Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2023
Tails Noir Preludes
Developer Eggnut
Tails Noir Preludes is a post-noir narrative adventure with branching choices. It is an intertwined series of vignettes about change, circumstance, and consequence. Guide four characters through formative moments in their lives in a dystopian Vancouver inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. From the Steam store page
186 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Sep 30, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
91
LovedLoved
168 positive · 16 negative
95% range 86–95%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 168 | 16 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
2 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
282 of 310 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 186 · most liked firstTails Noir Preludes is a prequel that explores some key moments in the lives of characters from the original game: Howard, Clarissa, and Renee. It also adds a newcomer to the series, Eli. If you are someone who TRULY, DESPERATELY wants to return to the world of Backbone (or Tails Noir as it has recently been renamed), then you might find some value in this entry. Beyond scratching such an itch, I don't see much value in playing this game. I don't wish too sound TOO harsh. There's nothing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spent the whole game trying to get in Larry's pants
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kinda shady how they're changing the name and stuff with the update
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the most frustrating things is when a game blows a great premise. It sucks when you have to tell your friends "there's this game with a unique memorable setting but you shouldn't play it." Backbone and this are extremely well written and designed, with fabulous art and a setting that could be the foundation for something great, and yet they don't really go anywhere and will leave you feeling hollow. This prequel is already a tough sell (why a PREquel after the extremely abrupt ending of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQMUCTbMUg]Man, what a Vibe" The Tails prelude is a captivating visual novel that lets you experience the lives of four characters from the original Backbone game before the pivotal event that sets the stage for the rest of the Backbone story. As a dialogue-driven game, the Tails prelude will keep you engaged in its gripping narrative, while the ability to walk around and perform a few mini-games adds a layer of interactivity to the game-play. Throughout…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first game had some issues that upset a lot of people, but there's nothing like that in this game. The game feels scaled down due to the way it's split into four self-contained storylines, but it's a competently handled prequel that fleshes out the Backbone world without any wild tangents or political overtones. More than anything, they're stories about change that all feel coherent and evenly paced from start to conclusion. tldr; If you played Backbone and are checking the reviews to see…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i am going to kiss larry.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Please consider following my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41005226/]Curation page. I cover a wide range of genres both paid and unpaid, providing unbiased opinions as well as regular giveaway events. I like the concept, but it fails to deliver The developers understand how to write a story with good dialog in the beginning, but they have a lousy capacity to wrap things up elegantly in the end. This story fills in certain gaps from the first game yet it leaves even more issues…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay now THAT is what Backbone should've been ! Props on the the creators for listening to criticism. Almost everything wrong in backbone is set right in this prequel, while everything that was done right is still here. Same (if not more) beautiful 2D graphics, great storytelling (all the way through this time !) with meaningful choices and consequences (encouraging replayability), endearing characters and dialogue (Hitting the right emotions at the right times) and impeccable sound design /…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i love larry let me kiss him already ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠃⠀⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠁⠀⠀⠸⢟⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⡍⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣯⡛⠉⠉⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢛⢿⡿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣾⡇⠀⣿⣿⡿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⠿⠖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣤⣥⣿⣿⣿⡏⢙⣷⣿⣿⡏⠻⠀⠀⠘⠹⠾⠟⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⠛⠿⠿⠓⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⠙⣿⣿⣞⣿⠇⡾⠻⠋⢉⠠⠄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣧⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⣶⣶⣶⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⡑⢌⠻⣻⣧⠓⣿⡀⠈⠈⠀⠈⠀⢀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠈⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⡆⠀⠀⠉⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣿⣦⣴⣿⣧⣥⡉⢁⡀⠀⣠⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⠀⠀⠈⢨⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⡛⠦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠐⠚⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠃⣘⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠁⣿⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⣿⡿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠽⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣶⠀⡀⢀⡤⠤⢄⡀⠈⠙⠛⠻⣷⣄⠛⠿⠿⠿⠍⢸⡀⢹⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠙⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠤⠈⠛⣻ ⣿⡏⠈⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⡀⠀⠈⠙⠳⠄⠀⡀⠀⠀⠉⠀⢻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣤⣾⣿…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I originally played Backbone (now called Tails Noir) when it first released on Gamepass. I did not know that a prequel was later made and was happy upon finding out. This is a good narrative driven game that gives context to the events in Backbone. I am sad that the story will never be completed now the company is gone, but the game is good nonetheless. I recommend it for those that want a good story with stunning pixel art.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall this prequel seems more well planned compared to the previous game. It expands the personality and story of the 3 key characters and present us to a new one that ends being as important as them. The choice branch is a welcome addition. The world and lore is great as expected, as so the art and music, with beautiful pixelated sceneries.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →peanut would love some pets and treats :) 🌸＞ フ | _ _ l ／` ミ＿xノ / | / ヽ ﾉ │ | | | ／￣| | | | | (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__) ＼二つ
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The prequel of Tails Noir. Just as the main game had the name Backbone originally, this was previously called Tails: The Backbone Noir. The game is split into 16 chapters, equally divided among 4 different characters. 1. Clarissa Bloodworth Decent. Her chapters explain how she came to power and make clear of her agenda early on, unlike in the main game where she reveals her intent at the very last moment with no previous clues dropped at all. Also her chapters show the most diverse locations,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My honest opinion is that this game is wayyyyy better than the first one and I kinda recommend playing this one first before the main game because its a good intro to most of the main characters in the first game on a side note:i love howard in both games and i feel like this game makes me love him more and also i thought him and larry relationship was cute.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*are* these stories intertwined? i'd think i missed an entire part of the game if i hadn't reached the act 4 achievement. on its own each of the four stories is fine...as a beginning. none of them satisfactorily goes anywhere or links in with any of the others. nice music, great art, fine mechanics, i appreciate the truly branching choice structure, but wtf if that is the story i wish i could get a refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first Tails Noir (or Backbone as it used to be called) were a very divisive game. Most seams to think the first half was excellent with gorgeous pixel art and a compelling world, with tons of potential for stories to be told, and then many (me included) thought it completely fumbled the second half with ridiculous plot twists and a really, really dumb story and a ending that wasn't warranted or earned. This one however, show that the setting is great. We follow four characters from the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was alot better than tails noir. I really wish you'd make a sequel to tails noir and not let it be the "ending" it is.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i am dying and shaking and crying at the fact that this game ended
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So good. I'm holding out hope that the devs will get the chance to wrap the series up one day. Howie and Larry forever... I do wish New+ would enable you to choose which character and chapter you want to play! That's pretty much my only real criticism.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →MUCH better than Tails Noir. I like how real the writing is. And that you can influence every part of the game got me. Even the character that I found the least interesting got me very curious about the game. Nice one. Edit: You can't influence every part of the game, but like portions of it. I did like it, beautiful direction, some endings do differ, the story is more coherent, but the questions from the first, well second, game were never answered (obviously).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An excellent compilation of vignettes that gives you a more intimate view into this exceptional worldbuilding. However, I was still left with more questions, and I can't help but feel like this game's content should have simply been integrated into the main Tails: Noir game. Both games' experiences would be amplified this way. I can't help but feel frustrated that I needed to purchase a second game in order to get just a BIT more context for the main story, and I am STILL left with many of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game #16 of 2026: Tails Noir Preludes 🐻🦝🦊🐶 A wonderful prequel for Tails Noir. I had a great time playing it. The art, music and writing stayed great and I'm glad I got to dig a bit deeper into the Tails Noir story. This one also seems like it will be great for replaying in the future.
