We previewed some of Summer Game Fest 2026’s most exciting upcoming games, including indie standouts, horror titles, action roguelikes, and unexpected revivals. Here are the games that you should keep an eye on.
Demi and the Fractured Dream
Developer: Yarn Owl Studios | Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S
I got to play a short demo of Demi and the Fractured Dream, an indie action-adventure game with heavy Zelda inspirations. The third-person action combat has a bit of heft, while still maintaining speed thanks to quick dodges and aerial attacks. The short dungeon featured a few small puzzles, primarily slowed by using a giant feather that blows wind, using this to clear wagons from the pathway, and to shoot orbs across chasms. While simple, these puzzles made smart use of the single tool I had available, making me optimistic about other tools and deeper puzzles in the full game. My time with Demi and the Fractured Dream was brief, but a snappy combat system has me interested in seeing more. – James
Blood Dungeon
Developer: Messhof | Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam)
I got a chance to go hands-on with Blood Dungeon, the latest title from Messhof (you might remember them from their work on the Nidhogg games, or last year’s Wheel World). Blood Dungeon doesn’t neatly fall into a single category, but instead draws inspiration from a few different genres. At its core, it’s an action roguelike platformer, where you’re tasked with navigating dungeons, avoiding increasingly more aggressive waves of enemies, all while looking for valuable resources and upgrades. That might sound like a lot, but thankfully, Blood Dungeon is also an auto-shooter, which means that combat is mostly handled. Whether you’re wielding a submachine gun or floating swords that constantly rotate around your character, all you need to focus on is avoiding enemies and scouring the dungeon; the aiming and attacking are handled for you. During my brief preview, I only got to try out a few weapons and one level, but the full version will have plenty more in store when it launches in late summer. – Shaan
Lazy River
Developer: Mike Boxleiter, Kevan DuPont, Jake Yetter, Joel Corelitz and Karlee Esmailli | Platforms: PC (Steam)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. You and your friends are enjoying a relaxing day at the galaxy’s most unregulated water park, when one rebellious patron breaks the one sacred rule – they pee in the pool. Well, as you’d expect, all the other park guests have turned into zombies, and now, they’re out to get you.
Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. By gathering as many resources as possible, you and your friends have a chance to survive if you can craft a makeshift raft and use it to ride the park’s lazy river to freedom. Of course, the journey won’t be so straightforward, as bloodthirsty zombies are out to stop you every step of the way, and the park’s security drones are having a tough time distinguishing between the undead and the uninfected.
On its surface, Lazy River might seem like just another friendslop game, but it has plenty going for it. Its loop of gathering and crafting strikes a fine balance, never getting too bloated with resource types and available recipes, but there’s also an inherent risk with leaving the safety of your makeshift raft to seek out more resources. Thankfully, the infected zombies are weak to water, so dousing them with one of nearly two dozen water gun types, or sending them flying with a well-timed hit of a pool noodle, always makes for a good time. We didn’t get to play Lazy River for a complete/successful run (which the developers say will usually take around 90 to 120 minutes), but we can’t wait to give it a go for ourselves when it launches in Early Access next year. – Shaan
Tenebris Somnia
Developer: Andrés Borghi and Saibot Studios | Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Tenebris Somnia combines a pixel-art adventure game with elevated FMV cutscenes to create a surreal and strange horror experience. In my brief hands-off demo, I watched the protagonist search for her ex-boyfriend, whom she believed was in danger. She explores a building, diving deeper into their shared memories of the short film they made together and their attempt to adapt it into a feature.
The adventure gameplay features traditional survival-horror elements, using objects to solve puzzles and fighting monsters with limited ammo. This blends into cutscenes, including a full version of the horror short film the characters made. It has B-movie energy, but with a purposeful, cinematic, and surreal vibe. While I can’t yet see how it all comes together, I’m fascinated by the combination and the distinct vibe of authentic Argentinian filmmaking. – James
The Lost Wild
Developer: Great Ape Games | Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5,
The Lost Wild looks to treat dinosaurs like the hunters they are in a stealth, forward-first-person experience. I got to watch a hands-off demo that took place at the start of the game, following Saskia after a car crash. She finds herself alone in the woods and makes her way towards signs of life before discovering that dinosaurs are roaming—and hunting.
