Surprisingly, Hell Maiden marks a massive shift for the team. They’re taking the famous setting from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy to create a horde survival rougelite deck-builder. It will be interesting to see how the team approaches this new genre. This is where we asked them about the game’s features, its tarot-inspired card system, when to expect the first demo, and if their iconic anime graphics will still be present.

In Hell Maiden, you play as Dante who inexplicably finds herself back in Hell after already reaching Paradiso, her memories completely wiped. Determined to claw her way back to Heaven and uncover the truth, she’s joined by the wise Roman poet Virgil and the saintly Beatrice. Your journey takes you through the nine Circles of Hell, where you’ll face swarms of fiends and bosses. You’ll build your arsenal by collecting, stacking, and merging tarot-inspired cards.

The game is set to release on PC via Steam with no current date, and the developers describe it as “Touhou meets Vampire Survivors”.

Hell Maiden is described as an original retelling to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. What inspired you to reimagine this classic work as a horde survival deck-building game with an anime-inspired twist?

The idea was initially proposed by our creative director, Kira (António Lopes), based on his own original character designs for two of the main characters of Dante’s Divine Comedy — Dante and Beatrice. This spontaneous character design exercise was what kicked everything off and led to the creation of Hell Maiden.

As fans of the horde survival genre and games such as Vampire Survivors and Halls of Torment, we decided to pair it with another much beloved genre among our team members, deck-building, to create an unlikely combination of mechanics that work surprisingly well together.

Anime being an integral part of our artistic expression, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to reimagine Dante’s Divine Comedy with an all-female cast, which lines up perfectly with our studio’s previous titles. More than a retelling, Hell Maiden is mainly a sequel that picks up from where the original poem left off.

Your previous titles Pocket Mirror and Little Goody Two Shoes leaned heavily into horror and narrative-driven RPGs. What motivated the shift to a more action-packed genre?

The team had been itching to explore other genres that involved more action and fast-paced gameplay ever since the development of our previous title, Little Goody Two Shoes. While we’ll forever love the horror RPG genre and would be happy to revisit it in the future, we consider it’s the right time to expand our horizons and explore other genres, ideas and possibilities for our small studio. Personal taste and creative vision weren’t the only factors going into Hell Maiden’s creation and genre choice.

As an independent game development company, we feel ready to explore not only different creative avenues, but especially the possibility of self-publishing. After Little Goody Two Shoes, we decided to aim for a project that makes the most of our in-house strengths, skills and abilities in order to develop a game that’s more in line with what we can accomplish independently at this point in time.

Dante is portrayed as a female character who has lost her memories and is back in Hell after reaching Paradiso. What can you tell us about her character?

Hell Maiden’s Dante is rather different from the original poem’s protagonist: from her motivations to her circumstances. Contrary to the original Dante, our protagonist isn’t solely motivated by the prospect of meeting her beloved, Beatrice, in Paradiso and instead is moved by a strong sense of justice and determination to get to the bottom of why she was cast out of Heaven.

While the original poem’s protagonist personality encapsulates common and universal traits, our Dante is unreasonably determined, passionate and incredibly willful. She isn’t easily swayed by her emotions, nor is she intimidated by her opponents — no matter how tough. The one trait she does have in common with the original Dante, however, is her prideful nature.

The game features a cast of characters like Virgil, Beatrice, and the Poets of Limbo. How did you decide which figures from Divine Comedy and history to include?

Virgil and Beatrice are integral characters of the original poem and we couldn’t go without including them in our main cast. All other characters, however, were directly mentioned by Dante.

Right at the beginning of Inferno, Dante lists a series of virtuous poets, polymaths and philosophers (among others) from antiquity whom he admires. Virgil, Ovid, Homer, Lucan and Horace are among the most virtuous of all which made our decision to include them as the five main Poets of Limbo rather straightforward.

While Dante’s list is quite extensive, we’re taking our own liberties and including others with similar characteristics to the canonically included historical figures as well. The same doesn’t apply to the antagonists, however, as they’re all canonical residents of Hell.

The graphics feature that unique anime style you showcased in Little Goody Two Shoes. Do you now consider this your signature style, or is it simply a style you’re comfortable working with?

