Summerfall Studios’ latest roguelike-deckbuilder Malys has made its surprise debut on Steam! After the Kickstarter, the Melbourne Studio assured those eager to get their fill of roguelike deckbuilding and demon hunting that Malys would still be releasing – and much sooner than I think anyone expected. Known for their debut with Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, Summerfall’s latest game is certainly a different tune.
“Malys has been a wild ride, with some truly demonic twists and turns for us as a studio – but it’s also been an incredible project that we want to finish. Although our recent Kickstarter was unsuccessful, we are determined to get the game out and start to work with our community to make it as good as it can be. The feedback we can get from Early Access is invaluable, as well as the support from our audience to share and celebrate the game. Its got quite a road ahead of it to get it to a 1.0, but we’re confident in having a kickass completed game by the end of 2025.” said Liam Esler, Managing Director of Summerfall Studios.
Malys follows Noah – a former priest now demon hunter capable of performing exorcisms. Forging a path through the city is nasty work with denizens – some of which friendly but many evil demonic entities to expel. Each turn players need to choose their cards wisely, sacrificing those they don’t wish to play – to light candles which then allow your chosen cards to be played!
Each run begins with players choosing an artifact before riding into the city. After a brief encounter with the coy Angel, you’re left to navigate through the city encounters much like a typical roguelike. Feeling your way through the city adds to the game’s enamouring setting, with dark broody visuals giving way to towering beings of your nightmares in offices, apartments and other locales around the city.
During demonic encounters, players must first expose the demon from within the host with its true name. Then the real battle begins, with players needing to endure combat with it as they light candles to play cards. Then finally, players will need to exile the entity, though the risks here rise with the hosts life also being on the line!
It would be easy to nudge a description to towards an eldritch aesthetic but there’s something much more macabre at work here. From hellish entities to sullen bodies, the city of Malys is alive with torment to exorcise.
During our chat with Summerfall Studios back in May when the Kickstarter was in full-swing, David Gaider described Malys as being “just as character-driven as the studios last game, Stray Gods The Roleplaying Musical” which already rings true from what’s been shown of the game so far. Noah, Angel and the other side characters I’ve encountered – even possessed demons all carry that unique characterisation.
Currently, the Early Access version of Malys is a working build with many of the final game’s planned core gameplay features along with the first chunk of story content and a variety of cards, curios and demons to experience. Having jumped in, there’s a clear focus on the essence of the experience with the run much longer than your typical roguelike. The idea here is that while there’s less content in the Early Access Version, it still gives players plenty time to experience a variety of runs under different conditions.
Future updates will include additional regions, demons, stories and cards for players to unlock, with full release being the fully complete story. There’s also further voiceover and more polish to come, as is to be expected of an early access build. Summerfall Studios is also eager to focus on the game’s core replayability loop, something synonymous with roguelikes and deckbuilders alike thanks to the additional elements of strategy. While the games full version is still a few months off, knowing that there is more content coming for Malys has me excited to see what Summerfall Studios can pull off in the genre.
Malys is available now on Steam in early access here. Summerfall Studios aims to have the full game released by the end of the year.
