We Were Here Tomorrow Guide: Goop Gun & Hook Abilities, Co-Op Tips, and Beginner Basics

Two Explorers. One frozen research facility. Zero chance of escape without a partner. We Were Here Tomorrow launched on October 20, 2026, and this We Were Here Tomorrow guide covers everything new players need before descending beneath Antarctica's ice. Total Mayhem Games' latest two-player puzzle adventure adds character abilities, traversal challenges, and a richer sci-fi story to the series' signature walkie-talkie formula. Because the game separates you from your partner for long stretches, this We Were Here Tomorrow guide leans hard into communication habits, ability synergy, and the puzzle-solving mindset that gets stuck pairs moving again. Grab a friend, a headset, and a healthy dose of patience — you'll need all three.

What Is We Were Here Tomorrow? A Quick Overview

We Were Here Tomorrow is a first-person, two-player cooperative puzzle adventure — the fifth mainline installment in the We Were Here series and the sixth game overall. It takes the franchise in an unprecedented sci-fi direction: two Explorers become trapped beneath Antarctica's ice and awaken inside a mysterious research facility with almost no memory of how they got there. Recruited to finish the work of a missing research team, the pair must crack increasingly complex puzzles while uncovering the secrets of the facility's corporate owner, Norček Industries.

Art direction is central to the game's identity. Creative director Martin Mittner has described the goal as blending period-accurate 1980s design, brutalist corporate architecture, and the series' trademark "chonky-wonky" coziness — terms he freely admitted don't naturally fit together. Judging by hands-on preview impressions, the art team pulled it off.

Like every entry in the series, Tomorrow frequently splits the two of you into separate areas. Your only lifeline is a walkie-talkie, which you'll use to describe rooms, relay symbols, and talk each other through solutions. What's new this time is a pair of futuristic tools that let you physically manipulate the environment between puzzles — and mastering them is where this We Were Here Tomorrow guide gets interesting.

How the Two-Player Setup Works (and Why Communication Is Everything)

The core design philosophy hasn't changed: one player alone can understand a puzzle perfectly and still fail, because progress only happens when both Explorers are on the same page. Preview sessions with the development team made this crystal clear — even Mittner, who knows every puzzle inside and out, still needed his partner to do their part before the pair could move forward.

That design makes your walkie-talkie the most important "item" in the game. Treat every conversation as information transfer, not chatter. The playbook below, built from early player experience with the game and general asymmetrical co-op best practices, will save you hours:

Three golden rules cover most situations:

• Narrate before you act. Pulling a lever without warning can undo your partner's progress in some puzzles.
• Build shared vocabulary early. Nicknames like "the purple dial room" beat long-winded descriptions every time.
• Never let one player solve everything. The stronger puzzler should ask questions, not issue answers — both of you need to learn the game's logic.

Every Ability Explained: Goop Gun vs. Goop Glove

This is the section of our We Were Here Tomorrow guide that returning fans will care about most, because abilities are brand new to the mainline series. Each Explorer wields one of two goop-based tools. Preview footage shows the yellow-suited Explorer carrying the Goop Gun while the red-suited partner uses a goop glove — whichever kit your character starts with, learn to love it, because your partner literally cannot progress without you.

Why these two? According to Mittner, the team prototyped a pile of different abilities and wanted something "sandboxy." The block-and-hook combo tested as the most fun and the most synergistic — you can stack blocks, stick them to walls to make platforms, pull objects, and hook things together. He also joked that handing players a spawnable one-meter cube "anywhere you want" was a deliberate attempt to make QA's life as difficult as possible.

The brilliance of the setup is balance. Neither ability is more important than the other, and neither can carry the pair alone. Practical tips for each:

Goop Gun tips

• Think in meters — every block is exactly one cubic meter, so count surfaces before you build.
• Look up and sideways; walls and ceilings are valid placement spots for platforms.
• Build for your partner's route, not just your own line of sight.

Goop Glove tips

• Scan rooms for hook points — glowing plants and machinery tend to matter.
• Call out every pull before you make it, so your partner isn't startled by moving scenery.
• Remember that your partner's blocks are your grappling highway; ask for platforms early.

Beginner Tips for Puzzles and Traversal Challenges

The puzzles themselves escalate steadily in complexity, and per hands-on previews, some late-game challenges are legitimately tough even for the developers who built them. Between those set pieces, Tomorrow introduces traversal challenges — movement puzzles built entirely around ability synergy. In one previewed scenario, the only way forward was for one player to throw down a goop block so the other could quick-zip across the room. The spaces between puzzles aren't filler; they're a second layer of the game.

If you find yourselves stalling, run this troubleshooting table:

Two more habits worth building:

• Describe the goal, not just the obstacle. Saying "we need the beam to hit the left target" beats listing every object in the room.
• Treat failure as data. Wrong answers in co-op puzzlers usually eliminate a possibility, which is genuine progress.

And don't forget to look around. Even players who rushed between puzzles reported constantly stopping just to admire the bioluminescent caverns, gravity-defying corridors, and retro-futuristic labs. The environments are worth your attention.

Is We Were Here Tomorrow Beginner-Friendly? Portal Fans, Rejoice

Any honest We Were Here Tomorrow guide should answer the biggest question first: do you need to play the older games? No. Despite being the fifth mainline release, Tomorrow was explicitly designed as an entry point. There are plenty of Easter eggs for series veterans — including a Black Forest gateau nod to Portal hidden in the tutorial — but the puzzles themselves teach newcomers the ropes, and previewers never felt punished for skipping earlier entries.

Speaking of Portal: the influence is real and confirmed. One early puzzle asks you to rearrange pylons to redirect a beam through different targets, which immediately evokes Valve's classic. Mittner explained the difference, though — where Portal leans on timing and physicality, Tomorrow is about reasoning through a chain of events with a partner. If you've played Portal or similar first-person puzzlers, you'll recognize the language of the game quickly, even if the solutions are entirely its own.

As for length, no official figure has been confirmed, but per GameRant's six-hour hands-on preview, a full day of play — with sections jumped around and revisited — still didn't exhaust the content. Player experience so far suggests a substantial campaign that rewards patient pairs. For updates, patches, and future content, keep an eye on the official Total Mayhem Games website.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to play the previous We Were Here games first?

No. We Were Here Tomorrow was built as a starting point for newcomers. Veterans will catch Easter eggs newcomers won't, but every puzzle teaches you what you need to know, and nothing assumes knowledge from earlier entries.

Can you play We Were Here Tomorrow solo?

No — the entire game is designed around two players who are frequently separated and must communicate via walkie-talkie. Community reports from the series consistently agree that playing with a friend over voice chat, rather than a stranger, produces the best experience.

How long does We Were Here Tomorrow take to beat?

Total Mayhem Games hasn't published an official runtime. Based on early player experience, hands-on sessions ran six hours without completing or even seeing everything, and puzzle complexity ramps up significantly in later sections, so budget at least a full evening per session with your partner.

Is there a complete We Were Here Tomorrow guide with every puzzle solution?

This We Were Here Tomorrow guide intentionally stays spoiler-free, because solving these puzzles yourself is the entire point of the game. Full walkthroughs will inevitably appear on community wikis and video platforms, but treat every We Were Here Tomorrow guide you find as a hint bank rather than an answer key — the "aha" moment is the reward. And if all else fails, remember the studio's official reassurance: no penguins were harmed in the making of this game.