Judero is a Scottish adventure game made of claymation and action figures, with faeries and lizards fighting you.

I enjoyed the demo of Judero. It is a new action-adventure game developed by Talah Kaya & Jack King-Spooner. But the full version is even better: Judero has weird and is well worth your time.

The art style is what immediately grabs your attention. It uses modified action figures, handcrafted clay models, and digitized sprites. This is a rendering that's distinctly '90s, similar to Fallout 1's Talking Heads or Doom. The cutscenes are full-on stop-motion animation, with Spooner’s unsettling clay models reminding me of Ray Harryhausen's or Phil Tippett’s work.

I'm about two thirds through Judero and my favorite part is how it continues to surprise me. The art style changes when you enter a house. Residents offer unnerving, eerie musings on love, life, and living in an aging world. I was taken to a classic Sonic bonus stage when I opened a portal in the early stages of the game. Later, a similar gate sent me into a formless void, with only a single coin as a means to tide me over for the minute-long bonus.

Judero is a warrior-druid from ancient Caledonia. But he has to deal with early modern Englishmen in garish Renaissance hose, shouting "Carlisle!" Over and over again, as if they are Cumbrian Pokemon.

While I don't love the action, I find it a good way to deliver the savory atmosphere and exploration. I haven't yet gotten to the music. A blend of guitar-forward funk and cheeky folk that brings to mind a lost period of British psychedelia in the '70s. Stay tuned for a full review, but this story is a good indication that Judero is worth the $18 (on sale until September 23).