from finding the answer, but from realising that the two of you have worked it out together.
This also makes the quality of the partnership enormously important. Playing with someone who listens carefully, asks sensible questions and remains patient when things become confusing can turn a difficult puzzle into a wonderful shared experience. Playing with someone who rushes ahead, fails to explain what they are seeing or becomes frustrated after a few unsuccessful attempts can make the same situation considerably less enjoyable. That is not necessarily a weakness in the design, since the entire point is to make cooperation essential, but it does mean that We Were Here Tomorrow is as much a test of communication as it is of problem-solving.
There is a particular pleasure in those moments when both players are convinced they have understood the situation, only to discover that they have been interpreting the same information in completely different ways. A few questions, a revised description and a sudden flash of understanding can transform frustration into laughter. These are the moments that give cooperative puzzle games their personality, creating stories that players remember long after the machinery has stopped moving. We Were Here Tomorrow appears ideally positioned to deliver that sort of experience, provided both explorers are willing to engage with one another rather than treat the adventure as a race to the finish.
Puzzles That Demand More Than Guesswork
The asymmetrical design gives the puzzles a strong reason to exist. Rather than simply presenting two players with identical tasks, the game gives each explorer a distinct role and specialised tools, encouraging them to approach the same problem from different directions. Environmental clues, spatial reasoning and the manipulation of gravity and time form part of the challenge, requiring players to connect information that might initially seem unrelated. The result is a style of puzzle-solving built around observation, interpretation and communication rather than reflexes alone.
That distinction is important because a good cooperative puzzle should make both players feel necessary. Nobody wants to spend an entire session standing in a corner while their partner does all the interesting work. By separating information and giving each explorer their own responsibilities, We Were Here Tomorrow aims to ensure that progress depends on both sides of the partnership. One player may understand the underlying mechanism, but without the other player’s observations or ability to interact with a separate part of the environment, that understanding might not be enough.
The best puzzles in this format create a genuine exchange of ideas. Players need to ask what the other person can see, describe details accurately and recognise when their own interpretation might be wrong. It is a refreshing change from adventures that repeatedly rely on finding a key, pulling a lever or matching three objects to an obvious pattern. Here, the challenge is not just discovering what a machine does, but working out how the pieces of information held by two different people fit together.
There is, naturally, a risk that this approach can become frustrating when a clue is difficult to describe or a puzzle’s logic is not immediately apparent. Communication-based gameplay can magnify even small misunderstandings, particularly when one player assumes that a symbol, colour or movement is obvious to the other. The difference between an ingenious puzzle and an irritating one can sometimes be a matter of presentation. If the game gives players enough information to reason their way towards a solution without making every step painfully obscure, its cooperative mechanics should provide a rewarding sense of discovery.
Welcome to the Future That Never Was
Moving the series into a retro-futuristic research facility is one of We Were Here Tomorrow’s most promising decisions. The Antarctic setting gives the adventure an immediate sense of isolation, while Norček Industries offers a setting packed with opportunities for unusual machinery, secretive experiments and unsettling discoveries. Rather than relying on the familiar visual language of ancient castles and medieval contraptions, the game embraces a vision of tomorrow shaped by the imagination of the 1980s. It is a world where scientific ambition and slightly unsettling technology can coexist, creating an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and unfamiliar.
The retro-futuristic aesthetic is more than a superficial change of scenery. It helps establish a different tone for the mystery, suggesting that the explorers have stumbled into an environment where scientific progress has taken a worrying turn. The facility’s technology becomes part of the narrative, giving players a reason to question what Norček Industries was attempting to achieve and why its research team has disappeared. As the adventure progresses, the central mystery asks not only how the explorers can escape, but also why they were brought there in the first place.
That uncertainty is essential to the appeal of a narrative puzzle adventure. A good mystery gives players enough information to form theories while withholding just enough to keep them curious. The missing memories, absent researchers and growing sense of a wider crisis provide several threads to follow, with the facility itself acting as a physical manifestation of the questions surrounding the story. There is a natural incentive to keep moving forward because every newly discovered room or piece of evidence might change how players understand their predicament.
The danger with this sort of storytelling is that atmosphere can sometimes promise more than the eventual revelations deliver. An intriguing setting and a collection of unanswered questions are excellent ways to spark curiosity, but the narrative ultimately needs to reward that curiosity with satisfying developments. The mystery surrounding Norček Industries has considerable potential, though its lasting impact depends on how effectively the game links its puzzles to the fate of the missing team and the explorers’ own circumstances. Ideally, the discoveries will feel like meaningful pieces of a larger story rather than mere excuses to send players towards another locked door.
