Overview
Trine 2: Complete Story is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer developed and published by Frozenbyte, originally released in 2013. The Complete Story edition bundles the base game with the Goblin Menace expansion and the Dwarven Caverns bonus level, making it the definitive version of the experience. Three heroes share a single life bar through a magical artifact called the Trine, and players can switch between them freely or split the roles across up to three players in co-op.
The physics engine is the real engine of the whole thing. Boxes stack, ropes swing, platforms tilt under weight, and water flows in ways that open up genuinely unexpected solutions. Frozenbyte built puzzles with enough flexibility that two players can reach the same endpoint through completely different methods, which gives co-op sessions a satisfying improvisational quality.
Each of the three characters brings a distinct toolkit. The Wizard conjures boxes and planks and can levitate objects. The Knight swings a hammer and uses a shield to deflect projectiles. The Thief fires a grappling hook and rains arrows on enemies. Solo players rotate between all three; in a full three-player session, each person locks into one role and has to communicate to make the puzzle work.
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Gameplay and mechanics
The core loop revolves around using character abilities in combination with the environment to progress through linear but generously designed levels:
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- Conjure platforms to bridge gaps
- Grapple to reach elevated ledges
- Stack physics objects to trigger switches
- Deflect projectiles with the Knight's shield
- Combine abilities to find alternate routes
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Puzzles rarely have a single correct answer, which keeps the game feeling fresh even on repeat playthroughs. The Goblin Menace expansion, included in the Complete Story edition, adds several more hours of content with new enemy types and increasingly demanding physics challenges that push all three character kits to their limits.
Visual and audio design
Trine 2 is genuinely one of the better-looking 2D games released in the last decade. The art direction leans hard into a storybook aesthetic: glowing mushroom forests, flooded ruins, ice caverns lit by bioluminescent crystals. Every level has its own color palette and mood, and the backgrounds are layered with enough detail that pausing to look around feels like examining an illustration.
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Ari Pulkkinen's score matches the visuals step for step. The music is orchestral and warm, shifting tone between the wonder of exploration and the tension of combat without ever feeling jarring. Voice narration frames the story in the style of a bedtime fairy tale, which sounds gimmicky but actually works well enough that it becomes part of the game's identity.
Multiplayer and social features
Trine 2 supports up to 3 players in both local and online co-op, and the Complete Story edition on PlayStation 4 carries a 4.38-star rating from over 54,000 ratings, which suggests the co-op experience holds up well for players discovering it years after release. The game scales puzzle complexity loosely to the number of players, though with three people in a session the solutions become more chaotic and often more entertaining than the intended approach.
Single-player remains a complete experience rather than a stripped-down version. Switching between all three heroes freely means solo players never hit a wall that requires a second person, and the physics sandbox is just as rewarding when you are working through it alone.
Content and replayability
The Complete Story edition represents the full Trine 2 package: the main campaign, the Goblin Menace expansion, and the Dwarven Caverns level add up to a substantial run for a puzzle platformer in this genre. Collectibles are scattered throughout each level, and the open-ended physics design gives speedrunners and completionists different reasons to return. For players who want a co-op platformer that rewards creativity over pattern memorization, Trine 2 still holds its ground more than a decade after its original release.