This article is a companion to a video version with lightly edited trailers for each game.
1. 500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ (Q1 2026)
Self-described with the phrase, "what if Mario 64 had a gun?," 500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ is the latest game from Bryce Bucher, the developer of Fatum Betula and Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia, and best known for their various works with HauntedPS1. Contrary to those, 500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ is a wildly energetic game about fulfilling the American dream: killing rich people.
2. ANIMAL USE PROTOCOL (2026)
From the developers of point-and-click adventures STASIS and STASIS: BONE TOTEM, ANIMAL USE PROTOCOL is a departure in its 3D, first-person schema, but sticks steadfastly to the developers' sci-fi horror leanings. Details are scant, as this is a narrative-driven game like its older siblings, but the story seems to concern a secretive animal testing facility, and stars a hyperintelligent chimpanzee and rat trying to escape both it and their fellow inmates.
3. Besmirch (May 11, 2026)
It's been a bit since we've reached post-coziness; a term not-so-seriously applied to a style of game development popularized in reaction to the proliferation of cozy or wholesome games, itself kickstarted by both games like Stardew Valley as well as the broader movement of "wholesome games." Besmirch is one of the more interesting takes on this design philosophy that I've seen so far, combining many of the usual trappings of cozy farm and life simulators with overtly dark themes; namely, Christian faith and eschatology. How deeply it engages with the religion present in its setting or how well it marries these two worlds remains to be seen, but I've enjoyed the look I had at it so far and am excited to play the full thing when it comes out on May 11th.
4. Danchi Days (2026)
A danchi is, apparently, a kind of mass housing specific to Japan; a group of closely-built apartment complexes and any common areas they may share. So, the aptly named Danchi Days is a slice-of-life adventure set in a danchi. Despite its ostensibly cozy exterior, I found it uniquely capable of delving into the serious, real-world topics that many cozy works struggle to integrate, like community, illness, and the bittersweetness of growing up.
5. DEMON DUST (Feb 6, 2026)
If the stress of fumbling through dark corridors as meaty monstrosities lumber after you wasn't enough to get your heart pumping, let's add manual aiming and reloading! There's also the fact that DEMON DUST is a dungeon crawler, complete with cruise ship turning speed, mysteries, and the impetus to go deeper and deeper.
6. Dimhaven - The Lost Source (Q2 2026)
"A new first-person point-and-click adventure game by the developers of Quern - Undying Thoughts" is more than enough to get any puzzle game fan excited, and I think this game's look will do the trick for those unfamiliar with Zadbox Entertainment, too. Dimhaven - The Lost Source also starts with a more traditional mystery hook than the esoteric machines of Quern or Myst: your uncle has gone missing on a strange island.
7. Forgotten house (2026)
Forgotten house is the rare fan game turned full release, directly inspired by Gnarled Hag and released with creator Pompasaur's permission. Like it and other escape games such as the Granny series, Forgotten house is an adventure-cum-survival horror game, where the player is pursued by an active and powerful enemy who'll hunt them throughout the house, listening for any sign of their position. Managing sound levels along with all the different puzzle pieces and little threads of story flying around the place is wonderfully stressful, as are the many close encounters you'll be having with the Old Man.
8. GARBAGE COUNTRY (Q2 2026)
Little truck games are all the rage nowadays, exemplifying a rugged-but-playful individualism and escapist fantasy all in one. So, what better setting for these themes than the apocalypse? Contrary to some of the chiller vibes here, there are enemies and danger in this world, in the form of hostile robots and the tower defense-esque battles you'll have to defend yourself in. It's got a lot going on, but if there's any doubt about the developer executing on this combination, I'm not sure who's more suited for it than Noio, the creator and developer of Cloud Gardens and Kingdom: New Lands.
9. Haunted Lands (Spring 2026)
Haunted Lands is the kind of shit you're glad to see in 2026. Retro-style visuals with noxiously bright colors on true black backgrounds, and that baseline ease of understanding critical to arcade games. This kind of classic fantasy horror setting is also to die for, especially in this style, with a cast of playable protagonist archetypes backed up by genre mainstays like skellingtons, pointy worms, amorphous, acidic goo, and flying definitely-not-cacodemons. Let's hope it lives up to its promise of hardcore, old school challenge, 'cause it's got everything else down pat.
10. Hela (2026)
An old witch falls ill out in the wilds. With so little around, it's up to her familiars to find help. As opposed to the familiar mainstays of cats or bats or spiders, this witch is assisted by a gaggle of meeces, which you (and perhaps your friends) take control of. Explore Scandinavian-ish landscapes in pursuit of the potion ingredients that'll nurse your carer back to health.
11. Hermit and Pig (Feb 5, 2026)
This lovely little trailer will do the job of explaining Hermit and Pig's plot, and does pretty well to showcase its art style — something that's silly and cute and a little odd, but without looking like they're trying too hard to open their own Etsy store, y'know? It's a fairly straightforward RPG gameplay-wise; obviously inspired by the Mother series, where making observations about your opponents' designs or speech can be critical to clearing encounters. Encounters are further diversified with the occasional dialogue-based one with friendly characters, where the challenge becomes working around Hermit's poor social skills and ever-increasing anxiety.
12. Horripilant (Feb 13, 2026)
Horripilant — named for an adjective which means "causing goosebumps" — is a horror-themed incremental game. You play as an immortal knight at the bottom of an unknowably deep dungeon, with your only company the strange God peering at you from the dark of a well. They're all-knowing, it would seem, and create part or all of the environs you find yourself in. Click and click and plan and ascend, and maybe find some things out along the way.
