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.
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.