INDIE SIGNAL / HORROR / DEVELOPING STORY
Pelican City is falling apart, and the only way out runs on a particularly grim fuel supply. LIVING HELL, the new survival horror game from Joe Fender, one of the creators of DEVOUR, has opened its first Steam playtest following an announcement at the Triple-i Showcase on 8 October 2026. Publisher Future Friends Games also released a new trailer and confirmed a planned 2027 PC launch.
The pitch is stronger than another four-player monster hunt. Your team must venture off an abandoned train into a city wrecked by solar radiation, capture mutated specimens and process them into biofuel. Get enough and the train can carry you towards one of the remaining rocket launch sites. Fail, and the journey ends a long way from safety.
An interesting reason to leave the train
The train functions as a lifeline rather than a static base. Each trip sends players into dangerous districts to search for supplies, craft equipment and find specimens. The city follows different subway routes between runs, which could give repeat journeys a different rhythm without relying solely on unpredictable enemy encounters.
The other hook is heat. According to the publisher, players must manage their Thermal Load and find ways to keep cool. Exposure may eventually turn a teammate into another threat. It is an idea that could give cooperative play a welcome edge: the person protecting you now might become the problem later.
What the developer has confirmed
- Online cooperative play for one to four players, with a full offline single-player option.
- Multiple subway routes, hostile locations and more than a dozen mutated creature types.
- Six playable characters with individual passive abilities, alongside crafting and persistent saves.
- Proximity voice chat and handheld radios, plus support for gamepads.
Those are announced features, not systems we have tested. In particular, a Steam playtest sign-up does not guarantee immediate access for everybody who requests it.
Why we’re watching it
DEVOUR established Fender’s knack for tense teamwork. Here, the combination of a travelling refuge, resource pressure and an environmental threat looks capable of making the danger feel less predictable. What remains to be seen is how well the train journey supports longer sessions, whether creature encounters remain surprising and how the game balances the needs of solo and cooperative players.
If you want to investigate for yourself, the official Steam page is the place to look for current playtest access and wishlisting. The publisher has also made a press kit and trailer available.
More indie discoveries: explore The Switchboard, CSP’s independent directory of games worth finding.
Editorial disclosure: researched from Future Friends Games’ 8 October announcement, the Steam listing and the official press kit. Details checked 18 October 2026. This is not a hands-on preview or review. Official video is embedded from the publisher’s linked YouTube source.