Squishy mutant roguelite Arboria to leave Early Access this August

After a little over a year in Steam Early Access, dark fantasy roguelite Aboria is releasing this August. Announced at this year's PC Gaming Show, you play as a mutant warrior who dungeon delves to find out the mysteries of their tribe, but it's also a great excuse to beat up some beasties.

The term 'dark fantasy' gets thrown around a lot when describing games, but I think Arboria really encompasses the term. After watching the trailer, the game's visual style is the first thing that slaps you in the face. There's something almost sickly about the mutants and creatures, a squishy amalgamation of flesh and bones that makes them look super disgusting but distinct. The procedurally generated dungeons also have this weird, neon bloom like everything has been dumped in glow paint. Arboria would make for a great nightclub if it wasn't for the ghastly abominations roaming its depths.

Combat happens in real-time and, in classic rouglite form, when you die you'll need to start a new run. Dungeon crawling is a hack-n-slash affair, with your character having special abilities that can be upgraded through a variety of mutations.

From a brief look at the game's Steam page, Arboria has grown a humble following and the team has been putting out regular updates and context packages every month since it entered Early Access. A majority of the reviews are positive too, with player's only criticism being bugs, something that hopefully developers Dreamplant have ironed out.

If you want to check out a game that's both pretty but also disgusting, check out Arboria releasing on Steam this August. If you want to try before you buy, Dreamplant also has a demo you can download for free.

Rachel had been bouncing around different gaming websites as a freelancer and staff writer for three years before settling at PC Gamer back in 2019. She mainly writes reviews, previews, and features, but on rare occasions will switch it up with news and guides. When she's not taking hundreds of screenshots of the latest indie darling, you can find her nurturing her parsnip empire in Stardew Valley and planning an axolotl uprising in Minecraft. She loves 'stop and smell the roses' games—her proudest gaming moment being the one time she kept her virtual potted plants alive for over a year.