Guide the Lemmings safely to the exit. How difficult could it be?
That was surely the thought of everyone who sat down to play Lemmings when it first appeared in 1991, a notion that they would soon be disabused of. Lemmings, for all its cuteness and clever skills, is an evil bastard of a game. It’s particularly evil in two player mode.
To celebrate the cutesy subversion of sanity and friendship, current Lemmings license holder Exient has released a two hour retrospective documentary looking at the game. Featuring a ton of names from programmers DMA Design and publishers Psygnosis, game journalism, YouTubers, and the games industry, this is an in-depth “deep-dive” into the game.
Watch the true story of Lemmings – from the computer rooms in Dundee to the world-changing UK games scene that exists today; through the voices of those who were there at the time and those who grew up playing it.
The documentary features: Adrian Powell (original Lemmings cover artist), Alyson Conway (sculpture artist), Brian ‘Biscuit’ Watson, (ex-DMA), Chris Scullion (journalist), Chris van der Kuyl (developer & Kingsway Club alumni), Eli Mouawad (streamer), Enrique Hervas (Lead Designer at Exient), Gary Penn (ex-DMA & journalist), Gary Timmons (ex-DMA), Gary Whitta (screen writer & journalist), Ian Hetherington (ex-Psygnosis), Jake Montanarini (Norwich University), James Roadley-Battin (Art Director at Exient), Kish Hirani (BAME In Games, ex-PlayStation), Larry Bundy Jr (TV presenter, YouTuber), Mike Dailly (ex-DMA), Nia Wearn (Deep Silver), Nick Gorse (Coventry University), Paul Farley (ex-DMA), Peter Molyneux (games industry legend), Robin Gray (Gayming Magazine), Russell Kay (ex-DMA), Ryan Locke (Abertay University), Silvio Micalef (Lead Artist at Exient), Steve Hammond (ex-DMA), Tim Wright (ex-DMA), Trista Bytes (superfan, YouTuber) and more.
Released on YouTube, you can enjoy the documentary in its entirety by clicking play above.
Lemmings isn’t going anywhere soon, either. It remains available on Android and iOS in its 2021 guise.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.