While The Game Awards grabs headlines, Day of the Devs remains the showcase I look forward to most — its roster of inventive indie projects always signals fresh directions for the medium. If you missed the live stream, below is a succinct, ordered summary of every game presented during the December 10, 2025 showcase.
Awaysis
This physics-driven dungeon crawler casts you and friends as charming bipedal animals — foxes, birds, frogs — wielding oversized weapons across vivid 3D arenas. Awaysis blends cooperative play with competitive moments (you’ll fight alongside allies and then turn on them at the level’s close), creating chaotic, memorable sessions. The title is slated for release in 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Lucid Falls
Lucid Falls is a surreal horror-adventure that sends players through misty woods, damp caverns, and derelict cabins to uncover a fragmented truth. Tools include a gravity-warping pyramid artifact and a crystal that functions like a spotlight to stun threats — reminiscent, at times, of Alan Wake’s flashlight mechanics. The team is targeting a 2026 launch; you can add it to your Steam wishlist: Steam.
Rock Beasts
Rock Beasts is a slice-of-life management sim where you shepherd a band of anthropomorphic characters through the chaos of music careers. It combines rhythm gameplay, branching conversations, and resource management so you’re responsible for both the creative and logistical sides of the group’s life on the road.
Stretchmancer
Stretchmancer centers on spatial manipulation: tug walls and ceilings to warp rooms and solve inventive puzzles. Vast chasms become traversable when you pull distant ledges toward yourself, and the gaps between bars can be stretched wide enough to pass through. The game’s elastic aesthetic looks both ingenious and a little dizzying — and yes, you play as a frog-like character, another amphibian entry among this year’s indies.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer
This low-poly, surreal action title mixes trippy visuals with a melancholic narrative. You wield a sledgehammer both as a gameplay tool and a metaphor — smashing the past, demolishing familiar places, and confronting mechanized inhabitants. Narrative sequences punctuate the experience, blending cinematic choices with interactive moments.
Beastro
Beastro merges animal-run café management with a deckbuilder roguelike structure. Serve adventurers by preparing dishes that send them out to gather resources, which in turn improve your restaurant. The combat and upgrades are expressed through a charming paper-art card aesthetic that gives the systems a tactile, handcrafted feel.
Un:Me
Un:Me places you inside a fractured mind, inhabiting a girl alongside three alternate versions of herself. Your task is to discern which personality is authentic while navigating shifting, often horrific scenarios that change depending on which persona controls the body. The premise explores fear and identity through unsettling, variable encounters.
Soundgrass
Created by a composer and sound designer, Soundgrass is an experimental audio puzzle game with science-fiction threads and survival elements. Each alien plant emits unique tones and reacts to light and sound; puzzles unfold primarily through listening and manipulating audio environments. The trailer clarifies concepts that are trickier to describe in words, but the audio-driven design is the game’s core appeal.
The Dungeon Experience
Pitching itself as borderline Adult Swim comedy, The Dungeon Experience is loud, surreal, and intentionally absurd. Bright color palettes, eccentric character designs, and escalating jokes dominate the trailer — it’s a comedy-first project where the tone and spectacle take precedence over tight mechanical systems. Expect outrageous set pieces and plenty of irreverent humor.
Scramble Knights Royale
Imagine Link’s Awakening mashed with battle royale — Scramble Knights Royale drops players into a top-down world of dungeons, bosses, and item gathering, all building toward a final, storm-constricted showdown. Its claymation visual charm pairs nicely with the frantic, competitive structure.
Mirria
Mirria refines the classic spot-the-difference concept into an atmospheric 3D puzzler. You’re presented with paired environments mirrored along a base plane; by toggling lights, rotating objects, and making subtle adjustments, you must reconcile the top scene to match the bottom. It’s simple in idea but rich in mood and presentation.
Big Hops
Drawing inspiration from titles like Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild, Big Hops emphasizes physics-based platforming and exploratory gadgets. You play as a cel-shaded frog who can cling to walls, swing with his tongue, and employ vegetables as traversal tools. The game is scheduled to release on January 12, 2026.
CorgiSpace
CorgiSpace is a curated assortment of PICO-8 mini-games from Adam Saltsman, featuring bite-sized Metroidvania segments, Tetris-inspired puzzles, and whimsical logic challenges. If you enjoyed the compact creativity of UFO 50, this retro-flavored collection is available now on Steam.
Into the Fire
Into the Fire places you in the boots of a firefighter operating on an active volcano. Armaments include a firehose, an extinguisher shotgun, and water bombs, with an axe for breaking barriers. The team plans to enter early access during the first half of 2026.
Dogpile
Dogpile combines familiar ingredients — deckbuilding, roguelike loops, and a bright hand-drawn aesthetic — into a cohesive, charming package. Although elements recall other indie successes, the outcome feels distinct and approachable. Dogpile launched on December 10, 2025.
Unshine Arcade
Half twin-stick roguelike, half psychological horror, Unshine Arcade traps you in a derelict arcade (the sign reads Sunshine with the S burned out). Gameplay alternates between a frog-in-a-UFO combat roguelike and unsettling exploration sequences, with gacha-style upgrades and a Tamagotchi-esque pet hidden in one of the machines. A demo is available as of December 10, 2025.
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth
Following last year’s Snufkin title, Moomintroll returns in a gentle adventure about waking from hibernation earlier than expected and navigating a chilly, solitary world. Fans of the franchise can try a demo released on December 10, 2025.
Demon Tides
Demon Tides is a spiritual successor to Demon Surf, leaning into high-speed rail grinding and speed-run platforming inspired by 3D Sonic titles. After appearing at prior showcases, the new trailer confirmed a firm release date: February 19, 2026.
Frog Sqwad
Frog Sqwad is a cooperative multiplayer romp for up to eight players: scavenge sewers, devour food to grow, swing with your tongue, and serve the voracious Swamp King. Physics-driven chaos and procedural levels promise replayability; the team expects to release the game sometime in 2026.
Astromine
Astromine is a survival sandbox across a fully destructible voxel solar system. Build bases, pilot ships between procedurally generated planets, and confront massive alien bosses whose scale can reshape the terrain. Rival robot factions also vie for territory, creating emergent conflict across the cosmos.
Find Your Words
From the studio behind Grindstone comes Find Your Words, a tender puzzle-adventure about Oscar, a nonverbal child at summer camp. Players use a symbol-based communication binder to solve problems and help others — a design crafted by two parents of nonverbal children to center authentic representation. The game is planned as a free release on Steam in 2026.
Xcavator 2025
The showcase concluded with Xcavator 2025 — an authentic NES release resurrected from an unfinished Chris Oberth prototype. Revived in partnership with iam8bit and the Video Game History Foundation, the finished cartridge is available with proceeds supporting the Foundation. It’s a unique intersection of preservation and playable history.
