Okay so hear me out — there’s a new game called Ringwyrm and YES the name sounds like something you’d get at a medieval fair but DO NOT let that stop you because this thing looks like the unholy lovechild of Morrowind and a 1980s Soviet horror film and I am SO here for it.
From Scumhead — the same dev behind Mohrta, which was basically “what if Doom met Morrowind” — Ringwyrm is an immersive action horror shooter set in a world where fantasy and Soviet aesthetics collide in the most gorgeous, grimy way possible. Think brutalist concrete next to ancient forests. Think propaganda posters mixed with arcane symbols. Think a art style that looks like it was painted on a dirty rag and I mean that as the highest compliment.
But here’s where it gets REALLY interesting. Ringwyrm has this survival horror mechanic where you can either aim your gun OR move quickly — never both. Stand still to shoot, or run for your life. In a first-person shooter. With enemies that apparently do not care about your personal space. The tension is going to be absolutely unreal.
The world itself is nonlinear and interconnected, which is my favorite kind of game design. No hand-holding, no waypoints — just you, your wits, and whatever eldritch horrors are lurking around the next crumbling Soviet monument.
The story kicks off sixteen years after something called the Iron War (yes, it’s as metal as it sounds). You play as Edna Gotts, a war orphan who gets conscripted into a military operation alongside her sisters. They’re heading to a remote island called the Umbral Isle, where defeated forces have discovered “Milk” — a strange element that’s rapidly transforming their society. The implications of that sentence alone have me HYPED.
There’s no release date yet outside of a vague 2027 window, but you can wishlist it on Steam RIGHT NOW and honestly you should because games this visually distinctive and mechanically bold don’t come around often enough.
Scumhead proved with Mohrta that they can blend genres in ways that shouldn’t work but absolutely do. Ringwyrm looks like they’re going even further. The Soviet-fantasy aesthetic is so fresh and the survival horror twist on the boomer shooter formula could be something truly special.
Mark your calendars for 2027, people. This one’s going to be worth the wait.
Zoe Mitchell writes about games that start arguments. At SteamGamer.net, she covers gaming culture, unexpected indie hits, controversial design decisions, and releases that send the internet into a collective meltdown. She is most interested in the moment a game stops being entertainment and becomes a conversation. If everyone is asking, “Who thought this was a good idea?” Zoe wants to play it.
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