Our visual identity is very much intentional and unique to our studio — more specifically to our creative director, Kira, whose personal style in illustration and design shapes our games’ visuals. In that sense, it is very much our signature style although we collaborate with different artists for our games and often enjoy working with mixed media elements as well.

We’ve been experimenting with 3D as of recently, so there’s still plenty of room to experiment with and explore our signature style!

What’s the current state of the game, when can we expect its release, and when might the demo be available?

While we don’t have a release date yet, we’re currently working hard on a demo version of Hell Maiden which we’re hoping to release soon. In a general sense, the game is still in early development, but we’ll be keeping everyone updated with our every move!

Moving onto the gameplay, can you walk us through the process of designing the tarot-inspired card system? How do Spirit Cards, Weapon Cards, and Mod Cards work together?

Hell Maiden’s card system is meant to provide players with unique skills throughout each run. There are two types of Spirit Cards — Weapon and Mod Cards.

Weapon Cards empower players with unique skills and abilities. For example, Dante’s signature Weapon Card, “Blazing Quill’, unleashes a close ranged attack upon players’ targeted enemies. Other Weapon Cards include different abilities such as periodically summoned lightning bolts and spikes, energy spheres that surround Dante’s character sprite and damage surrounding enemies, projectiles, among others.

In order to enhance the chosen Weapon Cards, players will be able to equip them with Mod Cards which, as the name suggests, modify that weapon’s attacks — from increasing attack speed, damage and area, to imbuing them with status effects such as poison, burn, slow, etc.

We’re also developing other ways players can influence and diversify their runs with meta-progression mechanics, Spirit Cards you can acquire after defeating certain bosses, a perk system and more! We believe Hell Maiden’s deck-building will be exciting for players to tinker with and explore.

The Poets of Limbo, like Homer and Ovid, provide Blessings and Signature Weapons. What do these characters bring to the gameplay?

In one word — complexity. All Poets of Limbo have their own Signature Weapons which are unique to them. These open up a myriad of possibilities throughout each run by allowing players to experiment and tinker with different card combinations. The same applies to their Blessings which are character-themed card pools which offer Mod Cards that are unique to each Poet.

As such, players will be able to mix and match Weapon and Mod Cards from various different pools to create truly unique combinations. The more Poets players rescue from the depths of Hell, the more cards they’ll have at their disposal!

Do you plan to make Hell Maiden highly replayable to keep players returning, and since it’s releasing in Early Access, how often do you intend to update it?

Yes, we’re focusing a lot on replayability and making sure the game remains fun throughout with new cards, features and characters to unlock!

This also applies to the narrative’s progression — from side quests that further expand on the lore, to new interactions with the Poets of Limbo after each run and even new dialogue every time players revisit bosses they’ve already defeated.

Our plan for Early Access is to update the game regularly and keep a close relationship with our community to make sure we’re maintaining a good pace while simultaneously addressing players’ concerns, bug reports and suggestions. At this point in time, we cannot say how often we’ll be making updates, but we’ll most definitely keep everyone updated!

Is there a unique mechanic you’d like to highlight, something you’re particularly proud of?

Just like all our other titles, Hell Maiden is very near and dear to our hearts.

One of our flagship features for the game is its deck-building elements which bring a new and fresh take into the horde survival genre. We’ve been having a ton of fun playing around with the different combinations of attacks, buffs and enhancements this system allows for. It’s a really magical experience when the game you’re making turns out to be genuinely fun and compelling!

The addition of a complex and gripping narrative is also one of Hell Maiden’s unique features we’re most proud of as it’s something we haven’t seen being done before in the genre.

Dante’s Divine Comedy is the perfect fit for something like this and we’ve been having a lot of fun deconstructing and redesigning its narrative into something that’s playful and lighthearted while also retaining all the passion, earnestness and sincerity we’ve weaved into our previous titles’ storylines. All in all, we’re very excited about Hell Maiden as it’s allowing us to explore new possibilities while still retaining 100% of our identity, self expression and signature style.

Why did you decide to go with Early Access? What can you tell us about bosses and enemies we’lll face in the game?

There are two main reasons why we think Early Access is the right choice for Hell Maiden.

Having worked alongside publishers for previous two titles, we’ve reached a stage in which we feel ready to follow our own path and release a game independently. As such, our fans’ support is now more essential than ever as we’re relying solely on our growing community to take AstralShift further.

