Pixel Sundays: Supra Games – From Supraland to Supraworld, Tiny Figures in Huge Worlds
In today’s Pixel Sundays article, we’re not traveling to the Middle Ages or distant galaxies, but to places we all know: children’s rooms and sandboxes. Today we’re talking about the Supra games from Supra Games, starting with Supraland, moving through Six Inches Under, and finally to the brand-new Supraworld.
Overview
- The Origins of Supraland – A Different Indie Experience
- Supraland – The Toy Universe Comes to Life
- Six Inches Under – A Spin-off with Its Own Strengths
- Supraworld – The Next Big Step for Supra Games
- Puzzling, Exploring, Wondering – Everyday Life in the Supra Games
- Humor & References – The Indie Charm Remains
- Conclusion – Small Figures, Big Worlds
What began as a small indie experiment has grown into a true puzzle franchise with clever level design, lots of humor, and plenty of creativity. Today we’re taking a look back at the history of the franchise and everything it has achieved over the years.
The Origins of Supraland – A Different Indie Experience
Supra Games was founded by David Münnich. He developed Supraland, the first game in the franchise, in only about 16 to 18 months, almost entirely on his own. The game is a classic indie success story. There was no major marketing, yet it became a surprise hit on Steam, where it drew a lot of attention.
Münnich’s inspirations were rather unusual. He described his game mechanics as a mix of The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Portal. For puzzle design, Portal was the main role model. By offering little guidance, he wanted to create a high sense of quality and ensure players always had to come up with their own strategy.
The game is deliberately played in first-person perspective, contrasting with traditional Metroidvanias, to strengthen the feeling of discovery and immersion. On top of that, the game has no map. Münnich sees maps as a comfort that reduces 3D worlds to “meaningless geometry.” With Supraland, he wanted to make a game where players had to be curious and observant to find their way in a tiny world.
Within a month after the full release in April 2019, Supraland had sold over 50,000 copies, already surpassing Münnich’s expectations. By March 2021, Supraland had reached over 600,000 players and became a true cult hit. Reviews on Steam are overwhelmingly positive, with 95% positive ratings. Critics praised the game for its smart puzzle design, its spirit of discovery, and its game world.
Supraland – The Toy Universe Comes to Life
In Supraland, you take on the role of a tiny toy figure – the little “Red Prince.” You awaken in a gigantic sandbox world. The entire environment is a child’s oversized play area full of pencil bridges, Lego bricks, and eraser-like ramps, making every everyday object part of the game. You are the hero of the sandbox, even if the sandbox is a thousand times bigger than you. Everywhere you go, there are secrets and relics to discover, all under the surreal backdrop of the child’s looming head.
Supraland defines itself as a first-person Metroidvania. At every corner, you’ll find tricky puzzles and platforming elements, combined with RPG-like abilities you can learn. But the most important element is exploration – because while the world may seem small from our perspective, there’s still so much to discover. There’s no real map, but there are landmarks – distinctive objects you can use to orient yourself.
The sandbox is divided into different themed areas. Each one is filled with cleverly placed objects. A pencil may become a bridge, or a toy block may serve as a climbing tool. The further you progress, the more tools you unlock, allowing you to reach new areas and fight enemies. The puzzles vary: sometimes they’re just simple switch puzzles, other times they involve complex chain reactions. Often, you’ll need logical thinking and physics-based skills to solve them.
Supraland is full of humor and ironic references to popular franchises like Zelda, Portal, Metroid, and even Minecraft. These nods are implemented in surprising ways – such as a Portal-like cube as a tool, a Zelda-style attack with the first sword, and recurring meta-commentary and self-aware dialogue.
There are also light combat mechanics in the game. With your first sword you can defeat enemies like skeletons, and later firearms are introduced. However, combat is more of a side element and often just a means to an end in order to solve puzzles.
Six Inches Under – A Spin-off with Its Own Strengths
Supraland: Six Inches Under was originally intended to be the first DLC for Supraland. But during development it became clear that the scope was too big and fan enthusiasm for buying a DLC was low, so the team decided to turn the project into a standalone game. It was initially meant to be just a small side project to help onboard new team members, but this ambition grew bigger and bigger, and the planned three months turned into 27 months of development. By comparison, Supraland was developed in only about 16 months.
