El Paso, Elsewhere Studio Announces Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Game
Today, Strange Scaffold revealed they’re working on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, a “turn-based beat ‘em up” in the TMNT universe. Set in a world where both Shredder and Splinter have bit the dust, here the four turtles are playable, each with different movesets and their own “mini-campaigns.” It has a top-down tile-based presentation, which calls to mind tactics games like Fire Emblem, and in the trailer, we can see the Turtles chaining attacks together to take out opposing pieces on a board.
“Building a truly powerful licensed game requires a deep respect for the source material, love for the fans, and a willingness to challenge tentpoles of the universe to create something that both surprises and delights,” wrote Xalavier Nelson Jr., the head of Strange Scaffold, in a press release. “I get to make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game where the very first lines of dialogue establish that Shredder and Splinter are dead. Who else can say that?”
Strange Scaffold is behind a spate of recent standout releases, such as El Paso, Elsewhere, I Am Your Beast, Clickholding, Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, and more. While each of these is in a different genre and style, they’re largely united by strong writing and unique setups. And perhaps the studio’s most impressive accomplishment is how prolific they are, releasing three games last year, two in 2023, and another trio in 2022. Considering that game development processes have generally slowed down across the board, the studio’s speedy output very much feels like a throwback to the PSX days. Beyond this, earlier this year it was announced that El Paso, Elsewhere will receive a film adaptation from Di Bonaventura Pictures starring LaKeith Stanfield.
As for their TMNT game, while it’s somewhat disappointing to hear that this developer behind so many interesting original games is working on a licensed project instead of another entirely novel creation, the silver lining is that it’s quite possible they will somehow put out multiple games again next year. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown is currently set for a 2025 release on Steam.