Lemmings Overview
Lemmings is a puzzle game where the player must guide a procession of small creatures to safety. These creatures enter each side scrolling stage from an entrance point and will walk forward until they encounter an obstacle, often leading them directly into fatal hazards. The player does not control their movement directly, but instead assigns specific skills to individual lemmings from a limited, level dependent set.
Success requires saving a predetermined percentage of the group by navigating them to an exit. This involves strategic use of abilities such as creating staircases, digging through materials, or scaling walls. Other skills can halt the march of a single lemming to redirect the flow of others. Managing the continuous stream of creatures is a key consideration, as timing and placement of these skills must prevent the group from moving into danger prematurely or becoming trapped.
The game's 120 stages are organized into four difficulty categories, creating a progression from easy introductory puzzles to challenging scenarios that demand complex, multi step planning. Environmental hazards include traps, lethal substances, and terrain that can be modified. Players have a finite number of each skill per level, encouraging efficient solutions, and an option exists to restart if a solution fails. Performance is measured by the percentage of lemmings rescued and the completion speed.
