Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

Developer:	Playtonic Games
Publisher:	Team17
Release date:	Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Genre:	2D Platformer Action-adventure
Modes:	Single-player
Ratings:	E ESRB for Mild cartoon violence
Platforms:	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One Nintendo Switch
Media:	Digital download Physical releases (console only)

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a hybrid 2D platformer and adventure video game developed by Playtonic Games. The game was released on October 8th, 2019 and is available on Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

It is the second game in the Yooka-Laylee franchise, and features many of the characters from the original game, taking place in the same larger setting. Despite the change in genre, the story is a direct continuation of Yooka-Laylee.

Story

Capital B is up to no good! With a "Hivemind" device in his greedy hands, he's causing a great deal of trouble for the Royal Stingdom and its Bee population. Its ruler, Queen Phoebee, has summoned Yooka and Laylee for aid – they must rescue the captured Royal Beettalion Guards and put an end to Capital B's meddling.

All that stands between the lizard and bat and their bumbling adversary is the Impossible Lair. How hard can it bee?

Gameplay

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair features two major types of gameplay.

In the overworld, the player controls Yooka and Laylee from a top down perspective, with the goal of finding new Chapters and collecting Tonics. This section of the game features analog directional movement, and actions such as jumping and attacking. In the overworld, the player can talk to characters, solve puzzles, and alter the state of the various Chapters scattered around the world.

Inside a Chapter, the game is a traditional 2D platformer. The player can move Yooka and Laylee left and right using the control stick and buttons. The player can perform jumps, a rolling attack, swim underwater, and climb on ropes and vines. If the player takes damage, Laylee will fly off Yooka's head, and move around the stage for a short time, in which she can be retrieved. If she is not caught during this time, she leaves the stage until the player finds a Laylee Bell. While together, Yooka and Laylee have an additional ability, a mid air twirl.

At any point in the game, the player can take on the final level – The Impossible Lair – and finish the game's story. However, this is very difficult from the start of the game. The player can gain additional hit points for the Impossible Lair, through the Beetalion Guards who are rescued from each level.

Additionally, each level contains five T.W.I.T. Coins, which can be traded with Trowzer to pass his Pay Walls. The player needs to unlock these Pay Walls in order to access more levels in the game.

While not mandatory for completing the game, another major gameplay feature are Tonics. These can be found scattered in the overworld, and are given as rewards for completing certain tasks or puzzles. Up to three Tonics can be selected before entering a level, changing the visuals or gameplay in different ways. Some Tonics have a quill multiplier, which affects how many quills the player can earn from the level.

Levels

There are 40 levels in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, distributed across 20 Chapters. Each Chapter has a base state, and can be changed into an alternate state. These states are distinct and unique levels, though they take place in the same location.

In addition, the titular Impossible Lair is available to the player from the beginning of the game. This level is not numbered, as it can be completed at any point throughout the game. The Impossible Lair does not have an alternate state.

	Base State	Alternate State	Overworld Location
NA	Not-So-Impossible Lair	Impossible Lair	Hivory Towers Exterior
1	Capital Causeway	Capital Causeway – Chaos	Hivory Towers Exterior
2	Factory Fright	Factory Fright – Flooded	Hivory Towers Exterior
3	Wild Web Woods	Wild Web Woods – Wilder	Fields
4	Frantic Fountains	Frantic Fountains – Frozen	Fields
5	Gasping Glade	Gasping Glade – Grown	Fields
6	Sawblade Evade	Sawblade Evade – Stuck	Forest
7	Production Path	Production Path – Panic	Forest
8	Windmill Way	Windmill Way – Windy	Forest
9	Urban Uprise	Urban Uprise – Updraft	Canyon
10	Ropeburn Ridge	Ropeburn Ridge – Rerouted	Canyon
11	Conveyor Chaos	Conveyor Chaos – Crosswire	Canyon
12	Buzzsaw Falls	Buzzsaw Falls – Frozen	Lake
13	Cliffside Quest	Cliffside Quest – Cold	Lake
14	Hazard Hangar	Hazard Hangar – Hung	Lake
15	Turbine Trouble	Turbine Trouble – Tidal	Beach
16	Queasy Quay	Queasy Quay – Climb	Beach
17	Boom-Bloom Blast	Boom-Bloom Blast – Breakthrough	Beach
18	Pumping Plant	Pumping Plant – Powered	The Final Zone
19	Scareship Shootout	Scareship Shootout – Smoggy	The Final Zone
20	Scareship Scroll	Scareship Scroll – Docked	The Final Zone

There is also a short tutorial level at the beginning of the game. This level cannot be replayed without starting a new save file.