unlabelledView post →I am so disappointed to hear the team that created Tails Noir have dispersed. This game is a great addition to the original and helped clear up a bit of the story for me. Something that is continued from the original is the absolutely beautiful animation, just WOW. 2.5D is hard to master and this game and the original does it skillfully. I really appreciated getting more insights into these characters and why they act the way they do in the first installation of Tails Noir. I will say,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short but fun addition to the main game, seems like the devs took some of the criticism to their hearts and added actual branching meaning the choices you make in convos do matter. If you liked the first one regardless of its flaws this one should bring some fun to and is very fairly priced atm.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tails Noir Preludes presents us a better story-line after the first game Tails Noir or with it old name "Backbone". I played Tails Noir when it was first came out. I was enjoying it until the half way on game but after somewhere Act 2, story felt me like something was off. Something like it's not finished yet. There were so much unanswered questions, so much irrelevent scenes I couldn't understand most of it after half way. After I finished it up I read through some forums and looked for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed the previous game so I didn't wait to try this prelude. Instead of one player involved with stories of 4 people, they live in the same city but very different lives and hardly related. My favorite goes to the bear girl as to see her grow up and eventually take the family business from her tyrant Ahole dad, and the funeral of her grandpa is overwhelming that I could feel the agony. Her story is full of rebellious and ambitious, more of life compared to the rest. Renee's story is more…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →gameplay – A- story – A+ sound - A+ design – A- detail - S+ ui – A enjoyment - A+ === overall - A === note: They took All the good things from BackBone and removed all the fluff from the first game. One of the best parts is the story line and how you can see how your actions affected what happend. Im not usally a fan of preludes becasue you already know whats going to happen but this was done well by adding in side charicters into the main story line making it so you can affect them and not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you ever lie awake at night wishing you could have done something differently? If so, Deadbone Preludes might scratch that itch. I've just finished my second walkthrough and was delighted by the thoughtfulness that went into the branching stories. It's not just your choices that change, small things about the story and available options also shift in response to those choices as you play on. I will probably do at least one more run before I feel done. Without any spoilers I'll say this - If…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By the end of Backbone I had mixed feelings. It's a game that clearly has a lot of skill put into it even though I feel it has some real difficulty trying to land it. As an expansion on the original, expectations for story threads as they are after Backbone, I really enjoyed my time with Tails. It plays to the strengths of its predecessor's choices/puzzles, branching in ways that feel satisfying while encouraging replays through the decision tree revealed after each act. If Backbone didn't…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Добавьте перевод на русский язык, пожалуйста.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I experienced the game as rather frustrating. The results of dialogues seem oddly specific. Choices that sounds roughly synonymous will lead to vastly differently results, with some outcomes requiring you to pick very specific choices at every step. I also don't enjoy if a dialogue choice made in an early chapter fully determines the outcomes of the final one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Having an Issue with Act 4 scene 1 where my game bugged and was unable to continue after the balcony talk with the bear's uncle, wish to be more positive but cant because the game is unplayable on my end.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its a great game. The story is compelling and it adds a lot of context to the previous entry. BUT I NEED A SEQUEL.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish I could of played as Larry...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Read my full review here: [url=https://gameffine.com/tails-the-backbone-preludes-review-fixing-the-past/] Gameffine TL;DR: Tails: The Backbone Preludes is the developers’ move of getting rid of the sour taste left behind by Backbone. The move largely pays off thanks to an emotionally moving narrative that emphasizes player-agency, relatable characters and extremely good-looking visuals. The gameplay may be a bit too bare bones, but the story more than makes up for it. Now that the past is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Howie and Larry. Forever.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →LARRY MY BOY my two raccoon boys deserved better serious review: it's great you should play it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful art, beautiful story, loved this game a lot! <3 <3 <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In some areas, it's a step up from the original installment of the series, with more interactions and such in the environment. It also adds more life to the series with the world building. The stories felt short and kind of shallow, but I suppose that's because we are cycling through 4 characters who are at this point not connected on any level. Other than that, I loved the art and I'm glad it eased the pain/confusion felt from the first game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tails: The Backbone Preludes seems to be much better-reviewed than the original game and for that I'm extremely thankful. I feel like this game series, what it talks about, and the world it's created is so fascinating and wonderful and pleasantly real. The stories told in the Preludes are rather rote in general concept. A mob story, a college story, a story about a relationship ending, and a story about mysterious research somewhere out in the wastes. However, the honesty and engagement of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What can i say? Personally