Released last year, Trine was beautiful platformer with body-swapping puzzles and co-op. A sequel is in the works, and a new video released this week suggests it's going to be more of the same, with online co-op making it even easier to play together.



The original Trine was was a platformer in which you could switch between three archetypes: a wizard, a warrior and the thief. Each had their own special powers, from the wizard's ability to draw walkways and boxes into the world, to the thief's ridiculously useful ability to use her grappling hook to reach almost any location. Also, the warrior could smack things real good. The game was even better when played in co-op, with three players taking control of each character.

Half the fun was learning to combine each character's abilities to beat the next deathtrap. The thief would use her grappling hook to fire herself over a spike ridden pit and onto the high platform. There she would stand, smugly sniping attacking skeletons. The wizard would then turn to the warrior and say something like, "How about I conjure a box, and then stand on it, and then you, the warrior, throw me up there?" Then the wizard would conjure a box and stand on it, and the warrior would throw him straight into the spikes for a laugh.

The problem was that everyone would have to crowd around one monitor to play, which was a fiddly process, even though it made it easier to elbow the warrior in the ribs. But when Trine 2, the office is going to have a new game to play at lunchtimes.