Across 40 puzzle levels inspired by real-world locations, players will piece together landscapes and cities while discovering famous landmarks along the way. From New York City rooftops and the River Thames to the Great Wall of China and the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, each level offers a new destination to reconstruct.

As players progress, they’ll unlock hundreds of iconic landmarks that can be added to their collection. Each landmark includes real-world photography and facts, giving players an opportunity to learn more about the destinations they’re rebuilding while progressing through the game’s puzzles.

The landmarks collected throughout the journey can also be taken into Hexplorando’s Sandbox mode. Here, players can freely arrange their discoveries and experiment with their own creations without the restrictions of the main puzzle levels.

Whether you’re carefully planning every tile placement or simply enjoying the satisfaction of watching a famous location gradually come together, Hexplorando is designed as an approachable puzzle experience focused on exploration, creativity, and relaxation.

The first-ever demo for Hexplorando will be playable at Maximum Entertainment’s Indie Arena booth at Gamescom 2026 in Hall 10, Booth 10.

Hexplorando is scheduled to launch on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch in 2027. The game is available to wishlist now on Steam.

In Dimhaven: The Lost Source, players step into the role of Emily Ravenstone as she travels to a remote, mist-covered island in search of her missing uncle. What begins as a personal investigation quickly unfolds into a deeper mystery as players explore abandoned attractions, forgotten buildings, and unsettling natural environments scattered across the island.

Throughout the adventure, Emily’s camera and notebook serve as vital investigative tools. Players will use them to document important discoveries, record clues, and track information needed to solve the island’s many puzzles. Careful observation and attention to detail are essential as the mystery gradually reveals itself.

The island of Dimhaven was once a thriving tourist destination inspired by retro European architecture and design. Now largely deserted and cut off from the outside world, it offers a haunting backdrop filled with hidden stories, mysterious mechanisms, and long-buried secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Exploration plays a central role in the experience, encouraging players to investigate every corner of the island. Solving environmental puzzles, discovering clues, and unlocking concealed pathways will gradually reveal the truth behind the strange events that transformed Dimhaven into a ghostly shell of its former self.

According to the developers, the full adventure offers approximately 8 to 10 hours of gameplay, with completion time varying based on puzzle-solving ability and exploration habits. With its atmospheric setting, story-driven mystery, and challenging puzzles, Dimhaven: The Lost Source aims to deliver a memorable journey for fans of classic first-person adventure games.

Rather than offering a brief teaser, the Order of the Sinking Star demo delivers a substantial slice of the full experience. Players will have access to more than 100 handcrafted puzzles, providing a meaningful introduction to the game’s intricate mechanics, interconnected world design, and overarching mystery. Considering the full release will feature more than 1,000 handcrafted puzzles, the demo represents only a small glimpse of the enormous adventure awaiting players later this year.

Order of the Sinking Star places players in a realm filled with magical forces, dangerous machines, strange creatures, and hidden secrets. The game is built around exploration and discovery, encouraging players to solve puzzles at their own pace while unraveling a larger narrative that spans multiple worlds.

The demo introduces players to the game’s non-linear structure, allowing them to freely travel between a central Overworld and three distinct magical worlds. Each location features its own unique characters, puzzle mechanics, visual style, and challenges. Rather than following a strict path, players can choose where to go and what puzzles to tackle, creating a more open-ended experience that rewards curiosity and experimentation.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the game is how its worlds gradually become interconnected. As players progress, mechanics and puzzle systems begin crossing over between regions, creating increasingly complex challenges that require knowledge gained throughout the adventure. This layered design is expected to become a major focus of the full game as players uncover the deeper mystery surrounding the world’s transformation.

Those who invest time in the demo won’t have to worry about losing their progress. Everything accomplished during the Steam Next Fest demo will carry over to the full game when it launches later this year, allowing players to seamlessly continue their journey.

The demo experience will also continue to grow during the festival. A major content update scheduled for June 19 will introduce additional puzzles and new content that showcases what happens when the separate worlds of Order of the Sinking Star begin colliding. This evolving structure gives returning players even more reasons to revisit the demo before Steam Next Fest concludes.

Players looking for flexibility can also experience the demo through NVIDIA GeForce NOW, allowing the game to be streamed across a variety of devices. In addition, the demo currently runs smoothly on Steam Deck, although official Steam Deck Verification for the full release is still pending. Developer Thekla, Inc. says optimization efforts will continue throughout development with the goal of achieving Steam Deck Verified status by launch.

Order of the Sinking Star has been in development for a decade and represents Blow’s first major project since the release of The Witness. The game combines puzzle-solving, exploration, storytelling, and interconnected gameplay systems into what appears to be one of the largest puzzle-focused adventures ever created.

The Steam Next Fest demo is available globally now and will remain accessible until June 22 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Players interested in tackling its challenging puzzles can download the demo today and begin exploring the mysteries hidden within its ever-changing worlds.

Order of the Sinking Star is scheduled to launch later this year for PC and Nintendo Switch 2.

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.

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