If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter) or Mastodon to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

Indie fans will eat hearty next year! Publisher Hooded Horse continues to stack their cards into 2025, and their latest signing of Drill Keeper continues their eye for great talent. Drill Keeper is set to launch on Steam Early Access next year, and anyone who enjoys roguelikes will want to keep an eye on this one.

Drill Keeper is quite the science experiment of genres in a blender. Deck-building, tower defense, and RTS mechanics with roguelike progression? That already has my interest. Why not fully destructible worlds to explore and salvage? It makes for an interesting gameplay loop. Dig into planets to grab resources while using those resources to hold off enemy attacks for as long as possible. Did I mention that a Chaos mode would be available, too? When you die, you can do it all again, but stronger!

Drill Keeper Enemy Wav3e
Drill Keeper Tower Defence
Drill Keeper Choosing Destination

Drill Keeper is the work of solo developer Daniel Strümpel, who founded his studio ShoulderByte GmbH and has been developing Drill Keeper since 2021. He had this to say about the announcement:

“Teaming up with Hooded Horse marks an exciting chapter for my little studio,” says Strümpel. “Their commitment to innovation and quality perfectly aligns with my creative vision, and together, we will drill down to the core of what makes a great strategy game.”

There is no release date yet for Drill Keeper, but check out the studio's development by visiting the company’s official website, YouTube channel, and Twitter.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!

Michael Baker
As a British guy in his mid-thirties, Michael has played and reviewed games as long as he can remember. Narrative Designer at Grimlore Games 2019-2020 (Spellforce 3 franchise, Plarium Games 2023 as Lore Editor). His favourite game genres are strategy, RPG, simulation and RTS.
Steam Profile