Hela: of Mice & Magic is an open-world adventure where you play a small mouse familiar of a kind witch who has fallen ill. There is no combat: you climb, glide and swing your way through a forest built at mouse scale, solve puzzles made out of the world, and help the creatures you meet. This page explains each system, first as the demo shows it, then what the developers have said about the full game.
Controls (PC, demo)
These are the prompts the demo shows on keyboard and mouse. Where the prompt shows a mouse-button icon we say so; the game shows which button on screen.
| Action | Key |
|---|---|
| Talk, pick up, examine, start a ritual | F |
| Jump / double jump | Space, then Space again in the air |
| Glide | Hold the mouse button in the air |
| Grab an attach point and swing | Hold the mouse button near a hook |
| Reel a rope in / out | Mouse button (on-screen Reel in / Reel out) |
| Let go while climbing | Left Ctrl |
| Plunge (dive down) | Left Ctrl in the air |
| Create a Shade / swap to it | Hold Q / tap Q |
| Remove Shades | Hold Z |
| Current objectives | Tab |
| Quest log | Esc |
| Skip a cutscene | Space |
On a controller, Shades are managed from a wheel (Create Shade, Switch to Shade, Remove Shade), and in co-op the same wheel has Teleport to player.
Stamina, climbing and gliding
The symbol on Froggy, the backpack, shows your stamina. Climbing walls, tree trunks and vines uses it up, so plan where to rest on long climbs. From any height you can glide down slowly, and a double jump gets you onto ledges just out of reach. Plunge in the air to drop straight down: it breaks through some obstacles, sinks you into hollow stumps and launches a seesaw. Falling never hurts you; at worst the witch’s magic brings you back.
Shades
Shades are copies of your mouse that stay where you made them and keep doing what you were doing. They are not AI helpers; they do not move on their own.
- Up to three at a time when you play alone. The limit is four mice in total, so with one friend there is room for two Shades.
- A Shade standing on a pressure plate keeps it pressed. The demo’s first door needs four mice on four plates: three Shades and you.
- A Shade hanging from a rope or holding an object keeps holding it, and can act as a rope anchor, trampoline or bridge.
- Shades are checkpoints. Before a risky climb, hold Q to leave one behind; if you fall, tap Q to swap back to it.
Froggy, the backpack
Froggy is a frog-shaped magic backpack and your main tool. In the demo it lets you grab attach points and swing, reel ropes in and out, and glide. The developers describe more for the full game: a tongue grapple, pulling and lifting objects, gliding when Froggy inflates, and linking you to another player or a Shade so the rope between you becomes a bridge others can walk or bounce on.
Puzzles and rituals
Puzzles in Hela are physical and built into the world. The demo has two kinds:
- Requests from the altars and creatures you meet. For example a stone altar has lost its horn and asks for three drops of sticky resin from a nearby tree. These are about finding things and getting to them.
- Rituals, short timed challenges that start at a golden keyhole marker (press F). Each one has a goal such as Hit all targets in time or Keep a mouse in every target, a difficulty of one to three stars and a mouse count on its panel. Finishing one gives 8 Glimmer. If it goes wrong, press F to reset.
Rituals with a four-mouse count are made for co-op, but solo players fill the extra spots with Shades. Every ritual in the demo, step by step: demo walkthrough.
Brewing remedies
Brewing is not playable in the demo, but it is the core of the full game. From the developers:
- You gather ingredients in the world and bring them back to the witch’s cottage, then follow each recipe from her book as a hands-on sequence. No two recipes play the same.
- Remedies help the characters you meet, improve your own abilities and open new paths and puzzle solutions. The Japanese store page names magnetism as one of their effects.
- There is no other crafting or base building.
In the demo you can already pick up one ingredient, the white Arctic Starflower, which the witch says she uses “in brews that need that special kick of energy”. Recipes will be listed here when the game is out.
Animal friends
The demo has no rideable animals. The creatures you talk to are stone altars, frog statues and the Ritual Keeper, a small figure in a red mushroom hat. In the full game, per the developers, friendly animals such as hares, magpies and pikes can carry you, and some teach you new moves. Owls and foxes are threats: you avoid or distract them, and if one catches you, the witch’s magic lifts you back to safety.
Glimmer and collectibles
- Glimmer: glowing orange orbs on the ground, on branches and as ritual rewards. In the demo you need 48 to light the fire for the zipline home. The witch says Glimmer also powers the fire under her cauldron.
- Trinkets: hats and neck pieces you wear. The demo has six; the first two, the Yarn Bracelet and the Pin Cushion, are near the Frog Warden, and you put them on at the mannequins in the witch’s cave.
- Story fragments: hidden pieces of the story, found by exploring (full game).
- Cosmetics: hats, neck accessories, backpack looks and fur colours unlock over the game and can be changed at the Customization Station (full game).
The demo walkthrough has a checklist for everything the demo hides.
Co-op
| Solo | The whole game, with Shades for multi-mouse steps |
| Local split-screen | 2 players per device (the demo has this) |
| Online | Up to 4 players, can be mixed with split-screen (full game only) |
| Shades in co-op | Four mice in total, so two Shades with one friend |
| Getting back together | Teleport to player from the Shade wheel |
Online play is not in the demo. Cross-play between platforms has not been confirmed; see release date and platforms.
No combat, no game over
Hela has no fights and no fall damage. Threats are avoided, distracted or befriended, and whenever you get into danger the witch’s magic, “a gentle hand”, lifts you back to safety. The game is meant to be explored at your own pace: quests and story fragments can be done in any order.