Throughout the game, there are also numerous Pagies who will ask Yooka and Laylee to complete a challenge level. These involve defeating a number of enemies in a small room the size of the screen. Upon completing one of these challenge levels, the overworld is changed so that new areas can be accessed.

Development

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was announced on June 7th, 2019, on the Playtonic Games website.

Release

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was released on October 8th, 2019 on Steam, GOG, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The game is available digitally on all platforms, and a physical edition is also available for consoles. It later released on Epic Games Store on December 31st, 2019 as part of a free giveaway.

The game was published by Team17.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the game was composed by Playtonic Games team members Dan Murdoch and Matt Griffin. The game also features guest compositions by veteran composers and regular Playtonic collaborators David Wise and Grant Kirkhope. The track listing and artists listed below are taken from the Steam soundtrack release.

Track Name	Artist	Time
Main Theme	David Wise
The Overworld	Grant Kirkhope
Capital Causeway	David Wise
Capital Causeway – Chaos	Matt Griffin
Factory Fright	David Wise
Factory Fright – Flooded (Underwater Saunter)	Matt Griffin
Wild Web Woods	Dan Murdoch
Wild Web Woods – Wilder	Dan Murdoch
Frantic Fountains	David Wise
Frantic Fountains – Frozen	David Wise
Gasping Glade	Matt Griffin
Gasping Glade – Grown	Matt Griffin
The Overworld – Forest	Grant Kirkhope
Sawblade Evade (Intro)	David Wise
Sawblade Evade	David Wise
Sawblade Evade – Stuck	Matt Griffin
Production Path	Matt Griffin
Production Path – Panic	Matt Griffin
Windmill Way	Matt Griffin
Windmill Way – Windy	Matt Griffin
Urban Uprise	Dan Murdoch
Urban Uprise – Updraft	Matt Griffin
Ropeburn Ridge	Dan Murdoch
Ropeburn Ridge – Rerouted	Matt Griffin
The Overworld – Canyon	Grant Kirkhope
Conveyor Chaos	Matt Griffin
Conveyor Chaos – Crosswire	Matt Griffin
Buzzsaw Falls	Matt Griffin
Buzzsaw Falls – Frozen	Matt Griffin
Cliffside Quest	Matt Griffin
Cliffside Quest – Cold	Matt Griffin
Hazard Hangar	Dan Murdoch
Hazard Hangar – Hung	Dan Murdoch
Turbine Trouble	Dan Murdoch
Turbine Trouble – Tidal	Matt Griffin
The Overworld – Beach	Grant Kirkhope
Queasy Quay	Matt Griffin
Queasy Quay – Climb	Matt Griffin
Boom-Bloom Blast	Matt Griffin
Boom-Bloom Blast – Breakthrough	Matt Griffin
Pumping Plant	Matt Griffin
Pumping Plant – Powered	Dan Murdoch
Scareship Shootout	Matt Griffin
Scareship Shootout – Smoggy	Matt Griffin
Scareship Scroll	David Wise
Scareship Scroll – Docked	Dan Murdoch
Scareship Scroll – Docked (Airship)	Dan Murdoch
The Overworld – The Final Zone	Grant Kirkhope
The Impossible Lair 1	David Wise
The Impossible Lair 2	David Wise
The Impossible Lair 3	David Wise
The Impossible Lair 4	David Wise
The Impossible Lair 5	David Wise
Trowzer's Theme	Matt Griffin
Pagie Power	Matt Griffin
Rescue A Bee	Dan Murdoch

The Official Soundtrack is available as additional content for the Steam and GOG releases of the game, and contains 56 tracks. It will also be released on Bandcamp.

Gallery

Trivia

• SteamDB, a site which scrapes the metadata for games on Steam, features a client icon which shows a logo reading "Yooka-Laylee in Plan Bee," another name that was considered for the game. According to Playtonic Engagement Director Daley Johnson, the name was rejected because it could potentially give the incorrect impression that the game was DLC for the original title, or that it was a "back up plan".