Beyond Words is a roguelike word game by a new studio formed by the creators of GoldenEye and TimeSplitters
A demo for Steve Ellis and David Doak’s game is available now on Steam
A new game from two of the creators behind GoldenEye and TimeSplitters is coming soon, but it’s not an FPS.
Beyond Words is the latest game from Steve Ellis and David Doak, who had previously founded Free Radical Design.
Ellis was one of the key programmers on GoldenEye while Doak worked on the level designs and AI scripting (and also appeared in the game as Dr Doak). The pair then teamed up to found Free Radical co-create the TimeSplitter series.
The studio was closed in December 2023, but Ellis and Doak have now returned with something entirely different from a new studio called MindFuel Games.
According to its description, Beyond Words is a “genre-defining fusion of roguelike strategy and word-crafting”, and appears to be a roguelike take on Scrabble.
The game is designed to test the player’s vocabulary, creativity and tactical thinking, as they build word combos and play through a “living puzzle” shaped by the words they form.
“Build powerful word combos, unlock game-changing upgrades and journey through a living puzzle shaped by your decisions,” the description reads. “Every choice, every letter, every placement matters.”
Players can use more than 300 modifiers and abilities to change the game as they play, and more than 30 boss challenges “twist the rules in devious ways”.
“In a small dev team, there is the opportunity to experiment and iterate – we truly believe that is the way to ‘find the fun’ and make a great game,” Doak said.
“Beyond Words is all about choice and agency. We’ve made a game that is constantly challenging and evolving with the player’s interactions – full of surprises and opportunities to be clever. As developers, our guiding star has always been to make games that we want to play.”
A demo for Beyond Words is available now on Steam, with the full game set to be released on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC in early 2026.
The first iteration of Free Radical Design was formed in 1999 and developed the TimeSplitters series and Second Sight. Following the disappointing reception of Haze and a cancelled Star Wars: Battlefront project, the studio went bankrupt in 2008.
Plaion and its parent company Embracer announced in May 2021 that a new Free Radical Design had been established by original founders Steve Ellis and David Doak to bring the TimeSplitters IP “back to life”, but the studio was closed again two and a half years later and the TimeSplitters reboot was cancelled.
