A Co-Op World, Even When You Play Alone: The Shade System in Hela

At its core, Hela is an open-world adventure about kindness, curiosity, and finding your own path through a magical world. Whether you play solo or with friends, the experience is built around one guiding principle: no player should ever feel limited by how they choose to play.

The Shade System brings that idea to life.

Designed to support cooperation without requiring it, the system allows every player to engage with Hela’s co-op mechanics — even when adventuring alone.

What Is the Shade System?

Shades are magical echoes of your character, created in a specific moment and left behind to repeat the action you were performing.

Think of them as reflections of yourself — steady, dependable, and always ready to help. When you need an extra pair of paws to solve a puzzle, cross a gap, or reach somewhere new, a Shade can step in naturally.

They are not automated companions or scripted helpers, but snapshots of your own intent, preserved in the world.

Built for Solo, Seamless with Friends

Hela supports up to four players, but the experience never changes based on player count.

When playing solo, Shades allow you to interact fully with systems designed for cooperation. When playing with friends, they can support group play, fill in missing roles, or enable creative solutions.

Crossing Gaps and Creating Pathways

Some paths in Hela require more than one helping hand.

By connecting your lasso to a Shade, you can form bridges across gaps, creating stable pathways you can walk or bounce across. These moments transform cooperation into something tactile and playful, turning traversal into a puzzle of timing and placement.

Reaching Higher Ground

Vertical exploration is a key part of Hela’s world, and Shades play a vital role in reaching new heights.

Placed carefully, a Shade can act as an anchor point — allowing you to climb upward, swing across open space, or reach ledges that would otherwise remain out of reach. Each placement invites experimentation, encouraging players to think creatively about movement.

Guiding Objects Through the World

Some challenges aren’t about distance or height, but precision.

Shades can hold objects steady while you guide them around tight corners or tricky edges. This turns otherwise complex co-op tasks into thoughtful, puzzle-driven moments that reward planning and patience rather than speed.

Extending Your Glide

Exploration in Hela is about curiosity — and sometimes that means going just a little farther.

While gliding, you can create a Shade mid-air and use it as a temporary anchor, extending your journey and unlocking new routes. It’s a small interaction with big impact, allowing players to push boundaries without fear.

A Safety Net for Exploration

Hela is designed to be peaceful, not punishing.

Shades can act as makeshift checkpoints during exploration. If you miss a jump or slip from a ledge, you can switch to a nearby Shade and continue from there. This encourages risk-taking and discovery, letting players explore freely without frustration.

Co-Op Tools, Solo-Friendly Design

Some tools in Hela’s world are built specifically for cooperation — such as catapults and shared mechanisms.

The Shade System ensures these tools remain fully usable even when playing alone. By placing a Shade, swapping positions, and triggering actions at the right moment, solo players can enjoy the same sense of momentum and discovery as a full group.

The Shade System isn’t just “help for solo players” — it’s a way to make Hela’s world feel consistently cooperative, even when there’s only one set of hands on the controller.

Watch the Shade System in action on YouTube by clicking here.

‍