Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is an upcoming high-fantasy looter shooter from developers Gearbox, and it’s set to offer a D&D-style twist to the popular Borderlands formula.
Fans can expect all the cel-shaded madness and polarizing humor the Borderlands universe is known for, but the spin-off also offers major changes to help it stand out from Gearbox and 2K Game’s biggest franchise. If it’s anything like the accomplished Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep DLC, fans of the bonkers Borderlands universe have good reason to be excited.
Surprisingly, Borderland’s 2 DLC Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep is now a standalone game that’s available on the Epic Games Store. Known as a “Wonderlands One-shot Adventure,” it’s also available on other platforms, including Steam, PS4, and Xbox One (and PS5 and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility) for $9.99. For those looking to get a taste of what Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will be like, now’s a good time.
Here’s everything you need to know about Tiny TIna’s Wonderlands, including details on its release date, story, gameplay and more.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands release date
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is set to launch on March 25, 2022, as confirmed during the PlayStation Showcase 2021. You can check out the official gameplay trailer below:
As previously spotted by reliable analyst Daniel Ahmad, the publisher’s quarterly earnings report revealed Gearbox’s looter-shooter will arrive in Q4 of the 2022 fiscal year.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands price and availability
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will launch on multiple platforms, including PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, and PC. It will be available in three editions, and you can pre-order Gearbox’s wild fantasy looter shooter on any platform right now over on the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Epic Games Store.
Fans can grab the “Standard” edition available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC from $59.99/£59.99, the “Next-Level” edition with bonus content and new-gen optimization for PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S from $64.99/£64.99, or the “Chaotic Great” edition from £79.99 that includes a Season Pass such as the Butt Stallion Pack and four post-launch content drops.
There’s also the Tiny Tina’s Treasure Trove collectible box for $99.99 that includes everything from a Butt Stallion plush toy to illustrated tarot cards. Well, everything except the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands game.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands story and characters
Tiny Tina’s Wonderland is a spin-off to Borderlands; it is some sort of continuation of the well-liked Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep. Don’t expect any talk of Vault Keys or Eridian artifacts, but since Tiny Tina is involved with spinning the adventure as a dungeon master, do expect an unpredictable story.
The announcement trailer dropped some big casting names, including Andy Samberg as Captain Valentine, Wanda Sykes as Frette the Robot, Will Arnett as the Dragon Lord, and Ashly Burch as Tiny Tina. There’s big talent involved, leading us to believe the story won’t just be a conventional side quest, but rather, it will put players on a journey to stop the tyrannical Dragon Lord.
During the Gearbox E3 2021 showcase, senior producer of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Kayla Belmore revealed the game has a standalone plot, meaning gamers who didn’t play Borderlands don’t need to play it to understand the story.
The Game Awards 2021 unveiled an official story trailer, revealing that players will be known as “The Fatemaker.” It showed off a ghost pirate ship, a Gorgon-type enemy, and a better look at the characters involved in the story. Oh, and we also got a good look at Brick as a fairy of some sort.
According to content creator Joltzdude139 on Twitter, Borderland’s various weapon manufacturers will be making a return — with a twist. As spotted in the Bunkers & Badasses board game, each weapon brand will be known as something more fitting to Tiny TIna’s Wonderlands, including Jakobs being named Blackpowder or Hyperion being called Hyperius. Except for Torgue; he stuck to his (rocket) guns.
In an interview with Kotaku Australia, creative director Matt Cox stated: “You can completely customise your look and your class, and you’re not tied to a specific bespoke character — we want you to be able to express yourself in both look and gameplay, just like in tabletop RPGs.”
According to art director Adam May, the characters playing Tiny Tina’s tabletop game will have different forms of interaction, too. For example, a can of soda that’s spilt on the board game will be reflected in the fantasy world, becoming a “river the players need to cross.” May also talks about a giant Cheeto that falls from the sky that can black the players’ path.
Cox also says players will be able to choose from one of four personalities: “We have four personalities, with two voice actors each, and you can change the pitch. So if you want to be brave, you can choose the one that’s a little brave!”
