Unlike traditional survival games that emphasize fighting enemies and overcoming threats, Under Canopies offers a calmer experience where players build a peaceful life within a handcrafted forest sanctuary. Exploration, crafting, farming, wildlife photography, and personal expression take center stage as players gradually create their own woodland retreat.

According to solo developer Roberto Ortiz, the project began as a small personal endeavor before growing into a much larger vision centered around meaningful, cozy living.

Set within a vibrant natural world filled with rivers, mountains, flower fields, hidden locations, and wildlife, players are encouraged to explore at their own pace. Discovering forgotten places and gathering resources helps transform the surrounding wilderness into a welcoming sanctuary where players can slow down and connect with the environment.

The game recently gained significant attention during Steam Next Fest, where its demo attracted players looking for a more relaxing take on the survival genre. The title has already surpassed 33,000 wishlists as anticipation continues to grow ahead of launch.

• Explore Without Fear
  Exploration in Under Canopies is designed around discovery rather than danger. There is no hunting or combat, allowing players to focus on finding resources, observing wildlife, and documenting their discoveries in a personal journal.
• Build Your Dream Cabin
  Players can construct their own cabin from the ground up and customize it with furniture, decorations, and handcrafted items. Every detail can be tailored to create a unique and cozy home deep within the forest.
• Farm, Gather, and Cook
  Nature provides plenty of opportunities for self-sufficiency. Players can cultivate gardens, gather plants, and prepare more than 30 recipes using ingredients collected throughout the world.
• Live Alongside Wildlife
  Animals play an important role in daily life. Chickens, sheep, bees, and various wild creatures can become part of the player’s growing sanctuary, providing companionship and additional benefits as they thrive together.
• A Different Kind of Survival Game
  Drawing inspiration from beloved cozy titles such as Spiritfarer, Among Trees, and A Short Hike, Under Canopies offers a refreshing alternative to traditional survival experiences. Instead of battling against nature, players are encouraged to work with it, creating a peaceful and rewarding life in the wilderness.

Under Canopies is scheduled to launch on Steam for PC in 2026.

Created by Mark J. Mayers, whose previous work includes Outer Wilds and Manifold Garden, DESOLUS is a first-person puzzle adventure set within a sprawling Gothic city on the brink of destruction. Players are tasked with navigating a haunting world fractured across multiple timelines as they attempt to uncover the secrets behind an approaching catastrophe.

At the heart of the experience is the ability to move between past and future versions of the city using portal-based mechanics. Players will manipulate black holes and interact with structures that exist differently across realities, allowing them to reshape environments and create new pathways through the city’s intricate architecture. Staircases, doorways, and entire sections of the landscape can be transformed by shifting between dimensions, creating puzzles that challenge both observation and spatial reasoning.

The newly updated demo allows players to venture further into an area known as the Mirrored Garden, where more complex challenges await. These new sections introduce advanced mirroring mechanics that require players to think across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Successfully solving these puzzles opens new routes through the environment and reveals more of the game’s mysterious narrative.

As players explore, they will encounter a mysterious guardian and an alternate version of that character, forming an unusual partnership that drives the story forward. Together, they must uncover the truth behind the city’s collapse and find a way to prevent its complete annihilation.

Featuring striking Gothic-inspired visuals and non-linear exploration, DESOLUS blends atmospheric storytelling with intricate puzzle design that encourages experimentation and creative thinking. The latest demo update offers a larger glimpse into the game’s ambitious vision while giving puzzle fans a chance to test their skills before launch.

DESOLUS is scheduled to launch in Q3 2026 for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The game will feature extensive language support, including English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, and many additional languages for players around the world.

]]> 43387 https://www.yogomi.com/2026/06/edenfall-legacy-of-the-first-wardens-brings-shapeshifting-adventure-and-world-restoration-to-a-whimsical-fantasy-realm/ Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:21:33 +0000 https://www.yogomi.com/?p=43238 Edenfall: Legacy of the First Wardens is an upcoming single-player action-adventure game that invites players into a charming hand-crafted fantasy world filled with magic, mystery, and transformation. Players take on the role of Venya, a young heroine with the ability to shapeshift, as she embarks on a journey to save her homeland from a growing corruption.

