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The Merlies is a 2D exploration platformer from Darjeeling and Blue Ramen, published by ARTE France, that landed on Steam and Switch on September 29, 2026 for $19.99. The setup is a solarpunk reversal of the usual apocalypse: human civilization is gone, nature is healing, and a community of tiny birds is rebuilding in the leftover junk. A storm scattered the Merlies across the land, and your job is to gather them back, explore a world where everyday objects grew to giant scale, and turn collected scraps into a village worth coming home to.
The genre tag the developers use is "wholesomevania": metroidvania structure, no combat, no timers, no enemies. The obstacles are thorns, rocks, rivers, and your own small size. Every Merlie you rescue joins a squad, each bird carries a specific ability, and passages that were walls on your first crossing open up once the right skill joins the flock. The visual references are graphic novels and children's picture books, and the tone is exactly what that implies: bright, gentle, and quietly clever about reuse and repair.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / Publisher | Darjeeling, Blue Ramen / ARTE France, GCORES Publishing |
| Genre | 2D exploration platformer ("wholesomevania") |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Nintendo Switch |
| Price | $19.99, 20% launch discount |
| Release | September 29, 2026 |
| Combat | None. The world itself is the obstacle |
| Session design | No timers; explore at your own pace |
| Achievements | 17 |
| Languages | English (voiced), French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified and Traditional Chinese |
Who it is for: Pikmin-adjacent players who like managing a small squad of specialists, fans of A Short Hike's gentle exploration, and anyone who wants a metroidvania where the reward screen is a bird family moving into a lamp.
Who it is not for: players who need combat, boss fights, or fail states. The Wand Report's review wanted more differentiation from Stardew-shaped cozy games, and that is a fair read if your cozy game of choice needs systems friction. This one is about wandering and wiring.
Getting Started: The First Evening
Rescue Before You Roam
The first two achievements most players earn, First Haven (48.8%) and Once upon a time (48.1%), are the tutorial in disguise: build one Nest piece, find one lost Merlie. Every rescue grows the flock, and flock size gates the map. A passage that needed a glider stays shut until the glider Merlie comes home, so the efficient loop is: explore until you hit a wall, note the wall, go find the bird that opens it. The in-game map, added after the demo's Next Fest feedback, marks unexplored regions honestly, so use it as a route planner rather than a trophy wall.
Your First Session Plan
- Follow the storm's path. The opening area teaches climbing on electric cables and billboards, and both skills gate the next region. Master the cable hop before wandering.
- Grab every scrap you see. Scraps build Nests, cook meals, and buy Oddities. A Taste of Growth (25.5%) unlocks cooking ingredients, and feeding matters later.
- Talk to everything that glows. Cairns are fast-travel points, and A Shared World (0.7%) asks you to visit them all. Early cairn activation saves hours later.
- Do not fear the swamp. The Swamp Trills (18.7%) is the first flock-gated obstacle: a giant barrier only a full squad can pass. It is a checkpoint, not a wall.
- Leave the Stump for later. Going on an Adventure (1.1%) plants a flower in the Stump, a late-game area. The achievement rate tells you how few players get there early.
Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
| Mistake | Why it costs you the run |
|---|---|
| Beelining the story path | Every Merlie you skip is a skill you lack two regions later. Rescue density beats route speed |
| Ignoring ingredient patches | Cooking feeds favorite-dish achievements and happiness. A Beakful of Joy (0.3%) needs every Merlie fed their favorite |
| Building Nests before collecting Oddities | Nest placement is permanent-ish; Oddities unlock Sculptures (Art Curator, 0.3%) that raise village happiness |
| Forgetting the map exists | The Overground is a maze by design. The Petals Tribe (1.1%) needs all Seeds, and unmarked wandering wastes evenings |
| Losing a Merlie to a thorn shortcut | Birds are fragile. The game warns you: shortcuts through hazards can cost a flock member and a walk back |
Core Mechanics Deep Dive
The Flock Is Your Skill Tree
There is no upgrade menu. Progression is rescue: each lost Merlie found adds a body and an ability to the squad. The achievement list doubles as a skill index. First Steps (38.7%) is the Explorer Merlie, your early mobility unlock. Mystery Unearthed (38.7%) ties to a Vestige, one of the giant-civilization relics that anchor the lore. Mid-game skills like the mushroom bounce open vertical routes; late skills open the pipes and the Stump. The design trick is that the map teaches you to want things: you see the locked passage first, feel the ache, then earn the bird that satisfies it.