for me Tails brings almost nothing new about lore, characters etc from the first chapter. Only Eli (that science guy) holding me for playing it. Backbone preludes not bad and not good, it does not dissapointing like the first Backbone ending tho. Feels like devs made something like schoolwork on mistakes (unnecessary but needed with objectionable reasons). You can play it or skip it and you will loose nothing. Cant see here this noire detective spirit like it was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just finished my first run. This really does just fix everything wrong from both a narrative and gameplay perspective with Backbone (and I already loved Backbone to begin with). It's a bit ironic that by making the plotlines even more disconnected from each-other, the writing actually got a LOT better, and overall felt more complete; it's to the point where it actually makes Backbone better in retrospect, now that I can more easily appreciate the world that Eggnut has built within this series.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Backbone experience but in another package, with a better written story (to some). The slight downgrade in atmosphere was made up with stellar sound design of which the original lacked in some regards. I loved both games, but Backbone, in my eyes, was better. Just read a review from a critic and I have to agree with their point: the game has well written stories for all characters, but if it weren't for Backbone then it would lack both the emotional impact and sense of completion. In other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Очень жаль, что студия, создавшая эту игру, остановила свою работу, поскольку Tails Noir содержит в себе огромный потенциал. Соглашусь с комментариями о том, что Preludes – это больше про рефлексию, но как предыстория это отличная история в духе оригинальной игры, которая раскрывает лор уже знакомых персонажей.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Branching path and replayability are the best things about the game. Music & visuals are simply excellent. Worldbuilding and writing is like it's always is with these kind of "story games" - a bag of excellent ideas with either really good or really bad execution. - More good than bad in this one though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →God I recently replayed the original for the third time and was finally able to get my hands on the Prelude. Amazing, very emotional and the music is on top as always. I just wish there was more, off course, it's one of my favorite games. It gave me that same panic like the original when you feel like you have to think so hard on every damn choice. So good. I'm gonna be thinking about this for years.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It made me cry again
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a lot better than the first one. only cried a little bit.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →еще бы русский язык сюда
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Larry's story makes me so sad you have no idea
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Better than the previous, but I wish it wasn't a prequel to it. This game, as the name alludes, is a prequel to the other 'Tails Noir' game (formerly named Backbone). I reviewed that a while back, stating it was visually beautiful, but the audio and story were terrible, earning a thumbs down. The sequel prequel is visually beautiful, but the audio is okay, and the story is decent, if fragmented by design. Gameplay It's a fancy visual novel. If you're expecting highscores and ultrakills,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →great prequel, i wish i could kiss larry (i love larry)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only improvement would be for Howie to kiss Larry
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They massacred my boy Larry.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am mostly writing this review to report a problem I recently encountered when playing the game. Sometimes when trying to load a level, it would give me an error message that said "LowLevelFatalError"and "Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost" to be short and concise. While this problem usually fixes itself if I restart the game, so far I've been trying to get into Act Three Scene Two for a while now but this error ALWAYS pops up even when actively showing me the level being…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a fun addition to the overall story, but honestly if like most people you were hoping to find answers or see what happened after the first game, this isn't what you're looking for. Think it's still worth picking up if you want to learn more about the background of the first game. Hope we get a sequel someday, and hope the devs from the team in Ukraine are safe.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this was more interesting than the first one, which focused on a detective story. This one is more about self-realization. I got stuck on the beginning part of Renee the journalist fox. I was supposed to rearrange the shelfs in a specific way, but had no idea what way it was supposed to be, So, the game would not progress. Point and click, pixalated, with a lot of dialogue to read and choose answers. I might have continued further if not for getting stuck so early. 40/100
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The stories portrayed in this game are great, though some better that others, But the thing that hooked me the most was learning about and exploring the world the characters live in, as it is not something I have ever encountered before. And if you have never played the other game from the series, it may appear quite shocking at times despite the cute, cosy (and amaznigly done) artstyle this game is shipped with, this creates a great contrast on the first playthrough and is why this game can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I personally really enjoyed the experience of this game, mostly because of how choice based this game is compared to the one previous (Backbone / Tails Noir). This game felt really special, and the only thing I dislike about it is how short the game is. The game might take a shorter time to complete a playthrough, it compensates that shorter runtime with more choices and critical options for how the story will play out. This game is one of the best visual novels I've played.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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