A Soundtrack from Another Tomorrow
The synthwave soundtrack is a natural fit for the game’s retro-futuristic direction. Electronic music inspired by the sound and atmosphere of the 1980s can make technology feel both exciting and faintly sinister, precisely the mood a secret research facility needs. Against the cold isolation of Antarctica, those sounds can create a strange sense of warmth, as though the explorers have stepped into a forgotten vision of the future that has continued operating long after everyone else has left. It is a fitting musical identity for a game that seeks to balance scientific wonder with creeping unease.
Audio also plays an important role in cooperative adventures, as the atmosphere must support the conversations between players. The soundtrack should give the environment character without making it difficult to hear instructions or concentrate on clues. When that balance works, the music can quietly reinforce the tension without demanding constant attention. It becomes part of the experience rather than something that competes with it.
The retro presentation and electronic score also help distinguish We Were Here Tomorrow from other cooperative puzzle games. A strong aesthetic gives the adventure an immediately recognisable identity and makes the prospect of exploring another corridor or examining another mysterious device more inviting. The setting promises a world worth investigating, which is particularly important when the gameplay requires players to spend time studying details and discussing what they mean.
A Game That Depends on the Right Partner
For all its intriguing ideas, We Were Here Tomorrow has a very specific audience. This is not a conventional single-player adventure that can be enjoyed at your own pace, nor is it a cooperative action game where two people can simply charge through a level together. Its two-player online structure and crossplay support are built around a shared experience, with communication serving as the bridge between the two explorers. That commitment gives the game its greatest strength, but it also places a clear limitation on how and with whom it can be enjoyed.
Finding the right partner is therefore essential. A friend who enjoys mysteries, puzzles and talking through complicated problems is likely to get much more out of the adventure than someone who prefers to play quietly or dislikes being dependent on another person. The game asks players to be engaged participants rather than passive companions, and both need to contribute if the partnership is going to work. For those who enjoy this sort of collaboration, the requirement can make the experience feel genuinely special.
Crossplay is a welcome feature because it can make arranging a session easier when friends do not use the same gaming platform. It is a practical addition to a game that relies so heavily on having a reliable partner available. Even so, the strict two-player focus means that finding someone to play with remains part of the commitment. This is an adventure best approached as something to experience together, rather than a game to pick up whenever you have a spare ten minutes and nobody else is around.
Replayability is another consideration. Once players have solved a puzzle and discovered its solution, the mystery and uncertainty that made the first attempt exciting may be difficult to recreate. A second playthrough with a different partner could offer an interesting change of perspective, particularly if one player takes on a different role, but the main attraction remains the initial process of discovery. For a puzzle adventure, that is not necessarily a problem. A memorable experience does not have to keep players occupied indefinitely, provided the journey itself is satisfying.
Final Verdict
We Were Here Tomorrow looks like a confident evolution of Total Mayhem Games’ cooperative formula. Its shift from medieval settings to a retro-futuristic Antarctic facility gives the series a fresh visual identity, while its asymmetrical puzzles preserve the communication and teamwork that have made the concept so appealing. The combination of specialised tools, split perspectives and environmental problem-solving creates a compelling reason for two players to work together, rather than simply sharing a screen while completing the same tasks. Add an intriguing mystery and a synthwave soundtrack, and the foundations are in place for a memorable cooperative adventure.
Its greatest strength is also its biggest limitation. The game depends on a willing partner who enjoys talking through puzzles, and the experience could become frustrating if communication breaks down or the solutions feel needlessly obscure. The story will also need to deliver meaningful answers to the questions raised by Norček Industries if its atmosphere is to leave a lasting impression. Those are important considerations, but they do not diminish the appeal of a game built around the simple pleasure of solving something neither player could manage alone.
There is something genuinely rewarding about the moment when a confusing collection of clues finally makes sense because two people have managed to explain their separate experiences to one another. It is a kind of satisfaction that many games struggle to capture, and We Were Here Tomorrow has a premise ideally suited to creating it. For friends who enjoy mysteries, thoughtful puzzles and the occasional bout of good-natured frustration, this looks like an adventure worth sharing. It may not be for everyone, but for the right pair of explorers, the journey into Norček Industries could prove a thoroughly absorbing trip into a future that has gone horribly, fascinatingly wrong.