In that same vein, working alongside our community is priceless to us and Early Access allows us to do just that by involving players in the development process to a certain extent. As independent developers we’ll be able to freely take in and implement feedback from fans and keep a closer relationship with everyone on our own terms.

As for the opponents you’ll fight throughout the game all we can say is that we hope you’re good at bullet hell games!

What’s your view on the gaming industry overall? Are you seeking a publisher for Hell Maiden, or will you self-publish it?

Our goal is to self-publish Hell Maiden for both the sake of independence and autonomy, but also for financial reasons.

Game development was never easy, but it has recently become even tougher to stand out even when we do our best every day and we’re very glad that AstralShift’s charm continues to reach so many people even in today’s climate.

Now more than ever we need our fans’ support to be able to further grow our studio and continue to deliver what’s expected from us and what we love doing the most — creating immersive, visually stunning and narrative-driven gaming experiences!

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April Grove casts you as a rookie forester in a serene, enchanted forest. Your task is to chop trees, gather logs, and uncover the secrets of a woodland community. This retro-inspired game blends life sim, exploration, and light RPG elements in a Game Boy Advance-style pixel-art world. With no enemies, timers, or pressure, it’s all about setting your own pace.

In this game, you’ll trade logs for gold, which you can spend on upgrades like better axes, necklaces, or food buffs that tweak your playstyle. Each swing earns XP, leveling your woodcutting skill to tackle bigger trees and unlock new forest areas. You can also choose a male or female character, customize your gear, and interact with animals for varied outcomes.

Here’s what Steam reviews are saying:

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You play as a sorcerer from a forbidden line of horticultural mages, returning to your family’s abandoned castle in Chandley village. Here, gardening isn’t ordinary: you’ll grow everyday plants like runner beans and turnips alongside mystical ones like thunder-calling taran. Your goal is to restore the castle’s tangled grounds by placing garden beds, decorations, and cozy spots, nurturing both mundane and magical plants from seed to harvest.

The game’s open world is alive with uncanny spirits and old powers in which you’ll also meet a cast of various villagers, each with their own stories. Evening activities include reading ancient books by candlelight, cooking new recipes, or drinking tea with the god in your chimney. However, the world follows the Covenant of the Hearth: lights go out at night, and the Mara, otherworldly beings, rule the darkness.

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Whether you play solo or with friends, Farever encourages cooperative play. You can assemble a party to tackle enemies, clear dungeons, and face dynamic world events like Rift Invasions, where hordes of foes test your teamwork. Content scales with group size and roles, ensuring balanced and engaging battles against bosses or invasions.

Farever’s combat is fast and highly customizable, launching with 10 character classes (four in Early Access) across tank, support, and DPS roles. With over 100 weapons, each tied to unique skills, you can create countless personalized builds.

The game also offers non-combat activities. You can take on jobs like blacksmithing or cooking, gathering rare resources across Siagarta to craft powerful gear, accessories, and unique weapons. Exploration is equally rewarding, with platforming challenges, environmental puzzles, and dangerous dungeons scattered across the world.

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You’re summoned to a mysterious world with a huge task: slay colossal giants to get their magical cores. To do this, you can build enormous mobile fortresses with cannons and defensive towers, turning them into walking or even flying war machines. These fortresses need energy cubes to run, which you craft from resources found across the land. Gathering these materials isn’t easy, as enemies fiercely guard them, forcing you into strategic fights to power your creations.

The open world of Loya is filled with diverse biomes each hiding caves, dungeons, and villages. You can take your time discovering secrets, fishing, cooking, or tackling quests with randomized rewards. Puzzles are woven into the environment, adding variety and challenging you to think creatively to unlock treasures or progress. For those who love companions, you can capture and mount pets to join your journey.

Loya offers four distinct classes, unlocked at an in-game altar, providing varied playstyles like melee, ranged, or magic. A crafting system with a forge and procedural items lets you create weapons, tools, and structures, while a gem system and talent tree add further customization depth. Additionally, multiplayer supports up to 25 players per server in co-op or private modes.

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Founded in May 2022 by JRPG fans, Studio Camelia aimed to create Alzara Radiant Echoes, a 3D turn-based RPG inspired by Golden Sun and Final Fantasy X. Set in a Mediterranean-inspired fantasy archipelago, the game promised dynamic combat with hero-swapping and elemental magic combos, focusing on themes of camaraderie and unity. Led by industry veterans from Ghost Recon and Dead Cells, the studio funded half the project with personal savings, business angel support, bank loans, and Microsoft’s Developer Acceleration Program.

