The vegetables have escaped, the fruit has turned feral, and a hard rock band made entirely of cacti is preparing to beat the living pulp out of anything that gets in its way. Forget your five-a-day. These carrots, cabbages, and other mutated monstrosities are looking to put you on the menu, and they’re not going down without a fight.
Back in July, we covered the first developer log for Vegelypse, which introduced us to its ridiculous vegetable apocalypse, hand-painted cartoon visuals, and roguelite-powered brawling. At the time, we could only admire the chaos from a distance. Now, developer Jumble Cats Studios and publisher Tate Multimedia are inviting players to get their hands dirty, with a Steam playtest running throughout October.
There’s a surprisingly generous helping of content available in the playtest too. We’re talking 10 maps, more than 100 modifiers, three storyline quests, and enough angry produce to make your local greengrocer reconsider their career choices.
Time to Give Those Vegetables a Good Thumping
The trouble began at an Annual Giant Vegetable Championship, where a mysterious explosion transformed ordinary fruits and vegetables into enormous, bloodthirsty monsters. Unfortunately for the Hard Rock Cacti Band, their rehearsal was interrupted by a truckload of the rampaging produce. With their instruments abandoned and their hometown under attack, the prickly musicians have traded guitar solos for a more hands-on approach to dealing with the apocalypse.
The playtest lets you choose between two members of the band and fight through 10 maps, battling mutant vegetables as you work toward the source of the disaster. There are three storyline quests to tackle, along with six enemy types and dozens of challenges and research objectives. You’ll be smashing your way from relatively peaceful surroundings toward areas that have suffered the full force of the vegetable uprising.
The whole thing plays out as a 2.5D beat ’em up, complete with exaggerated attacks, colorful environments, and enemies that look like they’ve escaped from a violent Saturday morning cartoon. The developers have decided that fighting murderous vegetables isn’t ridiculous enough fun for one game, so they’ve also included a soundtrack packed with hard rock riffs and pounding drums.
Those cacti might have put down their instruments, but the music certainly hasn’t stopped.
More Than 100 Ways to Spice Up a Run
Underneath the cartoon carnage, Vegelypse has a collection of roguelite mechanics designed to keep its vegetable-smashing expeditions interesting. The playtest includes more than 100 modifiers, giving players plenty of opportunities to experiment with different conditions and combinations as they fight their way through the apocalypse.
There’s also a character evolution system and a selection of perks that can change how your fighter develops during a run. Rather than simply repeating the same encounters with the same abilities, you’ll be able to explore different builds and see which combinations work best against the game’s collection of aggressive produce. Exactly how all those modifiers interact is something players can now investigate for themselves.
The developers are also including an Endless mode in the playtest, giving anyone who fancies a longer brawl another way to test their skills. There’s only so much punishment one carrot can take, but we’re sure the game will find plenty more vegetables to throw at you.
Bring Your Friends, The Salad Isn’t Going to Make Itself
If you don’t fancy tackling the vegetable uprising alone, Vegelypse supports local co-op for two to four players. That means you can gather a few friends, pick your cactus fighters, and start turning the invading produce into something resembling a very aggressive smoothie.
The game’s combination of classic beat ’em up combat and roguelite progression should make for some entertaining multiplayer sessions, especially when everyone is experimenting with different perks and modifiers. While the playtest focuses on giving players an early taste of the action, the full game is also planned to feature several ways to play.
Story Mode will take players through the narrative behind the vegetable apocalypse, Arcade Mode will focus on chasing high scores, and Arena Mode will introduce additional combat challenges.
For now, the playtest’s 10 maps, three quests, research objectives, and Endless mode should provide a decent opportunity to see whether the Hard Rock Cacti Band has what it takes to save the city. Or at least survive long enough to make a serious dent in the local vegetable population.
The Vegelypse Has Begun, and You’re Invited
The Vegelypse Steam playtest began on October 12, 2026, and is scheduled to run through October 25, giving players a limited window to sample the upcoming brawler before its full release. Jumble Cats Studios is using the test to gather feedback on the game’s mechanics, combat, and overall experience, so players will also have an opportunity to help shape development.
The Polish studio is working with publisher Tate Multimedia to bring its hand-painted vegetable apocalypse to life, with every character animated frame by frame to capture that classic cartoon feel. There’s still no confirmed release date for the full game, but anyone interested in joining the food fight can head over to the Vegelypse Steam page and request access to the playtest.
With Halloween approaching, the timing couldn’t be better for a game about monstrous vegetables terrorizing an entire town. We’ve had killer tomatoes, zombie outbreaks, and more mutant creatures than we can count. Now it’s time for the cacti to show the vegetable kingdom who’s boss.