The short demo featured a single encounter in which Saskia had to navigate around a massive predatory dinosaur, using the environment to sneak up on and distract the beast. The way the dinosaurs hunt is based on real animal instincts rather than on set pathways in a more traditional stealth style. The demo didn’t give much away, but there is a larger, sci-fi-focused mystery at the core of the experience. I was left wondering how much depth the stealth gameplay will have, but I’m intrigued by the mysterious island and obviously evil corporation that was running the show before things got out of hand. – James
Crimson Moon
Developer: ProbablyMonsters | Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Souls-like games are a dime a dozen. With a lot to pick from, you really have to do something special to stand out from the competition. While Crimson Moon does have some fun mechanics, I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to really take off. It has a lot of the core features you’d expect: Dodge, Parry, Block, Swing, and Stamina. While adding its own personal flair. Such as an ability to see enemies through walls, coming back to life if you die during a fight, and temporarily giving you an overall buff that allows you to inflict a lot of damage at once.
But the thing is, a lot of it feels like it’s playing it a bit too safe. The enemies weren’t all that challenging, and when playing a Souls-like, that is a key part of the experience. I am interested in seeing how the game pans out upon its full release because it does do a lot of interesting things, even more so when considering the only way to advance is to kill everything in front of you. – Luis
Nekome: Nazi Hunter
Developer: ProbablyMonsters | Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Nekome: Nazi Hunter is a fun game on paper. You play as a man who’s kill Nazi’s in a Sifu-like style at the height of World War 2. As interesting as that idea may be, I ended up walking away a bit mixed on it. The combat is extremely repetitive, and I found myself pressing two buttons over and over. On top of that, the main character can get a bit too much at times. This was because it felt as if he needed to comment on everything he was doing, and more often than not, it was just for the sake of talking. But the blueprints of a fun game are there, and I hope once it’s fully released, my issues with Nekome: Nazi Hunter are long gone. – Luis
D-topia
Developer: Marumittu | Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2
Given that it can certainly feel as though a lot of the world is in the midst of a dystopian world at this time, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed checking out a fictional one in D-topia’s demo. Though it was only about 20 minutes or so, I pretty quickly got the gist of the game and what it’s going for, and came away intrigued. As what is essentially a service tech in a “utopian” future that prioritizes happiness over all, you spend most of your time solving numerical sliding puzzles to repair scrambled AI. As you might expect, the puzzles in the demo weren’t especially hard, but they were enjoyable and featured a surprising number of fresh concepts within the small number I was able to experience.
The visual style goes a long way in making this somewhat eerie utopia a “palatable” vibe, feeling more like you’re living in an Apple Store than in a story like Brave New World. There were some less-than-subtle hints that this utopia is pretty stifling, like cameras pretty much everywhere, assigned jobs based on your personality, and weirdly blurry objects that seem to permeate the setting and inhibit you from completing certain tasks. What I played of D-topia has me wondering about its unique world, which you’ll learn more about when it launches on July 14. – Spencer
Bad Magpie
Developer: Milktooth | Platforms: PC (Steam), Xbox Series X|S
A clever magpie, who’s been abandoned by their flock after being injured, comes across a fallen star who has a mutual love of shiny objects. Looking to befriend this extraterrestrial creature, our magpie decides to collect different trinkets in an effort to win it over. Well, that takes care of the “magpie” part, but why exactly is our titular character “bad”?