The world of Eden has fallen under siege by dark creatures that threaten its once-peaceful existence. As Venya, players must drive back these forces while uncovering the forgotten history of her people and unlocking powerful magical abilities tied to her unique gift of transformation.

Throughout the adventure, Venya will gain access to four distinct forms: human, wolf, raccoon, and raven. Each form offers its own movement style and combat abilities, allowing players to approach exploration, traversal, and battles in different ways. Whether soaring through the skies as a raven, sneaking through the environment as a raccoon, or engaging enemies head-on as a wolf, players will need to master every form to overcome the challenges ahead.

Combat plays a major role in the experience, featuring a combo-driven system that encourages players to chain attacks between forms. By switching seamlessly between transformations during battle, players can unlock powerful attack combinations and develop their own combat strategies.

Beyond combat, Edenfall places a strong emphasis on personal growth and reflection. Venya’s quest is not only about saving the world around her but also finding peace within herself. Sacred meditation locations scattered throughout the world provide opportunities for introspection and help advance her journey of self-discovery.

As players progress, they can collect magical crystals to unlock new combat techniques and complete side quests that expand customization options. Cleansing corrupted regions serves as one of the game’s most rewarding mechanics, transforming blighted landscapes back into vibrant environments and visually showcasing the impact of Venya’s efforts.

With its blend of exploration, shapeshifting gameplay, combo-focused combat, and themes of healing and self-discovery, Edenfall: Legacy of the First Wardens aims to deliver a heartfelt fantasy adventure where restoring the world goes hand in hand with personal growth.

Ashbrook, who previously helped create some of Disney Parks’ most popular attractions, including Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, founded Adventure Works with the goal of bringing his own original stories to life through interactive experiences. LIFTED represents the studio’s first major project, combining cinematic storytelling, puzzle-solving, and family-friendly adventure.

The game follows Ari Buktu, a student hoping to earn extra credit from Professor Lionel Raventhorpe. What begins as an ordinary day quickly spirals into an extraordinary journey through time and space as the duo searches for a legendary tiara intended as a gift for the professor’s longtime love, Miss Barton.

Inspired by classic 1980s adventure films, LIFTED takes players across a variety of historical settings, including 1818 Egypt and ancient Mayan civilizations. Along the way, players will platform through exotic locations, solve puzzles, navigate humorous situations, and avoid encounters with some of history’s most notorious troublemakers.

Adventure Works describes the experience as a family-friendly adventure filled with imagination, wonder, and lighthearted humor. The story was written by Austin Film Festival award winner Nick Gambino, helping bring the game’s blend of heartfelt storytelling and cinematic flair to life.

According to Ashbrook, the project was inspired by the movies and games that fueled his imagination growing up. His goal was to create an adventure that children could enjoy on their own while also capturing the sense of wonder that parents may remember from the entertainment they loved in their youth.

LIFTED launches on PC via Steam on July 22, 2026. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 are also in development and will arrive at a later date. The game will support text localization in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Japanese, Korean, and both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

In the 37-minute episode, Chief Creative Officer Ryan Hill is joined by Game Director James Lowe, Lead Systems Designer Daniel Regan, and Producer Alex Harkin to discuss how the team is transforming the dual-realm system introduced in Lords of the Fallen. The new version—referred to internally as “Umbral 2.0”—takes heavy inspiration from player feedback and aims to make the eerie realm far more aggressive and central to the gameplay experience.

Within the world of Lords of the Fallen II, players will once again navigate between two connected realities: the dark fantasy realm of Axiom and the grotesque mirror world of Umbral. Using the mysterious Umbral Lamp, players can shift between realms to uncover hidden paths, solve environmental puzzles, and push deeper into the game’s hostile world—but venturing into Umbral brings escalating dangers that can quickly overwhelm the unprepared.

