VGSources / Games / Double Fine
Metroidvania
Headlander
By Double Fine, released 1 Jan 2016
- Microsoft Windows
- macOS
- science fiction video game
What it is
Headlander is a 2016 Double Fine side-scrolling action-adventure set in a retro-futuristic world shaped by 1970s science fiction. You play as the last known human, reduced to a disembodied head, searching for clues about the past. A special helmet lets you detach, launch between robotic bodies and take control of them as you travel through a machine-ruled environment. The setting imagines humanity transferred into robotic bodies under the control of a deranged computer, with the apparent utopia gone wrong. The game’s genres include action and Metroidvania. It is listed for Windows and macOS, and the Steam listing includes single-player, full controller support, captions, Steam Cloud, Remote Play on TV and Family Sharing. Its Steam release date is Jul 25, 2016. Double Fine developed the game, and Adult Swim Games is listed as publisher.
What players like, and what they don't
- Take control of robotic host bodies
- Retro-futuristic setting inspired by 1970s science fiction
- Full controller support and captions are listed
- Steam Cloud and Remote Play on TV are listed
- Single-player only
- Listed platforms are Windows and macOS
Who it suits
It suits players drawn to side-scrolling action-adventure, science-fiction settings and body-switching as a way to move through the world. The Windows and macOS listings make it relevant to players on either platform.
Headlander builds its science-fiction premise around a head that can launch into robotic bodies. The machine-ruled setting and side-scrolling action frame the search for the protagonist’s past.