New Wonderlands info thanks to the B&B board game. Here are the new manufacturer names.Jakobs = BlackpowderVladof = StokerDahl = DahliaMaliwan = MalefactorTediore = FerioreBandit/COV = SkulduggerHyperion = HyperiusTorgue = TorgueSeptember 11, 2021
Players can also expect wyverns, goblins, massive sharks, and more to be some of the big enemies of Tiny Tina’s “chaotic fantasy world,” so expect a story with more fantasy elements rather than the usual sci-fi. Gamers can also expect the crazy amount of guns Borderlands is known for. According to the trailer, Butt Stallion will also be making a return.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands gameplay
The D&D-styled first-person shooter is expected to include a campaign, four-player co-op, and a bunch of endgame content intended to keep players engaged. In fact, GamingBolt spotted that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will have “repeatable end-game content.” Apparently, gamers will be able to create their own characters, unlike the usual main characters available in every Borderlands game.
As we now know, players can create their very own multiclass hero from scratch to battle against wyverns, goblins, skeletons, wizards, and the Dragon Lord himself. Two of the classes have already been introduced, which include the Stabbomancer and Brr-Zerker. it’s not hard to guess what their unique abilities might be.
The Stabbomancer can conjure dark blades, with the “Ghost Blade” ability being an AOE damage spell that slices enemies with a huge spiralling blade, along with “From The Shadows” that enables stealth mode and increases damage when, well, stabbing unsuspecting enemies.
As for the Brr-Zerker, think of it like flinging around the Leviathan Axe in God of War. The “Feral Surge” ability allows the character to leap and strike enemies with an icy smash to the ground, while the “Dreadwind” ability has the character spinning around to freeze and smash enemies to pieces.
The Clawbringer and Spellshot have also been revealed, with the latter being able to use two spells at once, seeing as the class will be “ambi-hextrous.” The trailer shows off being able to use fire and ice, along with a dark spell. The Spellshot also has a polymorph ability that allows gamers to turn enemies into a “Skeep”
As for the Clawbringer, this class is all about dropping the hammer — and having a small pet dragon. The Cleansing Blow ability smashes the hammer to the ground to clear out enemies, while Storm Hammer’s Judgement allows players to hurl their hammer at enemies and see it return to sender.
Hello, Spore Warden and Graveborn. We now know Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands won’t stick to the usual four different classes on release, with the two most recent classes making it six classes for players to choose from.
As the gameplay preview shows, the Graveborn offers “high-risk, high-reward” gameplay, trading damage for health. With the Reaper of Bones ability, players will be able to gain bonus lifesteal and magic damage for a period of time, but your health will continue to drain while it’s active. Dire Sacrifice does was it says on the tin, sacrificing 20% of your health to deal dark magic damage in an area-of-effect attack. Like the Clawbringer, the Graveborn has a small ally in the form of a demi-lich.
As for the Spore Warden, a nature lover class with a mystical bow that can shoot seven arrows at once thanks to the Barrage of Arrows ability. This class is also equipped with a Blizzard ability that creates three frost cyclones that hone in on enemies. You can also expect a mushroom for a sidekick.
We can also expect guns, magic, and broadswords as our main weaponry, with Gearbox claiming gamers will “shoot, slash, and cast your way through outlandish monsters and loot-filled dungeons.”
Thanks to the 20-minute gameplay trailer, we’ve seen similar Borderlands RPG shooter-looter gameplay mechanics, but this time with a dash of swords and magic. The trailer showed off summoning spells, a spell that turned a hammerhead shark beast into a smaller creature, and another that froze a bunch of enemies in place.
As for other weapons that aren’t guns, there appear to be more melee combat elements. From swinging around a massive, fiery hammer to the magically manifested box and arrows, guns won’t be the only items to loot anymore. Or “lute,” as the trailer suggests.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands PC minimum and recommended requirements
Borderlands isn’t known for its demanding specs, and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands isn’t expected to be any different. Borderlands 2 impressively made its way on the PlayStation Vita back in the day, while Borderlands 3 was made available on macOS a month after its initial launch. Chances are you’ll have a laptop ready to play the spinoff.
We expect PC requirements to be similar to Borderlands 3. The minimum requirements include an AMD FX-8350 or Intel i5-3570 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon HD 7970 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2GB GPU. Recommended specs include an AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel i7-4770 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 590 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GPU.
As you can tell, there’s no Nvidia RTX 30 Series in sight, so don’t fret about needing a pricey upgrade to play Tiny TIna’s Wonderlands (yet).
Outlook
Gearbox offered only a teaser of what to expect once Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands launches in the early months of 2022. From what we’ve seen, the game will appeal to first-person looter-shooter fans and D&D players who enjoyed Tiny Tina’s first foray into the genre.
While we would have liked to see more gameplay shown during the Gearbox E3 showcase (which this writer found abysmal), we’re sure to get a better look in the coming months leading to its launch. While we wait for further updates, check out the best PC games to play right now.