According to Hill, the realm has undergone a dramatic transformation. What was once simply the land of the dead has become something far worse—a restless domain of the undead that feels more alive, oppressive, and unpredictable than before.

What’s New in Umbral

A Reimagined Otherworld
Umbral now features radically different environments, new biomes, and more narrative-driven moments. The realm can even bleed into the living world, making exploration more dynamic and unsettling.

Dread Redefined
Instead of relying on a simple timer that raises the threat level, danger in Umbral is now influenced by player behavior, creating a more organic and constantly shifting sense of tension.

Enemies Reshaped
Players will face new creatures that lurk in Umbral’s shadows, many capable of evolving into more lethal forms. The enemy roster has expanded significantly, promising new challenges for returning players.

Currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC, Lords of the Fallen II is scheduled for a global release in 2026. Set 1,000 years after the fall of the demon god Adyr, the story follows a lone kingdom resisting the spreading influence of the dead realm and its mysterious master.

Players take on the role of a Lampbearer, wielding brutal new combat abilities including a dismemberment system and cinematic executions. Alongside expanded enemy types and large-scale boss battles, the game will support both solo play and cooperative progression.

With its darker tone and deeper mechanics, Lords of the Fallen II is shaping up to push the series’ signature dual-realm gameplay further than ever before.

After gaining early attention on itch.io with more than 100,000 downloads, Nippets is now preparing for its full release with an expanded experience.

In Nippets, players explore hand-drawn 2D maps while searching for lost items and solving small environmental puzzles. The world is designed to be interactive and playful—shake trees, scare birds off lamp posts, honk a garbage truck’s horn, or peek through windows to uncover hidden surprises.

Each map features multiple explorable spaces, with puzzles that unlock additional areas and reveal small stories woven throughout the environment. Some of these stories even continue across different seasons, encouraging players to keep exploring to see how things change over time.

Features

• Around 2–3 hours of gameplay

• A charming hand-drawn world

• Classic hidden-object style puzzles

• Multiple maps with secret areas to unlock

• No timers or high-score pressure

• Pettable cats

Nippets arrives on PC through Steam on April 7.

Originally launching in summer 2025, the neon-soaked rhythm brawler quickly found its groove with fans of both action and music games. Its core hook is simple but effective—every punch, kick, and combo syncs perfectly to the beat, transforming each fight into a high-energy performance.

That unique style hasn’t just resonated with players—it’s gone viral. Dead As Disco has racked up over 300 million views across TikTok, while also earning a 98% “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam from thousands of user reviews.

The current demo already packs in plenty of content, offering a slice of the single-player campaign, 13 playable tracks, and one standout feature: Infinite Disco’s “My Music” mode, which lets players import their own songs and turn them into fully playable, beat-synced battles.

At the center of the experience is Charlie Disco, a fallen music icon fighting to reclaim the spotlight from the Idols—his former bandmates turned larger-than-life adversaries. Each boss encounter plays out like a stylized music video, complete with signature tracks and choreographed combat.

Customization also plays a big role. Players can deck out Charlie in bold, over-the-top fashion, decorate their personal Dive Bar hub, and even create their own music-driven gameplay experiences through modding and user-generated content tools.

Key Features:

• Combat that syncs every move to the music

• Stylish boss battles against former bandmates

• Custom music support with player-created tracks

• Multi-genre soundtrack with original and licensed songs

• Deep customization for both character and hub space

With momentum continuing to build, all eyes are now on the Triple-i Initiative Showcase on April 9, where Brain Jar Games is set to reveal a major new announcement for the game.

Dead As Disco is shaping up to be more than just a rhythm game—it’s a full-on performance, and it’s only getting louder from here.

Developed by ByteRockers’ Games, DeeSicks takes the traditional bullet hell formula and flips it on its head. Instead of simply surviving waves of increasingly difficult enemies, the focus here is on building overwhelming power—turning players into unstoppable forces capable of dominating the battlefield.