To cover remaining costs, Studio Camelia launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2024 with a €100,000 goal. It raised €294,428 from 5,089 backers, becoming one of the year’s top-backed video game projects. The funds helped create a new demo, shown at events like Tokyo Game Show and DICE to attract partners. Despite a playable demo, experienced team, and strong fan support, no publishing deals were secured.

“We are creatives, but we need funding to keep creating. Sometimes, even having a promising game concept with proven market interest and a strong team is not enough.” Studio highlighted the tough reality that even a successful Kickstarter can’t ensure a game’s completion. They expressed regret that neither they nor Kickstarter can refund backers, including those who pledged up to €800 for premium rewards, leaving some fans upset over unclear communication about the campaign’s goals.

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Sandfall Interactive recently shared on their social media, saying: “We’re currently exploring a wide range of future improvements.” The hint at “new content” suggests possible DLC to expand the game’s universe. They’re also considering broader localization options to reach more players, though they noted no timelines or details are set yet.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows the volunteers of Expedition 33, a group racing against time to stop the Paintress, a mysterious entity who awakens yearly to paint a cursed number on a monolith, wiping out everyone of that age. With a mix of turn-based combat and real-time moves like dodging and parrying, it offers a fresh RPG twist, drawing inspiration from classics like Final Fantasy and Persona. It earned a 92% critic score on OpenCritic and a 9.7/10 user rating on Metacritic, marking it as one of 2025’s top games.

One possibility is exploring the war between the Painters and the Writers, a conflict teased in the main story but left mostly unexplored. Fans are also eager to learn more about the Dessendre family, whose connection to the Paintress could spark a new tale. New content could uncover the fates of past expeditions, building on the notes and journals scattered throughout that hint at their tragic stories.

Clair Obscur already features the Endless Tower, a challenge mode testing combat skills, so new content will likely focus on story-driven additions. Sandfall’s lead writer, Jennifer Svedberg-Yen, last month in an Instagram Q&A also said: “If players really want it, we’d love to add more, and with the reactions so far, the chances look good.” While the studio has focused on polishing the base game, their openness to DLC mirrors the strong fan demand, with over 95% positive Steam reviews from 83,623 players as of June 2025.

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In Pathologic 3, you play as Daniil Dankovsky, a doctor called The Bachelor, who arrives in a remote steppe town hit by a deadly plague. With just 12 days to stop the disease, Dankovsky must diagnose patients, issue decrees to guide the town’s future, and uncover dark secrets. The surreal time management system, explained by Ice-Pick Lodge’s Nikolay Dybowski, brings a fresh twist to the series, letting you reshape the story where every choice matters.

Unlike Pathologic 2, which focused on the Haruspex, Pathologic 3 highlights The Bachelor’s intellectual approach, emphasizing medical strategy over combat, though the trailer teases tense moments with a pistol in infected zones.

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This game blends open-world exploration with fast-paced hack-and-slash combat, sending you across diverse landscapes, from forests and caverns to treacherous, storm-swept regions. Along the way, you’ll battle goblins, monsters, and other foes determined to wipe out the last dwarves. Our draw hero is wielding a range of weapons and skills, highlighting the game’s dynamic and customizable fighting styles.

Beyond combat, Regions of Ruin: Runegate emphasizes rebuilding and community. As you journey, you’ll meet dwarven allies in need of help, offering aid to recruit them to your cause. By gathering resources like ore and timber, you can construct new facilities, unlock advanced technologies, and create a safe haven for your kin. The trailer revealed glimpses of base-building mechanics, showing how you transform barren lands into thriving settlements.

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Dice ‘n Goblins is a first-person turn-based and dungeon-crawling RPG that places you in the role of Gobby, a goblin knight navigating trap-filled dungeon to find a safe haven for her people. With its unique dice-based combat that draws inspiration from tabletop RPGs, charming hand-drawn art, and classic grid-based exploration, the game aims to blend luck and strategy in a cozy yet challenging package.

