2D retro Haunted Lands is one of 2026’s hardest video games

Random Select is a new column from Polygon about under-the-radar video games. Every week, Polygon’s editors assign a writer to check out a game at random, downloading the game without knowing beforehand what it is. The catch? They have to play for at least an hour and report on their thoughts — honestly. This week’s game is the 2D shoot -em-up platformer Haunted Lands.

Steam has more than 12,000 games with the “shoot ’em up” tag. Some of the most iconic arcade games are in the genre, and they’ve inspired plenty of games aiming to replicate that same charm over the years. Haunted Lands combines the genre with a 2D platformer twist, along the lines of the early Metroid games, but it does a little more than the bare minimum that helps it stand out in a crowded space.

First up, it’s difficult as hell. Slowly trudging through levels, getting slightly further than you did the last time, and learning enemy locations, attacks, and move patterns as you go is part of the rigmarole, and it’ll test your patience. You can only take a maximum of four hits before you die, which means any mistake can be lethal. Enemies are largely predictable once you know what they do, but it’s easy to get too comfortable and find yourself taking unnecessary damage, especially as you navigate the platforming elements simultaneously.

In my first hour with Haunted Lands, I made it to the first proper boss — a souped-up, fire-emblazoned mage in an equally scorching room with lots of environmental damage if you misstep — and had my ass handed to me multiple times. Even with my character’s ultimate charged up — a fully automatic machine gun — I couldn’t take it down.

If you’re struggling with the de facto gunner class though, represented by a veteran with a shotgun, you can opt for a mage or beast instead. The former has chain lightning as her primary attack, while the latter is solely focused on melee combat. In my short time with the game, though, both of these classes were considerably more limited in their flexibility. The mage’s lightning has a shorter range than the gunner’s shotgun, and you can’t be agile enough to dodge incoming attacks when rushing enemies with the beast in melee range.

Image: Alevgor/Alawar

Secrets can be found everywhere, from gold and silver to additional shields that allow you to take extra hits. Exploration is rewarded, although early on, there isn’t anything particularly exciting to find. (Bear in mind, that’s based on an hour with the game; it could well change with further progress.) The opening level does have one section that punishes you heavily for straying too far from the beaten track, however, as I got stuck between vines that deal contact damage and a stone pillar I had no way of moving.

If retro-aesthetic 2D platformers are your thing, Haunted Lands is worth a look, especially for the price ($4.79 on Steam, as of this writing). Were I a more patient individual with better skill for this sort of game, I think I’d get more out of it. However, this genre has never been for me, despite my love for more modern difficult games such as Soulslikes, so I think my time with it is up.