When I was offered the opportunity to look at Virtue and a Sledgehammer, I honestly didn’t really know what to expect. It had an evocative name and Devolver Digital behind it, so that was pretty much all I needed to give it a look, but the trailers gave it an eerie, almost action-oriented Mouthwashing vibe so my interest was fully piqued.
Thankfully, not only was I given a chance to try out a preview build of Virtue and a Sledgehammer, but we were invited to sit down with the Creative Director and Writer, and Composer and Level Designer at Deconstructeam: Jordi de Paco and Paula Fingerspit. The two gave us some added insight into what went behind the game, and after seeing what they’ve put together, it really is something special.
When I reviewed Mixtape, I mentioned my distinction between video games as art and art as video games. The medium is so fluid that creative developers can find unique ways to experiment with the style to create something resonant while playing with the concepts of interactivity. Virtue and a Sledgehammer is exactly this kind of experience—literally hitting on big ideas and deep themes, while essentially being what de Paco describes as a “walking simulator but with a sledgehammer.”
“At Deconstructeam, we always set out to do projects with a question, like ‘What kind of feeling or what kind of idea we want to explore through a video game?’” Said de Paco. He continued, “We had this prototype of breaking stuff and fighting robots, which was fun, but we didn’t know what to do with it yet…And we decided, what about if we use this as a metaphor to talk about feeling like you don’t belong anymore to the place you grew up in?”
And you really get this sense the moment you start playing. I’m honestly hesitant to talk too much about it because I’m afraid I’ll give too much of it away, and it’s really something you need to experience on your own. Players step into the role of Pratelle, who returns to her hometown to find every living being replaced with a robot. Armed with a sledgehammer, she has one singular goal: tear it all down.
“One thing that really stuck with me during my playthrough of Virtue and a Sledgehammer was how quiet the game is, despite the central action being smashing through the game with a sledgehammer.”
As players progress forward, they need to smash everything in their way—buildings, robots, and even their past. Despite its simplicity, it’s unbelievably satisfying to walk through each area and take out half a building with a single swing, like your hammer is the mighty Mjolnir. It’s an incredibly complex experience that hits players with its themes like a 20 lb block on the end of a wooden handle. Virtue and a Sledgehammer immediately sets an eerie, yet hauntingly beautiful tone with its low-poly aesthetic, melancholic synth soundtrack, and simple yet effective gameplay.
De Paco spoke about the “four pillars of inspiration for Virtue and a Sledgehammer, saying, “Alan Wake 2….I mean these aesthetics of dark naturalism with psychedelic stuff. Mouthwashing because of the low-poly, the fragmented narrative stuff that it has in it. Also Signalis, which has pretty charismatic visual design and a 1000xResist is a really important influence to the game.”
One thing that really stuck with me during my playthrough of Virtue and a Sledgehammer was how quiet the game is, despite the central action being smashing through the game with a sledgehammer. But the sense of stillness alongside destruction is underpinned by a soundtrack that slowly builds as you progress to incredible effect. As Fingerspit explained, “the music for our games always tries to reinforce heavily what we want the player to feel. Like, what is this game trying to convey emotionally?”
She continued, “There’s like this epic tone to the music in the trailers that maybe it’s not that present in the game at first. There’s this horror theme because, like the game is kind of like horror…like it’s not a horror game, but it makes you feel dread, right?” The word that de Paco used to describe it was “traumatic,” and that certainly feels apt based on what both the player and Pratelle experience throughout the game.
“Virtue and a Sledgehammer immediately sets an eerie, yet hauntingly beautiful tone with its low-poly aesthetic, melancholic synth soundtrack, and simple yet effective gameplay.”
Virtue and a Sledgehammer is definitely an experience. There’s so much I want to say about it, but if I did, it would detract too much from its meaning—which makes this preview a little awkward. Deconstructeam has crafted a portfolio of games that blend unique mechanics with deeply resonant stories packed with meaning, and this is yet another sterling example of their creative capacity. Personally, I am beyond excited for the final release.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer is set to launch in 2026 on PC. A demo is currently available on Steam.