The game was released on January 14, 2022 for Windows on Steam. Later it also came to the Xbox Game Pass and to Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. A Nintendo Switch version is planned for next summer. Compared to the original, “Six Inches Under” puts a much stronger focus on exploration and puzzles. Combat has taken even more of a backseat, with the developers at Supra Games stating that the gameplay consists of about 55% exploration, 40% puzzles, and only 5% combat.
The game reuses some mechanics from the predecessor, but 50% of the abilities are new. Main path puzzles are easier, while the optional puzzles are more challenging. There are new enemy types, and they are used less in a puzzle context. Much of the optional content only becomes available after the credits roll.
Six Inches Under was developed by a small team of about six people. Each team member was responsible for one or two regions of the game world, and not everyone always worked together on the same area, which gave the game a rather experimental feel. Many gameplay ideas were scrapped, such as different ores, because they simply felt too boring. Enemies were carefully placed to serve combat purposes, making exploration more rewarding.
Supraworld – The Next Big Step for Supra Games
On August 15, 2025, the Early Access of Supraworld launches on Steam and Epic Games. The launch price of the game is about €29.99. The first version comes with English language only, with other languages planned to follow later. The game is developed in Unreal Engine 5. Previous games were built in Unity, so this marks a massive leap forward. The world is larger and technically more advanced.
At the core of this first-person puzzle metroidvania are still exploration, puzzle solving, and discovering new abilities. But Supraworld brings fresh ideas into the franchise. One such addition are the detective cases. You begin as an apprentice in the “Solver’s Guild” and must solve five murder cases for them. You’ll need to interpret clues, interrogate suspects, and even spy on them. There is no clear feedback on whether your decision was right, since you can practically arrest anyone.
The puzzles in the game are all quite challenging, and the developers at Supra Games want players to think for themselves while playing. You are not guided step by step; instead, you have to figure everything out on your own. This is especially clear in the murder cases, where you’re not even told if you’ve caught the right culprit.
The game has now officially entered Early Access. This version includes only one of four acts, but even this single act already offers more puzzles than Supraland and an even larger game world. To complete it, you’ll need about 6–10 hours, and if you go for all the optional content, you can expect up to 15 hours of playtime.
Puzzling, Exploring, Wondering – Everyday Life in the Supra Games
The core design principle of all Supra titles is the deliberate decision to avoid handholding. It’s a “child’s world”—a playroom or sandbox. And what do children do? They’re curious and explore their surroundings. That’s exactly what you’re meant to do in the Supra games: rediscover the world without anyone telling you what to do.
In the games, especially in Supraland, the puzzles are organically built into the world and are far from linear. The various mechanics encourage players to use and combine environmental objects in different ways to solve puzzles. Often there are multiple solutions, which promotes individual and creative thinking. This makes the experience especially rewarding.
The franchise also rewards you for thinking outside the box. You can even break some puzzles entirely by exploiting the physics-based mechanics—and the game will actually reward you for doing so.
Humor & References – The Indie Charm Remains
The Supraland series, now continued with Supraworld, is still defined by its quirky, self-referential humor. There are frequent references to other franchises, cleverly woven into the gameplay in a fun, non-intrusive way.
One major advantage of smaller studios like Supra Games is the creative freedom they have—something large publishers rarely allow. In Supraworld, this freedom is evident in the surprising and often wacky interactions throughout the world. From detective-style murder cases to entirely optional “Puzzle Storms,” there’s a huge variety of content. This kind of mix is rarely seen in AAA productions. It’s truly a game made in the spirit of indie creativity.
Conclusion – Small Figures, Big Worlds
The Supra games have once again proven that even a small idea can have a massive impact. What began as a one-man project has grown into a well-known puzzle franchise celebrated for its clever level design, gameplay, and humor. Now the studio is stepping into a more technically advanced world, with complex puzzles and fresh ideas like detective cases. The franchise has evolved while never losing its unique charm. These games remain a prime example of how indie titles can thrive through courage, humor, and originality. And they achieve something that many big studios fail at nowadays—delivering pure joy and genuine surprises around every corner.
Hey, I’m Kilian, but online you’ll probably know me as “Tux1243.” I've been part of the team for almost two years now, always trying to keep you in the loop with the latest and coolest gaming news. I also have a huge passion for doing deep dives and detailed analyses of entire game series and franchises. I love getting to the bottom of things and exploring the little details and backstories that make game worlds so fascinating.
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