Demon Spore is a fast-paced, action-packed cooperative roguelike developed by DinoBoss and published by Null Games, set to launch sometime in 2025. You can already try its free demo on Steam. The game draws inspiration from 80s monster movies, where we’ll find ourselves trapped in a closed environment with a grotesque organism that grows uncontrollably as it tries to devour us.
Besides relying on your teammates, you will need to use your scientific knowledge to gain an edge if you want to survive while fighting this abomination, which could have easily escaped from Carrion. You remember Carrion, right? That reverse horror platformer from 2020? I still play it even now!
How to Fight a Ravenous Mass of Flesh With Your Friends
You are a top-tier scientist in a cutting-edge genetic research lab, tasked with solving the challenge of feeding a constantly growing population. At some point, your development team crosses ethical boundaries in genetic experimentation, attempting to create a new form of livestock that grows 100 times faster than regular animals.
As if that weren’t risky enough, your experiments are mysteriously altered, leading to the birth of a tentacled mass that spreads virally throughout the facility, consuming everything in its path and evolving into a hellish creature. You will have to use all your scientific expertise to learn how the organism behaves and find ways to exploit its weaknesses.
This is more or less how the developers describe Demon Spore on its Steam page. The game is an action roguelike with a top-down perspective that, in some ways, reminds us of classic bullet-hell games, but at the same time, it is something completely different. The idea of an unstoppable organism that keeps growing and consuming everything is actually fresh and original, especially when applied to this genre, making the whole thing feel unexpectedly fun.
Highlighted Features
Here is a list of features highlighted by the developers that you can expect in the final release of the game:
- ENEMY UNKNOWN: An abomination of flesh and tentacles with a taste for organic matter, constantly evolving and adapting, spreading to consume everything in its path. Use any tools you can find to slice through the creature’s tentacles, target its weak spots, and stunt its growth. Escape each floor before the growth mutates into something even more horrific.
- SURVIVOR TEAM: Team up with friends in local co-op mode, where up to four players can attempt to escape the lab together. Choose your character and role carefully, and watch each other’s backs. You will have to work together to survive this tentacle-infested nightmare.
- RESOURCEFUL CARNAGE: Use your scientific know-how to repurpose lab equipment and systems to slow down the growth or create a diversion. Manipulate the lab’s layout to lock doors, create new routes, and block the creature’s spread. Cobble together experimental weapons and technology to fight your way to safety in an ever-changing environment.
- TOUGH CHOICES: Every room reveals new surprises and difficult decisions. Sneak past the creature before it spots you, or set a trap to swing the fight in your favor? Save a scientist to unlock new equipment, or cut your losses and race to the exit? But be careful, even your fellow scientists may be unknowingly carrying a dormant growth waiting to release itself.
- DYNAMIC ESCAPE ROUTE: Each path presents different dangers and rewards. Choose your escape route wisely to stay one step ahead of the creature. Every time you play, you will face a completely different layout but will also uncover more of the lab’s secrets and learn how to use them to outsmart your enemy.
Besides the fact that the overall concept is appealing, it is obvious that you won’t need a NASA-grade PC to play Demon Spore. You get that, right? Personally, I am a huge fan of games that, for one reason or another, remain accessible to as many players as possible, and I think this is one of those cases. The final version of the game is expected to arrive sometime this year, and hopefully sooner rather than later.
There is not much else we can tell you about Demon Spore, except that you should go download its free demo right now and add it to your Wishlist. And once you try it, why not drop by and share your thoughts on this little gem? You know, gamer, we’ll be reading you! 🙂
Images Source: IGN Official YouTube Channel, Demon Spore on Steam