Cute cartoonish graphics

Having already played the demo, I had some expectations for the game’s official release, but its 10 interconnected levels with grid-based movement, reminiscent of titles like Legend of Grimrock or Etrian Odyssey, truly hooked me in. However, it occasionally grew repetitive. The dungeons lacked proper detail, filled with similar-looking enemies and consistent, rather bland textures and graphics everywhere, which was a slight disappointment.

Despite this, I really admired the approach to art style and characters. They’re essentially hand-drawn images integrated into a cartoonish environment, and while that might sound odd, it actually complements the surroundings perfectly. From goblins to mice, every character fits seamlessly into the world. Beyond that, the dungeons feature interconnected layouts, demanding you solve environmental puzzles like finding switches or even drop down through holes and be in the water.

The auto-mapping feature helps you stay oriented, but I wish it had clearer markers for walls and edges, as it can leave you confused about where to go next. The map’s multiple floors and layers often felt unclear too – it was just rather confusing to get around, although going face first into danger was fun. Luckily, the game’s small size makes finding the right path quicker than expected.

“I really admired the approach to art style and characters.”

The turn-based combat is solid but comes with some flaws

The combat system is arguably the game’s most enjoyable and straightforward feature. You equip items like daggers or shields, each providing specific dice, for example, a dagger gives a four-sided damage die or a shield a defense die. These dice are rolled every turn and categorized into damage, defense, and healing. Success depends on strategically selecting dice to chain combos and using unique skills to alter dice effects for maximum impact. Enemies also use dice and combos, which sometimes forces you to adapt to their patterns.

However, the system’s reliance on RNG can make fights feel too fast at times, or drag on, especially in later dungeons. But, since you get a permanent healing dice early on, it makes it too easy to just take hits, which makes the combat a bit boring. The game is even more forgiving because you have stars to change your dice numbers, making it easy to “cheat” the system. While I understand the goal of a cozy game, the balance between early and late game is visible.

As you travel and explore, you’ll find loot in chests, including new dice, equipment, and items to trade with a dungeon merchant. This lets you customize Gobby’s dice pool and skills. What I do miss is a clear visual difference between bosses and regular enemies. Bosses hit hard, but since you can rest at campfires to reset enemies, you can essentially farm levels for free. This can also make enemies too weak over time, though the game tries to balance this by forcing you to explore for new loot, as sticking with the same weapons isn’t a good idea.

“Combat relies too much on RNG and forgiving mechanics.”

The story has its own memorable moments

Dice ‘n Goblins also features a gentle learning curve, gradually introducing mechanics like piercing or poison effects, so you’re not stuck with the same items. With three different skill trees, there’s plenty of room for experimentation. My biggest issue is the inconsistent XP and gold drops from enemies. Some grant a lot, others very little, with no clear explanation for these varied amounts.

Another really good aspect is the story, which is delvered through silly dilagoue and cutscene that hint at a larger world. Interactions with NPCs, including potential allies, add charm and context, though the story is more a backdrop than a driving force here. The focus remains on gameplay, with the narrative serving as a light, engaging motivator. Sadly, most NPCs feel a bit useless, which is a definite letdown. There’s also backtracking, but only in situations where you suspect you’ve missed a room and hope to find a new chest.

On a positive note, I didn’t encounter any major bugs. The only real annoyance is accidentally clicking forward during combat, which can trap you, preventing you from re-selecting dice and forcing you to commit. Missions were also often unclear, with odd progression paths, and dialogue sometimes fails to provide proper direction. But even if you do get lost, somehow you would always find a way out.

“The story unfolds through amusing, silly dialogue and cutscenes.”

Solid pick if you’re into cozy RPGs

In the end, Dice ‘n Goblins proved to be a surprisingly solid RPG. I appreciate games that experiment and offer something new, and this is definitely one of them. The first-person view was so well-executed that I didn’t even miss a third-person option, though it would have been a cool addition. Nevertheless, this is a very charming game, perfect if you’re a fan of the genre.

I often found myself listening to podcasts while playing this one, it’s genuinely that chill and enjoyable. While it’s still a bit rough around the edges, I can’t fault the developers; it’s an indie game that’s functional and absolutely worth a try. For those who love cozy RPGs with a tabletop feel, Dice ‘n Goblins is worth exploring, especially if you can overlook some minor imperfections.

Review copy provided by the publisher

3.8

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