The new co-op roguelike from the Dead Cells team launches this month, and there's an unmissable demo coming soon too
Windblown hits early access on Steam in just a few weeks
Our Windblown preview brings the excellent news that the next action roguelike from Dead Cells developer Motion Twin feels mighty good so far. Here's some more welcome news: it's launching in Steam early access on Thursday, October 24.
Motion Twin shared the Windblown release date earlier today, alongside the news of a limited-time demo coming to Steam from October 14 - 21 in time for Steam Next Fest. Unlike the full game, which supports a three-player co-op, the demo will be single-player-only. It's also limited to the first biome of the game, which is a bit of a shame because the second biome is where things got really good, but it should still give you a decent sample of what's to come.
Windblown was announced last December with a lovely animated trailer at The Game Awards, and 10 months and change ain't a bad turnaround from reveal to release. Motion Twin reckons it will be in early access for "a minimum of one year" as it works to add more biomes, weapons, unlocks, challenges, and general variety to Windblown.
"The experience we gathered on Dead Cells allows us to project a bit more easily how different our 1.0 version should be from the Early Access version," the Steam page reads. "This will also allow us to drastically improve the balancing of the game and stability of the multiplayer features to make sure you have the best experience possible."
Unsurprisingly, the game's price will go up once it exits early access, and the developers "may also consider doing a slight increase within the Early Access period if we feel we have brought significant content and value to your experience."
Meanwhile, the action roguelike from fellow Dead Cells shepherd Evil Empire is already out and in early access. It's also a Prince of Persia spin-off published by Ubisoft, and per our Rogue Prince of Persia review, it's not too shabby, though it could use a few updates.
Here are the 25 best roguelike games you can play right now.
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with 12DOVE since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.
Balatro creator reacts to The Game Awards noms by telling you to play other indie games that weren't nominated: "I just happen to be the lucky one to be propped up"
Finally, our first look at the chaotic gameplay footage of The Binding of Isaac multiplayer, the online update we've been waiting a decade for