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!

The post AstralShift Reveals More About Hell Maiden, Project Which Combines Anime and Vampire Survivors Gameplay first appeared on IndieGames.

In Away Team, you play as a lone Duplicant (a colonist clone from Oxygen Not Included) who accidentally lands on a strange new world. You must build a base, scavenge resources, and survive a landscape where every tile is simulated in detail. Like Oxygen Not Included, Away Team thrives on dynamic interactions, creating physics-driven chaos. Liquids flow and evaporate, fires spread, and every action demands a careful understanding of thermodynamics.

The game’s side-scrolling view blends exploration with survival crafting as you explore procedurally generated environments. As mentioned, every tile reacts to your actions, creating a world where one mistake can lead to disaster.

The post Klei’s New Survival Adventure Away Team Blasts Off in the Oxygen Not Included Universe Soon first appeared on IndieGames.

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.

The post Build Walking Fortresses to Fight Giants in a Vast Fantasy RPG Loya first appeared on IndieGames.

In Renown, up to 100 players per server compete in a medieval world where every resource and stronghold is up for grabs. You’ll start with basic tools and scavenge materials to build everything from simple shelters to fortresses. You’ll also craft siege weapons like catapults and battering rams to break through enemy defenses. The game’s skill-based combat, inspired by titles like Chivalry 2, demands precision in both one-on-one duels and large battles.

Customization is a core part of Renown’s appeal, letting you personalize your experience down to the smallest details. You can modify everything from your weapons and armor to your strongholds with unique patterns, emblems, skins, and colors, crafting a distinct identity for yourself and your clan. This freedom also extends to combat, where an array of period-accurate weapons like swords, axes, and bows offer diverse playstyles.

The post Medieval Survival Game Renown Just Dropped a New Trailer first appeared on IndieGames.

Survival in SCUM depends on whether you play solo, with friends, or with up to 64 players per server. You’ll need strategy, resource management, and adaptability to navigate a 225-square-kilometer island filled with forests, abandoned towns, and rugged terrain. Threats like rival prisoners, mechs, and undead “puppets” are everywhere, while unpredictable weather, wildlife, and hazardous environments ensure every playthrough is unique.

Version 1.0, unveiled at Summer Game Fest 2025, includes major improvements. A complete map overhaul brings enhanced visuals, updated points of interest, and better performance, making areas like the island’s beaches, forests, and snowy mountains even more immersive. A stronger anti-cheat system ensures fairer gameplay on official servers, and new vehicles like a seaplane, tractor, and sports bike offer fresh ways to explore or escape.

The post SCUM has officially left Early Access on Steam, bringing new content after a decade of development first appeared on IndieGames.

Dandelion Void unfolds aboard the Pergola, a massive starship from an alternate late-20th-century timeline, designed as a self-sustaining “civilization in a bottle” to carry its crew across generations to a distant exoplanet. It once housed living quarters, hospitals, farms, and factories, but centuries of neglect have turned it into a ruin. Now, its corridors are overrun with hostile jungle growth, and its systems, including life support, are falling apart.

Survival in Dandelion Void is a nonstop fight against a living, hostile environment. You’ll walk through dense jungle corridors to gather crafting supplies, exotic weapons, and rare decorations, while dodging tendrils and other botanical terrors. Sealed doors hide valuable resources, but opening them risks exposing you to the deadly void of space. To explore dangerous areas, you’ll need to repair spacesuits and radiation gear, and stockpile supplies for unpredictable cold nights.

Beyond the usual survival tasks of managing hunger, thirst, and shelter, Dandelion Void adds a layer of emotional depth, making your character’s comfort and happiness as vital as physical needs. To lift morale, you can build and furnish homes in unexpected spots like abandoned air ducts, office supply closets, or near reactor cooling pools.

The game also includes a custom map editor and a robust Lua API, allowing modders to create new maps, import custom clothing and weapons, or design entirely new scenarios and biomes.

The post Dandelion Void is basically Project Zomboid in space first appeared on IndieGames.

At its heart, Kalit is about surviving in a strange landscape. Hunger and thirst are constant challenges, but they’re just the beginning, with mischievous creatures and unexpected dangers hiding around every corner. To succeed, you’ll dive into crafting tools, weapons, and gear to beat the odds. Whether it’s chopping trees with a googly-eyed axe or growing veggies to fight hunger, gathering resources is key.