At the center of the experience is a clever dice-based system that drives every run. Before combat even begins, players interact with a physics-based board, aiming and colliding dice to determine their loadout. Each roll and placement directly impacts the spells, modifiers, and synergies available, making every decision count.

From there, the game unfolds across a three-phase loop. First, players manipulate dice to shape their options. Next, those dice are assigned to spell parameters, allowing for deep customization and strategic build crafting. Finally, everything comes together in high-intensity combat, where those builds are unleashed against waves of enemies and massive boss encounters.

What sets DeeSicks apart is its emphasis on escalation. Runs quickly evolve from manageable encounters into dense, screen-filling chaos, with bosses growing in both scale and complexity. The deeper you go, the more the game demands adaptation—not just in skill, but in how you construct and refine your build.

Experimentation is key. With multiple characters, archetypes, and board variations, players can create everything from tightly controlled, efficient setups to wildly unpredictable, explosive builds that push the game’s systems to their limits.

Key Features:

• Physics-based dice rolling that directly shapes your build

• Deep spell and relic synergies for strategic customization

• Multiple characters, archetypes, and board layouts

• Intense bullet hell and bullet heaven combat

• 15+ bosses that scale in size, difficulty, and spectacle

With its blend of strategy, physics, and relentless action, DeeSicks delivers a system-driven experience where every run feels different—and every roll could be the one that breaks the game wide open.

You start locked in a prison cell with a single objective: escape. The problem? Your only tool is a spoon. From there, it’s all about digging your way to freedom—literally carving out tunnels beneath the prison while searching for valuables, hidden routes, and anything that might give you an edge.

The core gameplay loop is built to keep players hooked. Dig, loot, return, sell, upgrade, and head back down for another run. Each trip underground becomes a balancing act between risk and reward, as players manage limited resources like stamina, light, health, sound, and inventory space. The deeper you go, the stranger—and more dangerous—the world becomes.

But this isn’t just a straightforward escape sim. Escape By Spoon leans heavily into its unique tone, mixing tension with absurdity. Patrol-based enemies keep you on edge, punishing careless digging, while the game’s rubber-hose cartoon art style gives everything a surreal, almost theatrical feel. It’s less about outright horror and more about suspense wrapped in a bizarre, animated presentation.

Visually and mechanically, the game pulls inspiration from titles like Dave the Diver, Cuphead, and A Game About Digging a Hole—combining satisfying progression systems with a bold, memorable aesthetic.

Escape By Spoon is currently in development, with a playable demo planned for an upcoming Steam Next Fest. The full release is targeting late 2026 on Steam, offering a single-player experience that’s equal parts tense, ridiculous, and oddly satisfying.

If you’re into unconventional indie concepts with strong personality, this is one prison break worth keeping an eye on.

Developed by 8BitSkull, this roguelike auto-battler puts players in control of a floating skull necromancer out for revenge—against their own body. Yes, really. After being betrayed by your former flesh, you’ll command waves of undead minions to fight in your place, diving into procedurally generated dungeons packed with loot, enemies, and evolving challenges.

Each run lasts around 20 minutes, blending quick decision-making with strategic depth. Players can recruit and merge different unit types, stacking abilities to create wildly overpowered builds. From skeleton hordes to resurrected enemies, your army becomes a customizable force of destruction, enhanced further by perks, items, and dungeon-based boons.

Variety is a major focus here. No two dungeon runs play out the same, with shifting layouts, diverse enemy types, and unlockable challenges that keep things fresh. Multiple playable skull characters also add unique twists to each run, including one that doubles down on necromancy by raising both flesh enemies and skeletons.

Key Highlights:

• Play as multiple skull-based necromancers, each with unique abilities

• Build and evolve your undead army through merging and upgrades

• Procedurally generated dungeons ensure every run feels different

• Unlock new perks, items, and challenges as you progress

Skull Horde will support a wide range of languages at launch, along with Steam Deck and Linux compatibility.

If you’re into roguelikes, auto-battlers, or just the idea of commanding an army of the dead with a grudge, this is one to keep on your radar when it hits PC this April.