I didn't know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tasty

Abyss Ring screenshot of two goblins in a stone dungeon, with the player facing them in first-person view
(Image credit: Northern Studio LLC)

Have you ever wondered what a survival roguelike dungeon-crawler would look like if you were the hungry demon rather than being hunted by one? Abyss Ring does one better than that: it gives you the chance to turn the tables on the beasties by eating them up instead.

Part unpolished medieval fantasy in the vein of Skyrim, part cooking sim, and part Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, Abyss Ring is an upcoming survival adventure that locks the player in claustrophobic dungeons filled to the brim with enemies to kill, cook, and eat up. Basically, it's a literal buffet for those with an iron stomach to match their nerves of steel.

Abyss Ring - Trailer 2024 December - YouTube Abyss Ring - Trailer 2024 December - YouTube
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The recently launched trailer shown above gives us a closer look at what we can expect from the hack, slash, and sautée-fest, from Dark Souls-like bosses sporting alarmingly chunky health bars to snivelling little goblins clawing for a taste of your heroic flesh. Unfortunately for them, meat's back on the menu. Goblin meat, that is. Food is scarce in these hellish bowels, meaning our intrepid player character has no choice but to chow down on the sinewy corpses of those they cut down in battle.

These organic, home-cooked meals seem to presented as actual recipes, each with a lovingly hand-drawn image of what the perfectly cooked dish might look like. If the decidedly Hannibal Lecter undertones of Abyss Ring have your stomach in knots, try to look at it from the perspective of ethical farming. Waste not want not, right?

As for when you might be able to dungeon delve for your next meal, we could be waiting for some time yet. Indie developer Northern Studio LLC has yet to announce a firm release date for Abyss Ring, though with a vague window of "Q2 2025" signposted on the Steam page, this quirky roguelike is one of the refreshingly weirder upcoming PC games to watch for in the new year.


Read on for the best survival games to play while you wait for Abyss Ring.

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Jasmine Gould-Wilson
Staff Writer, 12DOVE

Jasmine is a staff writer at 12DOVE. Raised in Hong Kong and having graduated with an English Literature degree from Queen Mary, University of London in 2017, her passion for entertainment writing has taken her from reviewing underground concerts to blogging about the intersection between horror movies and browser games. Having made the career jump from TV broadcast operations to video games journalism during the pandemic, she cut her teeth as a freelance writer with TheGamer, Gamezo, and Tech Radar Gaming before accepting a full-time role here at GamesRadar. Whether Jasmine is researching the latest in gaming litigation for a news piece, writing how-to guides for The Sims 4, or extolling the necessity of a Resident Evil: CODE Veronica remake, you'll probably find her listening to metalcore at the same time.

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