News: Helix: Descent N Ascent Demo at Steam Next Fest
Belgian indie studio Badass Mongoose announces acceleration for their atmospheric puzzle-adventure Helix: Descent N Ascent. The game will shine at Steam Next Fest February 23 to March 2, 2026, with a public demo launching around February 10. Early Steam demo codes are available now for press and creators via request. Planned for PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch in Q2 2026, Helix features a striking monochrome art style inspired by 1980s black-and-white indie comics, 1990s manga, and 1970s Franco-Belgian comics, evoking the eternal dance of light and darkness. The immersive score by acclaimed composer Jim Guthrie (Sword & Sorcery, Below) enhances this dreamlike universe. Players awaken in a dull, dark, disembodied world as the last of their kind, unlocking ancient embodied powers to unravel a lost civilization's mysteries.
Journey deeper into Helix: confront a mysterious doppelganger who mirrors you yet opposes your every move—is it friend or foe? Discover and master new abilities to interact meaningfully with surroundings, solving intricate puzzles through exploration of barren, haunting lands. The core innovation is a unique mix-and-match system, combining five powers in 25 distinct ways across three complexity levels for rewarding, creative problem-solving. This single-player experience supports Steam Achievements, Cloud saves, and Family Sharing, it boasts a living 2D scenery, evocative paintings, and symbolic imagery in a wordless narrative.
Helix transcends gameplay, delivering a profound emotional odyssey on identity, solitude, and relationships. It weaves personal, cultural, and spiritual threads through mysteries and memories of a past existence, challenging mind and soul as you descend into oblivion and ascend toward enlightenment. Supported in 10 languages including English, French, and Spanish, with full audio and subtitles. Backed by Wallonie grants like Rayonnement Wallonie and Wallimage, Badass Mongoose crafts hand-drawn worlds that reward ingenuity. Players can wishlist the title on Steam and prepare for an artistic triumph!