Terrible Lizards review: Running for your life in a dino attraction

Terrible Lizards is the debut of WDR Studios, the studio behind the YouTube channel JT Music. The horror parkour game has been available for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S since October 29, 2026, and it is part of Game Pass from day one. I ran from dinosaurs through an abandoned attraction on Route 66, and I had a lot of fun doing it, even if not everything runs smoothly.

At PlayInsider we rate every game individually and always against the expectations of its genre. We judge the story of an action game or adventure by its narrative quality. In a simulation or management game, on the other hand, what counts is what the genre typically offers. This keeps our ratings fair and comparable within a genre.

Story and setting: Welcome to Dalton's Dinos

You play Jordan, a student travelling from Chicago to Los Angeles in September 1992. In the middle of New Mexico his car breaks down, and the only place to go is Dalton's Dinos, an old dinosaur attraction on Route 66. The staff has disappeared, a voice on the phone asks you for help, and you soon realize that something lurks in the exhibits and the caves below.

The story is told through cutscenes, old promotional films of the attraction and video logs, featuring MatPat as a scientist among others. The setting is the big plus: animatronics, souvenir shop and arcade perfectly capture the charm of the roadside attractions that followed Jurassic Park. The actual story remains thin, though, not much happens narratively in the middle part, and the ending comes somewhat abruptly.

Terrible Lizards review: Gameplay

There are no weapons, you run. Sprinting, sliding, jumping, swinging on pipes, wall-running and balancing on beams can be chained with almost no delay. In the chases through halls, storage rooms and caves, Terrible Lizards plays to its full strength. When you die, you almost always understand why and do better on the next attempt.

Between the chases you look for fuses, flip switches and solve small puzzles. In the first act this still works, but later the pattern repeats noticeably and some puzzles drag on. A playthrough takes six to ten hours, after which a New Game Plus with modifiers awaits.

Graphics and sound

Visually, Terrible Lizards lives from its locations. The exhibits with wobbling animatronics, the souvenir shop and the caves with wooden walkways look coherent, and the creatures are nicely creepy. Some textures and animations reveal the smaller budget, though.

The sound is a strong point. The music drives the chases, and footsteps and growls behind you reliably raise your pulse. Voice-over is English only, text is also available in German.

Tech and system requirements

This is the biggest construction site. Many players report frame drops to 30 to 40 fps, especially in the later sections, plus crashes under DirectX 12, black screens and spots where you fall through the floor. A first patch shortly after release improved some things, but did not fix everything. So save regularly. You can find the exact system requirements in the table below this text.

What players say on Steam

On Steam, Terrible Lizards is rated "Very Positive": 85 percent of 276 reviews are positive (as of October 31, 2026). Players praise the parkour controls, the dino designs and the atmosphere. Negative reviews are almost exclusively about bugs and performance, and some players also feel that the levels drag towards the end.

Who is Terrible Lizards for?

If you like parkour games such as Mirror's Edge and fancy horror without constant jump scares, you will have a great evening with dinos here. At 25.49 euros the price is fair, and on Game Pass you can try it without risk. If you expect a dense story or flawless tech, you should wait for a few more patches.

Official trailer

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