CS Press First Look | Steam Demo
There are plenty of strategy games that ask you to protect something important. Australia Did It would like you to protect a train carrying valuable cargo across the bed of the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean, inconveniently, has disappeared. Its replacement is full of enormous monsters, and your employer seems mostly concerned that the delivery arrives on time. At least the job description is refreshingly clear.
It’s a gloriously odd premise, and the name attached to it makes it even more interesting. Rami Ismail, known for his work on Nuclear Throne, Luftrausers and Ridiculous Fishing, is developing the game alongside Aesthetician Labs, with Mystic Forge publishing.
I’ve played the free Steam demo, and the challenge left a strong impression. The GamesPress announcement gives 10 November 2026 as the full release date. Steam currently still shows ‘Coming soon’, so we’re attributing that date to the press announcement until the store page is updated.
The station is only half the battle
The most intriguing part of Australia Did It is the way it joins two very different kinds of strategy. At stations, you’re working in turn-based combat: hiring and positioning units, keeping an eye on enemy threats and deciding how to protect the cargo before the journey continues.
Then the train sets off. Your crew moves into an autobattler journey as enemies descend on the moving train, testing whether those careful station decisions hold together when things become distinctly less orderly. The game’s earlier promotional descriptions call this blend a ‘tactical reverse bullet hell’. It sounds slightly unhinged, which, for an indie game looking to escape the familiar, is a compliment.
Unit merging could be the real draw
The other substantial hook is the unit-merging system. The developers advertise more than 30 unit types and over 1,500 possible variations. The promise isn’t simply collecting stronger units, but combining attributes in ways that change how your crew can defend itself.
That offers the kind of strategic rabbit hole that can make a small game unexpectedly absorbing. If different combinations produce genuinely meaningful trade-offs, there’s room for experimentation beyond finding one reliable team and repeating it forever. Of course, hundreds of theoretical combinations don’t automatically mean hundreds of worthwhile choices. How the systems balance over a complete run will be important.
There’s already a proper demo to try
The separate Steam demo is free and, according to its official listing, includes all levels from the first biome alongside selected levels from the second. That’s enough to get a feel for the game’s structure rather than judging it by a cinematic trailer and some optimistic marketing.
The demo also has its own Steam listing, distinct from the unreleased main game. The official pages describe an approach centred on positioning, synergies and carrying decisions forward between different phases of combat.
What we’re looking forward to
This is exactly the sort of ambitious indie experiment that deserves attention: a distinctive premise, a recognisable creative voice and mechanics that are trying to interact in unfamiliar ways. The appeal isn’t that Australia Did It has invented tactics or tower defence from scratch. It’s the possibility that the combination becomes more interesting than either component on its own.
The bigger question ahead of release is whether the shifting rhythm between station preparation and train survival remains satisfying, especially once more enemy types and unit combinations come into play. There’s real potential here, but it would be premature to hand out a verdict before the finished game arrives.
Hands-on: The challenge makes you want to improve
Having played the Steam demo myself, the thing that stood out was the challenge. There is a definite learning curve, and a real difference between getting through an encounter and feeling like you’ve properly worked out what you’re doing. This isn’t one of those games where everything simply falls into place on your first attempt.
What I enjoyed most was the desire to improve. It gave me that competitive urge to try again, do things a little better and see whether I could make more of the opportunities in front of me. I found myself enjoying that process rather than just wanting to reach the end of the demo. There’s something satisfying about a game that makes getting better part of the appeal.
That level of challenge won’t be for everybody. Anyone after a relaxing strategy game might find the learning curve a little demanding. But if you’re naturally competitive, and you enjoy a game that asks you to develop some genuine skill, Australia Did It has a lot going for it. It’s the kind of demo that makes another attempt sound more appealing than admitting defeat.
Australia Did It: the key details
Developer: Rami Ismail and Aesthetician Labs
Publisher: Mystic Forge
Platform: PC via Steam
Demo: Available now on Steam
Full release: 10 November 2026, as announced via GamesPress (Steam currently lists ‘Coming soon’).
Official sources: main Steam page · free Steam demo · publisher overview.
For more games that don’t fit neatly into one genre, visit Discover Indie Games and Undercurrent.