Iron Bramble is a gorgeous new grappling hook Metroidvania coming in 2027

Mini Bunnies and Emlise have announced Iron Bramble, a momentum-based Metroidvania scheduled to hit Steam in 2027. Published by Playism, the game is a spiritual successor to Rusted Moss and brings back that title's signature physics-based grappling hook mechanics.

At its core, Iron Bramble is a pixel art Bionic Commando-like. But it looks like it has a lot more depth than Bionic Commando, and I am sure the developers hate when people make that comparison. Grappling hooks in 2D platformers usually fall into two categories. They either pull you in a straight line like a zip-line, or they act as a rigid pendulum. Iron Bramble uses an elastic, physics-driven rope. It is beautiful. The environments are lush, the animations are incredibly fluid, and I wishlisted this one immediately.

Inheriting the Rusted Moss physics

The movement system relies heavily on momentum. You play as Lilac. She is a fae explorer navigating a world where sci-fi intersects with dark fantasy. Your primary adversaries are robots possessed by the souls of the dead. Getting around involves mastering a bungee-style grappling hook that requires actual physics calculations in your head. It does not just snap you to predetermined anchor points on the ceiling. You have to account for slack, pendulum arcs, and your own velocity before you let go.

Combat is fast and highly mobile. You have to weave through complex attack patterns while maintaining your swing momentum. It is a system that demands precision, especially during the massive boss encounters. You are constantly managing your positioning in the air while returning fire, turning every room into a high-speed geometry problem.

From game jams to full releases

Mini Bunnies started as a group of friends who got hooked on game development after participating in a GM48 game jam. Game jams are notorious for producing excellent single-mechanic prototypes, and the studio clearly carried that focused design philosophy forward. They spent the last few years building smaller narrative platformers like Hazel the Plant Witch. On January 23 of this year, they released After School Afterlife, a puzzle platformer about a ghost child navigating a haunted mansion.

For Iron Bramble, they teamed up with Emlise. Emlise built the original Rusted Moss, which established the bungee-grapple mechanics that Iron Bramble is now expanding on. Bringing the two indie studios together under the Playism publishing banner gives the new project a solid mechanical foundation. Playism has a long history of picking up mechanically dense Japanese and international indie games, making them a natural fit for a Metroidvania with a high skill ceiling. They already know how to make this specific type of traversal feel good, so now they can focus on building a larger, more intricate map around it.

A long runway

The 2027 release window means we have a long wait ahead. Game development takes time, especially when you are hand-crafting detailed pixel art environments and tuning complex physics systems. The developers have plenty of room to refine the Metroidvania elements and ensure the map design complements the high-speed traversal.

Until then, you can practice your pendulum swings in Rusted Moss to prepare for the robot-smashing action. The mechanics take a few hours to truly click, so getting a head start on the physics engine is probably a good idea.