In a time where 2025 and 2026 both have jam-packed release calendars that look less like a schedule and more like a hostile takeover by every major and indie studio on Earth, one upcoming roguelite has decided that December 8th is the perfect time to step into the gladiator pit. That game is UnderMire, a chaotic 2D/3D co-op roguelite from Table Knight Games, which just locked in its first scheduled public playtest.
To mark the occasion, we sat down with Elliott Heder, a social media personality who now serves as the game’s marketing and community lead. In other words, he is the guy tasked with showing you why you should care about a brand-new indie game while your console and Steam libraries are actively trying to bury your free time under a mountain of blockbusters.
First, let’s start with the gameplay trailer so you can see why this game should be added to your Steam Wishlist right now.
As a co-op roguelite, UnderMire drops you and up to three friends into a magical, ever-changing bunker where fear itself becomes both weapon and enemy. Each run sends you deeper through shifting office halls, warped home spaces, underground gardens, and eventually the dark magic nexus at the heart of the chaos. Armed with powerful magical tools unique to each character, players fight fear-fueled monsters and bosses that grow more dangerous with every descent, all while managing a fear gauge that can trigger hallucinations or even spawn terrifying new threats.
Built around solo play or drop-in, drop-out online co-op for up to four players, UnderMire fully embraces shared chaos through proximity voice chat that keeps every moment immersive or hilariously loud. Players also encounter McClane, a thousand-year-old spirit cat who issues strange quests that unravel the deepest secrets of the bunker.
What truly sets UnderMire apart is its emphasis on improvisation and systemic chaos. Players can break and repair bunker systems like power and lighting, electrify water, burn wooden obstacles, and creatively manipulate the environment to survive. The game’s signature “SMUSH” mechanic allows everyday junk and bizarre food items—such as cell phone batteries, hairspray cans, and frogspawn sandwiches—to be fused into wild elemental weapons and potions. Between runs, players regroup in the cozy-but-creepy Den to upgrade characters, enhance tools, and uncover the unsettling history of the manor above the bunker.
As we sat down with Elliott, we had many questions already brewing in the back of our minds. Why would a successful social media personality sideline that career path to take on a community manager role for an indie game? With so many household name brands on your resume, what about Table Knight Games drew you in? And of course, why should modern gamers care about UnderMire when there are so many other incredible games out there right now? To be fair, the art style of UnderMire is all we needed to see to answer that last one. It’s seriously gorgeous.
Heder’s path to UnderMire is not the typical “started in QA, ate instant ramen for ten years” origin story. Instead, he arrived with a pre-existing personal brand and a résumé stacked with household names, of which he nurtured carefully.
“My personal brand really helped me get in,” Heder explained. Through his previous work running the CrewDino brand, of which he is still very much active, he collaborated with major entertainment companies on campaigns tied to massive IPs such as Naruto, Pokémon, and Dragon Ball, many of which he wore two hats; one as a social media influencer and one as an internal employee as well. Yet despite working on franchises many of us would sell a kidney to touch, he was drawn to something smaller.
Another goal, he said, was to help create a new childhood memory for the next generation. UnderMire’s hand-drawn 2D/3D aesthetic, Saturday-morning-cartoon energy, and chaotic co-op gameplay made that decision easy. He also pointed to the studio’s small, culturally diverse team as a major factor in his enthusiasm.
The real turning point came after a long conversation with Table Knight Games CEO Abdulrahman Abdullah. Heder says hearing Abdullah’s vision for UnderMire and the studio’s future pushed him to take the leap.
Table Knight Games has spent close to a decade in the mobile market in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, but UnderMire represents its first large-scale global push. For Heder, that made the risk part of the appeal. He had never worked with a small startup game studio outside of esports, and the chance to build something from the ground up was too tempting to pass up.
UnderMire is entering a genre that already includes enough roguelites to populate an entire Steam category with its own gravitational pull. According to Heder, the team is not trying to outgun the genre’s giants but to leave a creative fingerprint on it.
Their core goal is simple but ambitious: create a game people genuinely want to replay and remember. Player feedback is central to that plan, which is why the studio is currently running private tests and rolling directly into a public playtest after that. The December 8th test is just the first wide-open step in that longer process.
When asked to remove his “marketing hat” and answer purely as a gamer, Heder did not hesitate. “To me personally, the most exciting thing would definitely be the co-op experience,” he says.
“The variety of characters and their backgrounds that players will experience in UnderMire is definitely something to pay attention to. My hope is that knowing all of the tools that our development team is working on, in conjunction to much of the backstory of these characters, will really get players immersed in, not just the gameplay, but the story we are presenting with UnderMire.”
As mentioned, we have an upcoming private playtest where we will be hearing and seeing plenty of great feedback, as well as a public playtest right after the private one. We are taking this entire process very seriously.”
UnderMire features a variety of characters with distinct backgrounds, and the team is weaving that lore directly into their gameplay systems. His hope is that players will not only get hooked on the action but become invested in the world and its cast in the same way they would with a story-driven title.
In other words, the studio wants you to argue with your friends about which UnderMire character is “objectively the best,” while mixing food and household items into dangerous weapons, which is the true mark of long-term success.
Heder remained cautious about post-launch plans, emphasizing that the game is still early in development. What he could confirm is that the team is treating the feedback pipeline seriously, with structured private and public tests feeding directly into future development phases.
“Given that I can’t speak on behalf of the development team on future timelines and goals, and that we are still early in the game’s development, what I can say is that the team is hard at work and preparing for various game development phases that will make the wait worthwhile.
Translation: they are listening, they are planning, and they are not about to slap a vague “roadmap” on Twitter just to look busy like so many other AAA studios do.
UnderMire publicly caught many players’ attention earlier this year at OTK Games Expo, where the 2D/3D aesthetic earned immediate praise. But visually distinct art alone does not keep a roguelite alive.
The game’s standout mechanical hook is the “SMUSH” system, which lets players combine random objects into new tools and weapons, including improvised items like firebombs. It is equal parts creativity engine and disaster generator, which historically is a winning formula in cooperative games.
Heder believes this mix of visual style, player-driven chaos, and accessible co-op will help UnderMire compete in a market overflowing with high-profile releases. Whether you play solo or with friends, he claims, the game is designed to amplify the best parts of the roguelite genre rather than compete head-to-head with its titans.
UnderMire’s first scheduled playtest on December 8th will be the real proving ground. This is the moment when “Saturday-morning chaos,” co-op synergy, and experimental item fusion stop being talking points and start being systems players will stress-test mercilessly.
In a year stacked with incredible games and an even scarier 2026 on the horizon, UnderMire is not trying to be the game you play. It just wants to be the one you and your friends keep reinstalling “for one more run.”