The game lets you explore open lands, dive into the sea, or dig through dark mines. A fun addition is crafting makeshift diving masks or mini-submarines to uncover secrets in underwater wrecks, or even building flying machines. You’ll face cartoonish-style enemies, from small to large, reminiscent of old kids’ cartoons, plus gigantic bosses that challenge you to make weapons like guns.

For those who enjoy a slower pace, Kalit offers farming as a way to sustain your adventures. You’ll be able to plant peculiar seeds, nurture animated saplings, and harvest bizarre crops to keep your energy up, while also being able to construct custom bases complete with defense and workbenches. But the fun doesn’t stop there – you can assemble a vehicle.

The post Survival adventure Kalit takes you through a Disney-inspired world, where you battle bizarre creatures to survive first appeared on IndieGames.

Video games, alongside sci-fi films, are finally exploring themes of clones, or your alternate selves. 11 bit studios has delivered a truly unique game, The Alters, opting for a realistic yet diverse mix of elements to make the gameplay loop meaningful. This blend includes survival, base building, resource management, exploration, and interpersonal relationships, all supported by a compelling narrative with a dash of adventure. The core premise involves moving a mobile base while fleeing a deadly sun, creating a constant sense of urgency. Meanwhile, you strive to understand and calm your Alters, adding necessary emotional depth to otherwise mechanical tasks.

Once you start playing, you’ll simply get lost in that world. Whether it’s due to the stunning graphics (notably, the game has been delayed several times), the abundance of content awaiting you, a love for surviving on harsh planets, or the fact that it’s a more open game that doesn’t hold your hand, offering tasks but leaving the solutions up to you, there’s plenty to draw you in. Moreover, it feels like you’re “role-playing” as the story keeps pushing you forward. The narrative unfolds through several interconnected layers, from uncovering the planet’s mysteries and the element Rapidium, to deciphering the motivations and plans of various side characters, and ultimately learning more about yourself through your relationships with your Alters.

Base management and resource gathering

As can be inferred, since the base occasionally relocates, your survival is key, which involves gathering resources on the planet. Initially, you collect metals, fuel, rare materials, and food yourself, but over time, you’ll gain the ability to cultivate certain items. It’s crucial to locate deposits, build mining facilities, and connect them to the base via transport pylons, creating engaging environmental puzzles. You can then assign these tasks to your Alters, each bringing their own skill sets, for example, they can quickly craft tools, build rooms, research new technologies, or even argue and influence each other.

However, a challenge arises here. The base’s modular design allows for room reconfiguration, but this can become disorienting as the base grows. Key rooms, like the communication center, are hard to find without memorizing the layout, especially when your screen is cluttered with countless items and you’re unsure of the ideal base design. Additionally, there’s a lot of micromanagement involved, it’s not simple; you must initiate certain processes for tasks to repeat. The constant scarcity of resources and ticking clock create high-pressure scenarios, especially during magnetic storms that halt exploration and damage the base, or when you’re still figuring out how to combat anomalies reminiscent of those in Stalker.

Managing Alters and social dynamics

Clones like Jan the Technician, Jan the Scientist, Jan the Miner, or Jan the Botanist aren’t just workers, they’re fully developed characters with unique backstories, skills, and emotional needs. Each Alter’s personality stems from a key life choice, such as standing up to an abusive father, directly affecting their work ethic, mood, and interactions with others. You’ll even see mood bubbles pop up to instantly show if you’ve picked the right dialogue. Instead of good communication, you can also tease or argue with them.

You can manage their moods through conversations, gifts, or activities like beer pong, which unlocks new dialogue options or reduces the chance of rebellion. Ignoring their needs leads to conflicts, impacting productivity and survival. On the other hand, the “branching screen” feature stands out, visually mapping key decision points where Alter personalities diverge, as well as defining moments in each Alter’s life that shaped them. It’s fascinating how each character has a detailed story to explore, despite being the same person.

Of course, the story won’t focus solely on the Alters but also on the actors who brought you to this unknown planet. You’ll communicate with Earth characters, dive deeper into the narrative, understand why you’re the sole survivor of your team, and grasp the importance of the metal Rapidium. Expect plenty of intrigue and humor, along with the chance to ask yourself rhetorical questions.

