New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game Now Has a Playable Demo

Late last year, developer Strange Scaffold pulled back the curtain on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown. The game still doesn’t have a release date, but players can try it out a little early thanks to a newly released demo. The demo’s arrival is part of Steam’s Next Fest event, which is set to last through March 3rd. From everything shown so far, Tactical Takedown seems like a radical departure from what fans are used to seeing out of the TMNT license, and this demo could be a great opportunity to see how things are shaping up.

For those that haven’t been keeping track, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is a turn-based game that features playable characters that look like figurines. The levels are also meant to resemble dioramas, giving the visuals a unique flair unlike what we’ve seen from recent TMNT games like Shredder’s Revenge or Mutants Unleashed. Mutants Unleashed picked up the threads of the most recent movie, which featured younger takes on the turtles. In contrast, Tactical Takedown features older versions of the characters, as they’re approaching adulthood. As a result, the tone is a bit darker, and the story features Master Splinter and the Shredder both dead when the game begins.

In addition to the demo’s release, Strange Scaffold celebrated Steam Next Fest with a video of the developers playing the new game. While Shredder might be dead, the video showcased many of his minions, including the Foot Clan, Roadkill Rodneys, Mousers, and more. The game will also keep some familiar elements from classic TMNT titles, such as health restoring pizzas (hot dogs also help). While the Ninja Turtles can use their special skills to take down their enemies, they can also lean on stage hazards. At one point in the Steam video, passing vehicles in the street defeat foes that find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The demo for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is only available on Steam, which makes sense as that’s the only platform the game has been announced for. Given the long history the TMNT have with video game consoles, it seems like a safe bet that Tactical Takedown will be announced for other platforms at some point in the future. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate started life as an Apple Arcade exclusive, and finally got a console release last year. Hopefully that means we’ll see the same for Tactical Takedown, even if the game doesn’t arrive on consoles at the same time as PC.

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It remains to be seen whether Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown will stand with the best games in the franchise, but everything shown so far looks promising. Strange Scaffold actually has a very impressive track record, and this new TMNT game looks like it could follow that trend. Steam users can see for themselves by checking out the demo, which is available right here.

Are you going to check out the demo for the new TMNT game? What do you think of the game so far? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!