BILBAO, Spain – February 20, 2026 – Runeomicon, the dark fantasy ritual game developed by TLR Games and published by Joystick Ventures, brings its playable demo to Steam Next Fest on February 23.
In Runeomicon, players are not the hero. They are the villain. Players perform the ritual with their own hands, drawing ancient runes under relentless pressure while an endless tide of filthy peasants, priests, and knights storms the sanctuary to stop it. They will not succeed.
The ritual never stops.
Draw ancient runes to generate arcane energy. The runes grow harder as the waves grow stronger. Fail a rune and generate nothing. Complete it and the power is yours. Spend that power to defend the ritual - summon towers, cast spells, unleash eldritch creatures against the waves closing in. Or hold the line long enough to pour everything into the summoning and call a god forth faster.
Six ancient gods wait to be summoned. Each one reshapes the ritual completely, bringing new curses, new defenses, and new ways to destroy the silly villagers trying to stop the ritual. Every god summoned brings the ultimate objective closer: summoning the Goddess of Death herself.
Drawing a perfect rune while knights are at the gate is harder than it sounds. It gets easier. The Training Room is there to make sure of it.
Draw faster or defend harder. Upgrade through branching paths that make every ritual different. Every choice pulls power away from somewhere else. The ritual answers only to the decisions made inside it.
"Everytime someone plays for the first time, they start yelling at the villagers, panicking while drawing the runes. That is exactly what we wanted. You are not the hero of this story and by the time the runes feel like muscle memory, you stop wanting to be.” - Arturo Monedero, TLR Games
Enter the Chronosphere's demo is available during Steam Next Fest from February 23 to March 2 on their official Steam page here. For more information on Enter the Chronosphere, check out developer Effort Star’s official website, follow Effort Star and publisher Joystick Ventures on social media, and join the game’s official Discord.
Runeomicon's demo is available during Steam Next Fest from February 23 to March 2 on their official Steam page here. For more information on Runeomicon, follow Runeomicon and publisher Joystick Ventures and join the game's official Discord.
About TLR GamesTLR Games (The Longest Road) is a Spanish indie game studio that specializes in bringing to life fantasies both light and dark. From lighthearted, funny text adventures like DELETE AFTER READING to the darkest cult corners of Runeomicon, TLR Games utilizes their flexible team size to create distinct, unique gameplay experiences that capture a range of different emotions, mechanics, and aesthetics.
About Joystick VenturesJoystick Ventures is a California-based investing and publishing company whose main goal is to encourage indie developers to stay honest and promote experimentation to push the limits of game design across all genres, styles, and geographies. They are most known for titles like StarVaders, Antonblast, Lost in Play, Mandragora, Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!, and upcoming games including Enter The Chronosphere, Trailblazers, WILD Tactics, and Runeomicon.