Planet exploration and technology

Exploration occurs from a third-person perspective, with Jan navigating alien landscapes using tools like a grappling hook or a makeshift gun to combat radioactive anomaly clusters that cause radiation damage. These encounters are simplified, requiring you to aim a torch-like weapon at the anomalies until they disperse, serving more as environmental obstacles than complex battles.

Movement includes light platforming, such as descending cliffs, but Jan’s controls can feel clunky at times. I’m unsure why his movement isn’t smoother, or at least feels like we’re on a planet with different gravity or no oxygen, leading to awkward turns and stumbles. Invisible walls prevent falls but limit jumping and reduce exploration freedom. While visually impressive, the planet can feel empty depending on the perspective, with repetitive ores and shapes. Though biome variety is limited, what’s available is aesthetically appealing. The Alters lacks true combat; it focuses on management, survival, and your skill in handling these aspects.

What personally captivated me are the technologies and the ability to craft various items. It’s not just one thing to build, everything is interconnected. Want a device to destroy obstacles? You’ll need to gather resources. Want to mine metal faster? You must research that technology, looping through various tech levels. The tech trees are well-designed, logical, and offer plenty without distracting from the core experience: uncovering mysteries and building relationships with Alters. The refinery system and gradual unlocking of new prototypes and blueprints are engaging, ensuring things don’t stay the same.

Does the game run smoothly?

Given that the game is built on Unreal Engine 5, it’s surprising it runs smoothly at all, though there are moments where optimization falters. For instance, returning to the base or unlocking a new planetary area can cause brief stutters. It’s clear the game performs well on high-end machines, but how it fares on other platforms is hard to say. There were no major issues, and it’s impressive how well everything is crafted considering the vastness of the world, possibly because the planet feels quite empty, making such optimization less surprising.

Beyond that, the voice acting by Alex Jordan deserves praise for delivering an outstanding performance across all versions of Jan, convincingly bringing each iteration to life with unique personalities and attitudes. Portraying ten variations of the same character is no easy feat, but he nailed it. On the other hand, Jan’s character models and his Alters are expressive, with subtle differences in appearance (hair, posture) and animations reflecting their personalities. However, some scenes use static storyboards with voice narration, which feels low-budget compared to the game’s in-world visuals and detracts from the overall impression.

Well-written story that won’t disappoint

To wrap up, I’d highlight a few key points. The survival elements in the game don’t feel like a grind, thanks to accelerated time during resource extraction, making it all about efficient time and team management. If you’re expecting a classic survival sandbox, this isn’t it. The game is primarily driven by a strong narrative, constantly giving you goals to achieve with some freedom in how you approach them. At the same time, it’s not just about moving from one end of the planet to the other, you need to prepare well for upcoming threats.

You won’t lose anything by trying it; in fact, you can play it via Game Pass, so there’s no need to second-guess its value. After 20 to 30 hours of gameplay, you’ll realize how special The Alters is and how, after the weaker impressions of Frostpunk 2, 11 bit studios can truly create something commendable when they’re motivated and free to experiment.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4.3

The post The Alters – An Unconventional Adventure with Narrative and Survival at Its Core first appeared on IndieGames.

Set in a post-apocalyptic quarantine zone ravaged by the Zeno-29 virus, DREADZONE has players gathering resources, crafting tools, building shelters, and battling zombies, mutants, animals, and other humans in a harsh open world. With first-person combat, base building, and co-op multiplayer, it offers a tense and atmospheric experience.

The post Dreadzone Got Delayed Again, Now Releasing in July first appeared on IndieGames.

Silly Polly Beast delivers exploration with dynamic combat, shifting perspectives from side-scrolling to an overhead view for a distinctive gameplay feel. You’ll engage in intense shootouts and face creepy creatures, using ancient forbidden knowledge to unlock powerful spells that enhance Polly’s abilities. Each new spell brings fresh elements, allowing you to win freedom through skill and strategy.

The new trailer immerses you in Polly’s dark underground world, exploring some of the environments, enemies, and misty plots enveloping this realm. It also showcases gameplay mechanics to enjoy post-launch, including skateboarding, puzzles, and the aforementioned action with shifting perspectives.

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