Virtue and a Sledgehammer review: Taking a sledgehammer to your hometown
The new narrative game from the makers of The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood launched yesterday on PC. Metacritic 79 – strong story, thin gameplay.
Photo: Pittigrilli / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
Trailer: YouTube · DevolverDigital · youtube.com
Critics' rating
Scores: Metacritic 79 · Finger Guns 8/10 · Retcon 3.5/5
- Platforms
- PC (Steam)
- Studio
- Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour
- Release
- 27.10.2026
+ Pros
- Cathartic destruction with convincing physics
- Moving story about grief, family and what makes us human
- Distinctive look and strong synth soundtrack
- Short enough for a single evening
– Cons
- Thin gameplay that grows repetitive
- Later enemies more annoying than challenging
- No running – traversal drags
- Protagonist’s rage not explained enough
Critics' verdict
A short, thoughtful narrative game with a strong message – but its gameplay is much thinner than its story.
Summary of published reviews – sources below.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer by Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour was released by Devolver Digital on 27 October for PC (Steam). Its heroine Pratelle returns to a hometown where almost everyone she knew has been digitised: their consciousness now lives in robot bodies – a project run by her sister. Wielding a sledgehammer, Pratelle smashes houses and machines while gathering memory fragments that tell her family’s story. Reviews put the playtime at three to five hours.
On Metacritic the game scores 79 from ten reviews, none of them negative. Finger Guns gives it 8 out of 10, calling it “light on gameplay, heavy on story”: the destruction feels cathartic, and the narrative about grief, trauma and violence sometimes lands with real force. The style, with PSX-like models and red lighting, and the synth soundtrack are also praised. Steam Deck HQ highlights its questions about the limits of technology and what it means to be human.
Reviews agree on the weakness: the gameplay stays simple and repetitive. Retcon (3.5 out of 5) finds later enemies more annoying than challenging and the constant smashing tiresome before the finale; Spanish site Vandal, as quoted on Metacritic, criticises the inability to run. Steam Deck HQ also misses a convincing explanation for Pratelle’s rage. Players who are mainly after stories still get one of the most distinctive indie games of the autumn.