13. I Saw a Flying Saucer (2026)
Interactive fiction games can be difficult to market, and get excited for, and recommend, since anything less than the hands-on experience is really just vibes. But when this is the vibe, I mean, hey.
14. Inkblood (2026)
Inkblood is a reverse-closed room mystery, where it's you, the de facto detective, locked away from the outside world, with only your carriage's porthole as a window out to it. But the carriage has many other tricks to help you build your cases; most notably, a special magnifying glass which lets you peer into the past. We can also be real and say that this art style is clean as hell and I'd play it for that alone.
15. Insectile (2026)
Creature-collecting is alive and well, but the tactility introduced by Insectile synergizes so well that I'm surprised I haven't seen it more often. Insectiles are captured in the quick-but-careful snap of a glass jar, while combat is handled in a flurry of ones and twos as your Insectiles vy for space on a small grid of opponents. There's some light story going on here, but the real joy is found in exploring the world in miniature and finding new friends - just as it should be.
16. Lost and Found Co. (Feb 11, 2026)
This is an I, Spy game, plain and simple, but Lost and Found Co. does a lot with that premise. Its expansive maps are complemented by a very sweet and colorful art style, and the complexity is really enhanced by dozens of little bits of interactivity. Only some of them will help you attain your primary goal, but they're always cute and/or entertaining.
17. NAME OF THE WILL (2026)
"Daylight horror" is a somewhat novel term used to discern horror media and scenes which take place during the day, challenging the common idea that horror arises from the unknown and darkness. And although it takes it to the extreme, the horror in point-and-click adventure NAME OF THE WILL is frighteningly ordinary. Conformity is mandatory; compliance is recorded; and there are eyes everywhere.
18. Nonolith (Q4 2026)
Nonolith is a bit difficult to explain in words. It's a puzzle-platformer where you can reshape the world around you, either to your direct platforming benefit or to unlock doors or cast spells with specific patterns. But, the way your player character exists in the physical space — at the same time, and physically just below, your block-manipulating space — creates a lot of intricacy. Doing things correctly requires forethought or a lot of fiddliness, but it's very satisfying to do correctly.
19. Panthalassa (?)
Down on the seafloor, an autonomous submersible collides with a mysterious facility. Although it's too damaged and isolated for any hope of repair, something within the underwater base wakes up and rescues the ship's AI by adding it to its network. What follows is an interface- and menus-driven game, where you, the ex-submersible, explore this strange place and attempt to learn the history of your new body. At the time of writing, Panthalassa's release date is unknown, but the developers mentioned on their socials that they'd be sharing more news about that soon, so, I'm betting that that means 2026.
20. Relooted (Feb 10, 2026)
Broken down to its essentials, a heist is simple: plan, and then execute. Make good use of your crew's abilities to get in and out, without getting caught and with a host of culturally invaluable artifacts in tow. Built in South Africa, Relooted is all about returning these artifacts to their rightful owners - by any means necessary.
21. Repterra (Mar 10, 2026)
Straight from the lineage of games like Evil Genius or Impossible Creatures, Repterra is a basebuilding real-time strategy game with, you guessed it, dinosaurs! This kind of design ethos emphasizes deep, captivating real-time strategy with an eyecatching veneer of fun bullshit - world domination for Evil Genius, trilobite archers and anklyosaurus-riding commandos for Repterra.
22. Robot Recycler Ryn (Q4 2026)
Robot Recycler Ryn is perhaps the game I have the least faith in coming out in 2026 (no offense, Rablo Games), but I find the premise so intriguing I'd be upset with myself if it dropped without my including it here. While the core of the gameplay seems to be these real-time RPG battles, this is one of those games that builds up to its core, rather than mostly consisting of it. The meat of Robot Recycler Ryn is in manufacturing your robots piece-by-piece, melting down and refashioning scrap into semi-customizable combat companions. On top of that customization, the robots' efficacy is determined by how well they're constructed; that is, how well you perform in the recycling mini-games.
23. RUBATO (Mar 20, 2026)
A lot of Wario-inspired games exercise that inspiration by focusing on quick, slippery movement or straightforwardly imitating the format of the WarioWare series. But the true nucleus of Wario is being fucking stupid; and RUBATO is fucking stupid. It is, I guess at its base, a physics-based 2D platformer, but that doesn't do much to actually describe it. It is an experimental smorgasbord of Newgrounds-era internet nonsense, with all its passion and none of its cringe-inducing "dark humor." Just pure, ecstatic absurdity.
24. SUPER ADVENTURE (2026)
A simple name, simple colors, and a simple premise — SUPER ADVENTURE is an action-packed platformer where your impenetrable shield is plastered to your back, instead of waiting to be deployed. Although its focus is on combat encounters, these are built around smart use of the shield, making platforming skills like quick-turning and enemy management imperative.
25. The Third Shift (?)
The Third Shift captured the interest of the horror gaming community with its first demo some six years ago. If you thought it was coming out shortly after that, I suppose you might be disappointed it's taken so long... but if you thought it was coming out shortly after that, I think you're very silly. The Game Boy-styled horror adventure has gotten a significant facelift since that first look, with all new art and a total revamp of the bizarre Roanoke Museum in which the story takes place. The buildup of tension and payoff here is really satisfying, and the promise of some even more over-the-top body horror and enemy actors makes it very attractive.
26. THREE VERSES³ (2026)
THREE VERSES³ is a typing-based dungeon crawler where just about everyone and everything is spoken in poetry and it looks really cool, that sort of "niche PSX not-horror horror game" look, and I liked the demo.