Hela: of Mice& Magic
A tiny mouse, a sick witch and a forest that has fallen out of tune. Windup's open-world co-op adventure sends you through northern Sweden, brewing remedies from what you forage and solving physics puzzles with a magic frog on your back.
What You Are Getting Into
What is Hela: of Mice & Magic?
Hela: of Mice & Magic is a third-person open-world adventure from Windup Games, a studio in Umeå in northern Sweden, published by Knights Peak with Boltray Games and Shochiku handling China and Japan. You play one of the smallest familiars of a witch who has spent her life keeping the forest in balance, and who is now too ill to keep doing it.
There is no combat. The loop is foraging, brewing remedies, and moving through a landscape built at mouse scale, where a fallen branch is a bridge and a puddle is a lake. The Froggy backpack glides, swings and carries, and the Shade System conjures copies of your mouse so a puzzle that needs four paws still works with two.
- Developer
- Windup Games
- Publisher
- Knights Peak
- Genre
- Co-op adventure
- Platforms
- PC · PS5 · Xbox · Switch 2
- Release
- 1 December 2026
- Players
- 1–4 online, 2 split-screen
No combat at all
Nothing in the world wants to kill you. Obstacles are geometry, weather and wildlife.
The Froggy backpack
A magic frog does the carrying, the gliding and the swinging. It is the movement system.
The Shade System
Conjure copies of your mouse so a two-paw puzzle still resolves when you are alone.
Northern Sweden
Moss, birch and bog, built by a studio that lives in the landscape it is copying.
From the Game
What It Actually Looks Like
Four official screenshots, and the one thing each of them tells you about the game.
Pick Your Question
Six Areas, One Decision
Almost everything asked about this game before launch is one of five things: when, where, how much, can I play with a friend, and what does it actually feel like. The sections are ordered that way.
Release
The launch is dated and the demo has an end date. Everything else about the first week of December follows from those two.
OpenEditions
One physical edition, one digital release, and a price that has only been printed by retailers so far.
OpenPlatforms
Four platforms, two of them split into variants, and one subscription deal that changes the maths on Xbox.
OpenCo-op
The game is built for company but does not require it — and the two ways of finding company behave quite differently.
OpenGameplay
No enemies, no health bar, no fail state. The whole game is terrain, physics and a very large frog.
OpenGuides
One practical page for the demo, one for the question everybody asks after finishing it.
OpenMost Asked
Jump Straight In
The pages that answer the question you typed into a search bar.
Before You Buy
Three Things Worth Knowing
The demo is its own story
The free demo is a self-contained side story on a map built only for it, roughly 30 to 60 minutes long. Nothing carries into the full game, and it closes on 9 November 2026.
Two on a couch, four online
Local split-screen tops out at two players. Online co-op goes to four. The demo supports the couch version only — online co-op arrives with the full release.
No price has been announced
The Steam page is wishlist-only, with no price and no pre-order. Only the physical Harmony Edition has retail prices, and they differ by country.
Frequently Asked Questions
The six questions that come up before every purchase.
1 December 2026, digitally on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, on PlayStation 5, on Xbox Series X|S and on Nintendo Switch 2. The physical Harmony Edition ships for PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch 2 on the same date.
Yes, from day one. Game Pass subscribers on Xbox Series X|S and on PC can play it at launch without buying a copy. The physical edition stays a separate purchase for people who want the box.
Four players online, or two on one screen in split-screen. Crossplay between platforms has not been announced, and the demo supports local split-screen only.
No. The demo is a separate side story on its own map rather than a slice of the campaign, so there is nothing to import when the full game unlocks.
None. There are no enemies, no health bar and no fail state built around damage. The challenge is reading a physical space and working out what the Froggy pack can do with it.
The digital price has not been published, and the Steam page takes wishlists rather than orders. The physical Harmony Edition is listed by retailers at local prices, from around €39.99 in the eurozone to 4,400 yen in Japan.
The Forest Opens on 1 December
Start with the date and the platform, then read how co-op actually works before you invite anyone. The demo stays open until 9 November, and it is the cheapest way to find out whether this forest suits you.