Well, turns out, they’re a mischief maker. Is your path blocked off? Start a fire and burn any pesky obstacles to the ground. Is it a shiny trinket trapped behind a thick pane of glass? Find a megaphone, turn your low chirp into a roaring caw, and shatter that glass into smithereens. Our intrepid magpie only has a few basic actions (jump, chirp, and peck with their beak), but developer Milktooth has crafted an inviting world with plenty of puzzles and fun interactions just waiting to be unearthed and exploited. – Shaan
Slap Out of It
Developer: Turbo Button | Platforms: PC (Steam) and Consoles (TBA)
Slap Out of It is the sort of game that seems tailor-made to my specific tastes. At its core, it’s a puzzle game that draws inspiration from some of the best games in the point-and-click genre, but instead of a strong focus on animation and physical interaction, rather than navigating dialogue menus and pixel hunting.
Interestingly, Slap Out of It is an adaptation of sorts, taking moments from the VR game Floor Plan and adapting it for a more traditional experience. You play as a new hire at Puzzl, an aptly-named company that aims to help out its clients by solving their problems. Your tools of the trade? Well, your puzzle-solving skills, of course, but also the ability to slap the heck out of anything with either of your hands.
This focus on slapping paves the way for some hilarious puzzles and interactions, and it’s the core of what makes Slap Out of It so much fun. Sure, mechanically, it’s not that much different from simply picking up and interacting with items and NPCs using a traditional mouse cursor, but going hands-on feels infinitely more satisfying. Fidgeting around the environment and trying to see what can be interacted with is a perfect way to let you learn about the rules and systems that govern Slap Out of It’s puzzle-filled, cartoon-logic driven world. – Shaan
Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered
Developer: Pipeworks | Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2
While I didn’t have a remaster of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee on my SGF 2026 bingo card, I can certainly see why Atari decided to resurrect this oft-forgotten classic. After all, as an IP, Godzilla still has staying power, and being able to leverage the talents of the original studio certainly helps lend credibility to this remastered brawler.
Aside from the graphical facelift, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered comes packed with entirely new single-player campaigns for each of the 12 included kaiju, and there’s now support for online multiplayer in addition to local play. Compared to more modern fare, this throwback fighter might seem a bit simplistic in comparison, but there’s something innately appealing about its pared-down, what-you-see-is-what-you-get arcade-style action. After all, pitting Godzilla against King Ghidorah and watching them tear each other apart while leveling an entire city never gets old. It might not reinvent the wheel, but if you’re hankering for a bit of early 2000s nostalgia, Atari and Pipeworks have you covered. – Shaan
Forever Ago
Developer: Third Shift | Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
Forever Ago seems like the type of game that’ll pull my heartstrings. The game is a slice-of-life narrative adventure in which you interact with others and the environment, though my hands-on demo was only a brief glimpse of the overall story.
You’ll take the role of Alfred as he navigates the grief of his wife’s death, Audrey, and from what I gleaned, he’s a bit of a crumedgeon. Alfred has a camper van and a camera, the latter of which he uses to photograph his journey, such as at a gas station. Inside the gas station, Alfred interacted with a local clerk, Milton, and, based on the dialogue options, seemed annoyed by the clerk’s youthful demeanor. Towards the end of the demo, I witnessed a flashback to Alfred’s past that showed the game’s interactive approach to retelling memories. This part felt a bit dark compared to what I’ve experienced so far, so I’m curious to see how these sections unfold over the course of the game.
Forever Ago feels instantly relatable in its themes of acceptance of loss and navigating the aftermath, and I look forward to its release on October 6. – Will
Mr. Records
Developer: Glee-Cheese | Platforms: PC (Steam)
Mr. Records is a rhythm-focused narrative adventure that oozes style. You play as George, a record store owner who manages the store with his dog, Buzz. The premise is simple: play records, sell records, buy more records.
Since George only sells records he knows, playing each record teleports him to a psychedelic dreamscape where he’ll jump, slide, and move along in time with the music. I jumped into the first record and immediately became sold on the premise as I got into rhythm with timed commands. While I only sampled a few levels, the harder ones required me to pay closer attention to the musical cues and what was happening on screen. There are cozy narrative elements to Mr. Records, too, since George interacts with the shop’s customers to find the right record, and ultimately increases their bonds with them.
I see Mr. Records appealing to folks who enjoy rhythm games, as well as those looking for a chill narrative adventure about managing records and relationships. – Will
