The Lemmings video game can be discovered in an unpublished documentary retracing its history, 30 years after its creation.
If you’re a seasoned player, you’ve probably heard of the Lemmings game, where you control a dozen little creatures, ready to put themselves in danger to pass a level filled with deadly traps and steep cliffs. If so, then don’t miss the release of the documentary called Lemmings: Can You Dig It? which comes to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the game. Available on Youtube for free, Lemmings will no longer hold any secrets for you.
A rich history that sets an example
During his two hours of testimonies and archive images, Lemmings: Can You Dig It? Tells us about a phenomenon more than a game, since Lemmings will have paved the way for British development studios, and in particular Scottish, on the video game scene. Released on the Commodore Amiga in 1991, the game was designed by a studio whose spearhead is based on innovation. DMA Design is also at the origin of the very first Grand Theft Auto (GTA), a series that has also marked the world of video games.
For the needs of the documentary, the director called on many developers and actors from the start-up of the license, who spoke about the history of the game in exclusive interviews. Covid-19 obliges, most of these interviews took place in video, which takes away some of its charm from the documentary. Nevertheless, the testimonies of all the people involved in the creation process remain extremely interesting.
Jamie Wotton, director of creative marketing at Exient, the publisher of Lemmings, says of the documentary:
” It was an absolute joy to watch the story of Lemmings unfold through hundreds of hours of interviews with the original DMA Design development team, video game industry executives, and fans. The film pays homage to everything that made the original game so special, including the city of Dundee in which it was made. And it celebrates the important place these little creatures still hold in popular culture. »
