Header for The Eternal Life of Goldman. Credit to Weappy Studio and THQ Nordic, embedded from Steam.
Header for The Eternal Life of Goldman. Credit to Weappy Studio and THQ Nordic, embedded from Steam.
This article is in English. Untuk membaca versi Bahasa Indonesia, klik di sini.

TL;DR

If you enjoy games with Hand-Drawn art, love platformers that are challenging yet still manageable, you might be very interested in the The Eternal Life of Goldman demo.

Notice and Specs


Notice
  • This article aims to review and spread information about this game.
  • There is no intention to infringe any copyright.
  • Copyright of all images, videos, or any other media used in this article belongs to their respective owners, including the game's developers and publishers.
  • The author is not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any other parties related to this game. Although I received a key to write this article, I am not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any related parties.
  • This article is purely based on the author's own perspective and experience.
  • This article is based on my experience playing the game on February 18, 2026. Future patches or changes to the game may not be reflected in this article.
  • This article was translated from Indonesian to English by Claude. The quality may not be up to par with human translation.
Click this box to see my PC specs.
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600
  • GPU: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB
  • RAM: Crucial DDR4-3200 2x8GB
  • SSD: TeamGroup MP44L NVMe M2 1TB
  • Monitor: Lenovo L24i-40 100 Hz and Samsung S3 S33GC 100 Hz
  • Gamepad: 8Bitdo Ultimate 2C Peach
  • Mouse: Logitech Signature M650 Rose
  • Keyboard: Logitech K380 Rose

Game Details

Details

Hero Capsule for The Eternal Life of Goldman. Credit to Weappy Studio and THQ Nordic, embedded from Steam. Version Played: Demo Version
Developer(s): Weappy Studio
Publisher(s): THQ Nordic
Tag/Genre(s): Hand-Drawn, Action-Adventure, Platformer, Difficult, Story Rich
*Review key for this demo provided by Dead Good Media.

Trailer

Check out the demo trailer below :)

The Eternal Life of Goldman | Steam Demo Trailer

Credit to THQ Nordic and Weappy Studio channels on YouTube.

Quick Review and Rating

Quick Review

Honestly, the past few weeks have been pretty hectic. So after seeing the trailer for this game, I kind of forgot about it. Then an email came in — an offer to try the demo of The Eternal Life of Goldman — I applied, and got accepted. Hehe. Happy days.

Then... After downloading the ~7 GB demo... I played it... And was blown away.

In this game, you play as a character named Goldman. Goldman is a character from a storybook being read by Alter — the child of Iva. Goldman is depicted as a survivor of a fire and disaster that struck the carnival area shown at the beginning of the demo.

Overall it looks great, it's fun, and easy to follow. The only downside I found was in the combat mechanics, but... Overall it's worth a try :))

Looking forward to the full version :)) Hope I can cover the full game too :))

Quick Rating

Category & Assessment Details Score
1. Mechanics & Gameplay
  • Controls: Smooth overall. Pretty good, except... the attacking part. It feels easier to accidentally get hit by enemies than to actually deal damage to them. Though it might get better over time as you get new parts for your staff?
  • Game Loop: Fun! Though it might get a bit monotonous, since the mechanics I remember from my playthrough are... jumping, swinging, pushing and pulling objects — but overall it's still enjoyable.
  • Difficulty: True to its tag, Difficult — and yes, it really is hard. But still manageable. Even I, with my frequent skill issues, could get through it — so for platformer fans it might even be easy-peasy.
 9
2. Visuals & Aesthetics
  • Art Direction: Hand-Drawn, and basically everything — absolutely everything — appears to be hand-drawn in style. Perhaps only the messages section looks slightly different.
  • Optimization: Runs like a dream! FPS stable at 100 (matching my monitor), and CPU, GPU, VRAM, and RAM are all well-optimized :)
  • UI/UX: Even with the hand-drawn style, the UI and UX are genuinely well-organized and cohesive. Very pleasing to the eye.
 10
3. Story & World
  • Pacing: I think I completed the first area in around 20–25 minutes, and the pacing felt just right. Not too long, not too short.
  • Characters: The main character is Goldman, and we basically experience Goldman's story throughout the game. There are several supporting characters, but Goldman remains the central figure.
  • Lore: Interesting so far. But since this is just a demo, I can't say too much. It's possible the full game might feel padded? Or maybe perfectly balanced? Who knows... But in the demo, I was definitely hooked by what was happening — even if I skimmed through the messages part...
  • Additional Note: Since this is a platformer... there are naturally hidden areas, right? Hehe. And yes, this game has those too, if you pay close attention to certain walls and areas 😏
 9
4. Audio & Music
  • Sound Design: Excellent! Especially in the colorful jelly section that was incredibly tricky to get through. So cute and charming, hehehe.
  • Music: Spot on! Good and unobtrusive, and in some moments it really builds the right atmosphere.
  • Voice Acting: Oh wow... There's a cutscene moment voiced by Alter and Iva, and the acting is... It genuinely felt like watching a real child fussing over a thermometer. And we as players only hear it — no visuals needed.
 10
5. Replayability & Value
  • Price vs Content: Can't comment much on the price yet... But... A 90-minute demo is more than enough to get a feel for it.
  • Post-Completion Content: Hmm... I personally didn't finish the demo, which is estimated to take around 90 minutes. But... Just 45 minutes in was already enough to sell me on it. I'm sold!, literally.
 8
TOTAL SCORE xx

Gameplay Video

Want to watch my gameplay video? Check it out below:

The Eternal Life of Goldman (Demo) - First Impression - Gameplay

Adli's gameplay on Adli_HM's channel on YouTube.

Steam Price

Closing

When I first saw the trailer for this game, then applied and got a key to play the demo, I was honestly already very interested. I'm a big fan of games with hand-drawn art. On top of that, this game has Action-Adventure, Platformer, and Story Rich genres — basically all my soft spots in one package.

So... Even though I didn't finish the demo, I'm personally very interested and really hope I get to cover the full game in the future.

That's all for now!

See you in another Adli's Quick Games Review :)