Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Developer	Playtonic Games
Publisher	Team17
Composers	Matt Griffin David Wise Daniel Murdoch Grant Kirkhope
Engine	Unity
Platforms	Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One
Release	Switch, PS4, Windows, Xbox One October 8, 2019 Luna October 20, 2020
Genre	Platform
Mode	Single-player

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is aplatform game developed byPlaytonic Games and published byTeam17 in 2019. As a spin-off toYooka-Laylee (2017), the game was released digitally forNintendo Switch,PlayStation 4,Windows, andXbox One on October 8, 2019, followed by a version forAmazon Luna on October 20, 2020.^[1][2][3]

The title is aside-scrolling 2D platform game. The player controls Yooka, a male chameleon, and Laylee, a female bat, to complete various levels. In these levels, the objective is to collect quills and T.W.I.T. coins, as well as to free a member of the "Beetalion". The members of the Beetalion each give Yooka and Laylee an extra hit point for use on the final level, the eponymous "Impossible Lair". T.W.I.T. coins are used to unlock further progress on the overworld through Trowzer's "paywalls".^[4] Notably, it is possible to enter the final level at any point in the game, though it is heavily encouraged that the player first secure extra hit points by beating the other levels first.

The "Tonics" feature from the first game also return. Tonics are potions that can modify the gameplay in numerous ways after being consumed by Yooka.^[5] Between levels, an isometric 3D overworld is used for getting around. Characters can be found and spoken to alongside puzzles to solve for quills and tonics.^[6]

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair was developed byPlaytonic Games, a studio composed of formerRare employees. While the game bears similarities with theDonkey Kong Country series, the team opted not to use the moniker "spiritual successor" to market the game.^[7] The game was announced on June 8, 2019, by publisherTeam17,^[8] and released on October 8, 2019.^[5]

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Original Game Soundtrack) was independently released by Playtonic on October 16, 2019, onBandcamp, with a fully distributed edition under the video game record label Materia Collective.^[9] The music was composed byDavid Wise,Grant Kirkhope, Matt Griffin, and Dan Murdoch.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair received generally positive reviews upon release according toreview aggregatorMetacritic.^{[11][10][12][13]} Fellow review aggregatorOpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 82% of critics.^[14]IGN gave the game a glowing review, calling it an "excellent modernized spin on the 2D platformer".^[22]Game Informer also spoke highly, praising the game's great replay value and fresh perspective on the 2D platforming genre.^[6]Eurogamer's Tom Phillips called the game "a far more polished game than the studio's predecessor", citing the more modern game designs.^[23]

Despite the game's mainly positive reviews, some journalists found issues with the game's design.Destructoid's Brett Makedonski, while having enjoyed the game overall, described the levels and controls as "not innovative" and "good enough".^[24] Hayden Dingman ofPC World found the game's difficulty too "taxing" to be enjoyable, giving it 3/5 stars.^[25]

The game was nominated for "Control Precision" at the NAVGTR Awards.^[26]

• 2019 video games
• Bats in popular culture
• Fictional chameleons and geckos
• Indie games
• Nintendo Switch games
• PlayStation 4 games
• Playtonic Games games
• Side-scrolling platformers
• Single-player video games
• Team17 games
• Video games about reptiles
• Video games about talking animals
• Video games developed in the United Kingdom
• Video games featuring female protagonists
• Video games scored by David Wise
• Video games scored by Grant Kirkhope
• Windows games
• Xbox Cloud Gaming games
• Xbox One games

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters
• Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images
• Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode