By Steven Andrew 
Plot Twist and publisher Lyrical Games are betting you’ll care enough about saving your kidnapped daughter to keep dying for her. Erosion, their upcoming time-looping roguelike, weaponizes parental desperation into its core mechanic: every time you fall in the procedurally-generated Time Pillar, the world ages a decade, and your daughter gets older along with it.
It’s a premise that sounds like emotional manipulation, and honestly, it probably is. But it might also be genius.
The studio revealed the concept during The MIX showcase and announced an open playtest running June 23 through June 30 on Steam. You’ll get a hands-on look at the voxel dungeons, arcade-inspired boss fights, and the massive neon-western overworld that bookends your runs. Between attempts, you’re exploring a persistent wasteland where your choices actually matter: join cults, hunt bounties, gamble at the Al Cashino, or complete quests to unlock permanent upgrades that carry across timelines.
Weapon variety appears borderline excessive. Ritual bows that drain blood. An Ebony Rooster that shoots bouncy eggs. Over 100 skills and modifiers to mix into broken builds. The customization angle suggests Erosion wants to lean into experimentation as hard as it leans into its high-concept premise.
Here’s the kicker: Plot Twist abandoned Early Access entirely, committing to a full 1.0 launch in early 2027. CEO Tomasz Gawlikowski explained the pivot as wanting players to experience the complete vision day one. The playtest serves as final polish rather than feature development.
It’s either visionary or arrogant. The playtest will tell you which.
Check out the trailer and grab the Steam page for more details or hop over to their Discord.
Aimee Rogers