Scraps, Oddities, and the Village Economy
Two currencies matter. Scraps are the building material: Nests, decorations, and amenities all consume them, and the Overground hides scrap clusters near landmarks rather than in random dirt. Oddities are the rare finds: they feed the Sculpture line (Art Connoisseur at 1.1% for placing one, Art Curator at 0.3% for placing them all) and raise village happiness. Everything the Light Touches (1.1%) wants every Nest-with-a-View found, which is the collectible layer for players who treat the map as a checklist.
Happiness: The Village's Heart
The village is not just cosmetic. Happiness rises with Nests built, meals cooked, sculptures placed, and Merlies housed well, and the top tier gates Empty bones, full hearts (0.3%). Happiness also feeds back into exploration: well-fed birds and a cozy village mean a more willing flock. Nest is where the heart is (0.1%) is the crown jewel: changing a Nest's color is a tiny, late, easy-to-miss interaction that only dedicated players find.
The World: Biomes, Cairns, and the Lantern
The Overground spans meadows, ruins, waterways, and the swamp, with the Stump as a distinct late zone. Cairns act as fast travel (A Shared World, 0.7%), and the map fills in as you walk rather than as you buy. The Journey Is The Destination (0.3%) is the game's quiet signature: send one lantern into the night, a pure vibe achievement that marks the moment the game stops being about progress and starts being about place.
The Seed Hunt and Endgame Collectibles
The Petals Tribe (1.1%) collects every Seed in the Overground, and Lend a Wing (0.7%) helps a Merlie in the Stump. These are the 100-percent layer, and their rarity on the achievement board (under 1.2% of players) tells you the endgame is genuinely deep. The full completion path: full flock, all cairns, all Seeds, all Nests with a View, all sculptures, every favorite dish cooked, happiness maxed, one lantern sent. It is a weekend's work for a dedicated player, and every step of it is walking, not grinding.
Advanced Tips & Strategies
Route by skill gating, not geography. The Overground's regions interlock, so the fastest full-flock route visits the meadow birds first (movement), then the ruin birds (verticality), then the swamp (the Trills gate), saving the Stump for the end. Map the locked passages you see on every crossing; the map pins them.
The scrap circuit. Scraps cluster near landmarks and Oddities near Vestiges. A loop that hits three landmarks per session funds a Nest and a sculpture each time. Build in that order: Nest, then decoration, then sculpture. Happiness compounds on structures, not on banked scraps.
Cook before you explore. A fed flock explores better and feeds the favorite-dish achievement passively. Keep two dishes per Merlie in rotation and A Beakful of Joy resolves itself by mid-game instead of becoming a cooking-genocide sprint at the end.
The swamp is a squad check. If the Trills barrier refuses your flock, the game is telling you the count, not the route, is wrong. One more rescue in the ruins opens it. This is the game's only real difficulty wall, and it is a headcount.
Lantern last, but not too last. The Journey Is the Destination wants a night send-off, and the game's night cycle matters for it. Do it after your village hits its happiness stride; the achievement lands harder when the lights you leave behind are ones you built.
FAQ
How much does The Merlies cost? $19.99 on Steam, with a 20% launch discount. The Switch version launched the same day at the same price.
Is there combat? No. The store page is explicit: no enemies, no fights. The obstacles are terrain, hazards, and scale.
How long is the game? A story-focused run takes most players 6 to 10 hours. Full completion (all Seeds, all Nests with a View, all sculptures, max happiness) runs longer, and the sub-1.2% achievement rates for the collectible set show it.
Does it have controller support? Full controller support, and the demo's keyboard support carried over to launch: the game is fully playable on keyboard with remapping.
Is it on Mac or Switch? Yes to both. Windows, Mac, and Nintendo Switch.
Is it suitable for kids? The picture-book art, no-combat design, and at-your-own-pace structure make it family-friendly. The reading load is moderate.
What are the minimum specs? Windows 7 or newer, Intel i5 Quad-Core, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD 4000 graphics, and 500 MB of storage. It runs on very modest machines.
What is a "wholesomevania"? The developers' own coinage: metroidvania exploration and ability gating with the combat removed and the tone turned up.
How many achievements are there? 17, from First Haven (48.8% of players) down to Nest is where the heart is (0.1%).
Who made it? Darjeeling and Blue Ramen, published by ARTE France, the cultural broadcaster's games arm, with GCORES Publishing handling the Chinese release. The game doubles as gentle upcycling propaganda, which fits the publisher's catalog.
Last reviewed by Game How To Editorial. We play each game, verify controls against official sources, and update guides when game mechanics change.
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