Difficulty levels are a common mechanic in the Lemmings series. As their name suggests, difficulties divide levels into sets based on the challenge involved in completing them. Generally, earlier levels in each difficulty must be completed to access later levels. Across the games that use traditional difficulty levels, there are usually four or five Ratings.
Of the mainline games, Lemmings 2: The Tribes, The Lemmings Chronicles, Lemmings Revolution, Lemmings Tribes, and Lemmings: The Puzzle Adventure do not use traditional difficulty levels.
Lemmings[]
The original Lemmings features four difficulty levels. The first level of each difficulty is unlocked from the start. The next level in that difficulty is unlocked once the latest level is completed; however, in some ports (such as the Windows 95 version), it is possible to Cheat a specific level to access the next one. The difficulty levels are:
These names have become idiosyncratic within the franchise. They are additionally used in 3D Lemmings, Lemmings Paintball, Lemmings Return (although it lacks a Mayhem difficulty), and Lemmings (PS3). Lemmings: The Puzzle Adventure additionally references these with the Fun League and Tricky League of Tournaments, as well as its Mayhem levels.
In the Genesis/Mega Drive version of Lemmings, there are two additional difficulties:
The 2006 remake adds the Special level set, which is accessed in a separate sub-menu from the original levels.
Oh No! More Lemmings[]
Oh No! More Lemmings consists of five difficulty levels. As with the original game, the first level of each difficulty is unlocked from the start.
Holiday Lemmings[]
Holiday Lemmings games were released in two installments. The first, Holiday Lemmings 1993, consists of two difficulties. The second, Holiday Lemmings 1994, includes the same two difficulties alongside two new difficulties, which are placed before the original installment's difficulties.
Holiday Lemmings 1993[]
Holiday Lemmings 1994[]
3D Lemmings[]
3D Lemmings consists of five difficulties. Four of these reference the names of the difficulties from the original Lemmings, while the first (Practice) is a set of levels designed to serve as tutorials. Each difficulty consists of 20 levels. The difficulty levels are:
Lemmings (PS3)[]
Lemmings (PS3) consists of five difficulties. As with 3D Lemmings, the first is a set of tutorial levels. However, the difficulties' unlock conditions are unique: The first three levels of each difficulty are unlocked from the start, and the next level in a difficulty is unlocked for each level completed in that difficulty. The difficulty levels are:
In the demo version of the game, only the Trial levels, the first level of Fun, and the first level of Tricky are playable. No other levels can be unlocked.
Lemmings Touch[]
There are five difficulties in Lemmings Touch. Tutorial is unlocked from the start, while the others are locked until they player attains a certain number of total stars from completing levels in the previous difficulties.
Additionally, each difficulty is further divided into one or more columns, which consist of five levels each and are unlocked by attaining at least five stars from the previous column. The first column of each difficulty is unlocked alongside that difficulty. The difficulties and their unlock conditions are:
- Tutorial - 1 column
- Easy - 3 columns (Complete Tutorials)
- Tricky - 4 columns (Need 20 Stars)
- Taxing - 5 columns (Need 50 Stars)
- Hard - 7 columns (Need 75 Stars)
Two of the difficulty level names from the original Lemmings are referenced by those in Lemmings Touch. The remaining three difficulties use different names, however. Additionally, levels that are reused from the original Lemmings are not necessarily placed in the difficulty level that corresponds to their placement in the original game.