If you are preparing to dive into Whistling Wizard's stunning, graphic novel-inspired action-platformer, the first question on your mind is likely: how long is Rose and Locket? For a standard playthrough focusing purely on the main narrative, it takes roughly 6 to 8 hours to beat Rose and Locket. However, if you are aiming for 100% completion—which involves fully upgrading your arsenal and uncovering every piece of hidden lore within the Underwest—expect your playtime to stretch to around 10 to 12 hours.
Published by Ninja Kiwi and developed over six years by a dedicated two-person indie team in New Zealand, Rose and Locket is not a bloated, hundred-hour RPG. Instead, it is a tightly paced, cinematic twin-stick shooter that respects your time. The game blurs the line between a motion comic and a video game, channeling the stark, two-color motifs and bold silhouettes made famous by animator Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Primal).
Rather than padding the experience with endless fetch quests, the playtime is entirely driven by skill-based combat, acrobatic platforming, and intense boss battles against the Seven Deadly Sins. Below, we break down exactly what goes into that playtime, how different playstyles affect your total hours, and what it takes to fully conquer the spiritual Wild West.
How Long is Rose and Locket: The Main Story Campaign
The core narrative of Rose and Locket follows Rose, a retired outlaw gunslinger who is forced to pick up her six-shooter once more. Her objective is deeply personal: she must journey into the Underwest—a dark, spiritual underworld version of the Wild West—to rescue the soul of her daughter, who has been trapped inside a locket by the prime sin, Envy.
To reach the credits, players must hunt down the entities representing the Seven Deadly Sins. This structural breakdown is the primary driver of the game's 6 to 8-hour campaign length.
Each sin governs a distinct realm within the Underwest. For example, navigating the towering, arrogant architecture of Pride's domain or surviving the consuming depths of Gluttony's pit takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour per zone. The pacing is meticulously controlled by the game's unique visual presentation; scenes transition as if you are moving between the panels of a graphic novel. This cinematic framing means there is very little "dead air" or empty travel time. You are either engaging in high-speed acrobatic gunslinging, dashing past supernatural hazards, or watching the deeply emotional story unfold through fully voiced narration.
If you are a veteran of 2D action-platformers and twin-stick shooters, you might breeze through the early realms, pushing your main story completion time closer to the 6-hour mark. However, players who struggle with the game's escalating difficulty—particularly the multi-phase boss fights—will easily find their playthrough extending toward 8 hours.
How Long is Rose and Locket: Achieving 100% Completion
For completionists, simply rolling the credits is never enough. If you are asking how long is Rose and Locket to fully master, you should set aside 10 to 12 hours.
Achieving 100% completion in the Underwest requires more than just fast reflexes; it demands thorough exploration and an understanding of the game's upgrade economy. While the main path is relatively linear, the handcrafted, multi-panel screens harbor secrets that are essential for maxing out Rose's capabilities.
To hit that 100% milestone, players must:
- Max Out the Arsenal: Rose starts with her staple six-shooter, but soon acquires a heavy-hitting shotgun. Finding all the necessary resources to fully upgrade the range, reload speed, and damage output of both weapons adds a couple of hours to the base playtime.
- Unlock All Secondary Attacks: The combat system relies heavily on gathering spiritual energy to unleash powerful secondary attacks. Locating the hidden shrines or challenges required to unlock every combat ability is mandatory for a perfect save file.
- Uncover the Lore of the Underwest: The fantasy Wild West setting is rich with ambiguous, scattered background lore. Finding every narrative fragment that explains the origins of the Seven Deadly Sins and the true nature of the Underwest takes dedicated exploration.
Because the game's environments are designed with striking, high-contrast art, secrets are often hidden in the negative space or behind clever visual tricks within the comic-book framing. Backtracking to earlier realms with newly acquired movement abilities or upgraded firepower is a staple of the completionist route, padding the runtime with engaging, rewarding discovery.
The Impact of 360-Degree Boss Arenas on Playtime
One of the most significant variables in your total playtime is how quickly you adapt to Rose and Locket's signature combat feature: the 360-degree Shooting Gallery boss battles.
Unlike standard side-scrolling combat, boss encounters against the prime sins—such as the climactic showdown with Envy—force the arena to transform. Players must utilize the left stick to control Rose's acrobatic dodging and dashing, while simultaneously using the right stick to aim 360 degrees to counter incoming projectile waves.
These encounters are not meant to be easy; they are designed for challengers. The game demands that you master weapon combo chains and manage your reload timings perfectly. A single boss fight might only take five minutes to win, but learning the boss's attack patterns, failing, and retrying can easily add 30 to 45 minutes of trial-and-error per sin. If you find yourself stuck on the later, more demanding boss arenas, your total playtime could easily spike by an additional hour or two. The tactical shooting mechanics ensure that you cannot simply "tank" damage; evasion and precision are your only lifelines.
How Long is Rose and Locket: Speedrunning and Replayability
Once the mechanics click, Rose and Locket reveals itself as a highly replayable experience. Because the game is built around stylish, high-speed action and combo chains, it is a prime candidate for speedrunning.
If you know exactly where the boss triggers are, understand the optimal weapon upgrade path, and have memorized the 360-degree attack patterns, it is entirely possible to beat the game in under 4 hours on a subsequent run. The developers at Whistling Wizard intentionally designed the movement to be fluid and momentum-based, rewarding players who can seamlessly blend traversal and shooting.
Furthermore, the sheer aesthetic beauty of the game encourages multiple playthroughs. The bold, Tartakovsky-inspired art style and the cinematic set pieces make revisiting the Underwest a visual treat, even if you have already uncovered every secret the game has to offer.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What platforms is Rose and Locket available on? Rose and Locket officially released on May 26, 2026, and is available on PC and Mac via Steam. It features full controller support, which is highly recommended for the twin-stick shooting mechanics, as well as standard keyboard and mouse controls.
Who developed Rose and Locket? The game was developed by Whistling Wizard, an independent two-person studio based in New Zealand. It was published by Ninja Kiwi, the renowned developer behind the massive Bloons TD franchise, marking a unique step into narrative-driven action-platformers for the publisher.
Is there a secret ending in Rose and Locket? Yes. While the main narrative concludes after defeating the prime sin Envy and rescuing your daughter's soul, players who achieve 100% completion and uncover all the hidden lore fragments in the Underwest can unlock a secret ending that sheds more light on Rose's past as an outlaw gunslinger.
Can I play a demo before buying? Yes, a playable demo for Rose and Locket is available on Steam for both Windows and Mac. The demo provides a generous slice of the early game, introducing players to the six-shooter, the shotgun, and the initial realms of the Underwest, giving you a perfect taste of the graphic novel art style.
Sources
- Steam Store Page: Rose and Locket (Whistling Wizard / Ninja Kiwi)
- Ninja Kiwi Official Press Release: "Ninja Kiwi launches graphic novel-inspired platform shooter Rose and Locket on Steam"
- DLCompare: "Rose and Locket: Chasing the Seven Sins Beneath Underwest"
- Medium / Adventures in Indie Gaming: "Underworld Showdown: Rose and Locket"
- PAX Australia 2023 Indie Showcase Reveals