Spanish indie developer Dos Estrellas has revealed Estigia, a turn-based sliding puzzle game set deep within a decaying Greek underworld. Its most unusual feature might be what isn’t there: the entire game is designed without tutorials, dialogue or written menus, allowing it to be played without any form of translation.
In Estigia, you play as a recently departed soul arriving in the Greek underworld without a coin to pay the ferryman. With the easy route across the Styx off the table, the soul has to make its own way through eleven regions before eventually reaching the court that will decide its fate.
Slide first, think ahead
At the heart of Estigia is an ice-sliding puzzle mechanic. Pick a direction and your character continues moving in a straight line until something gets in the way. Blocks, mirrors, elevators and traps complicate the journey, with each map built around a specific solution.
There’s another important rule: the world only moves when you do. Enemies and other elements respond to your actions rather than moving independently, giving you time to study the situation before committing to the next move.
Each of the eleven regions ends with a confrontation against a deity from the Greek pantheon. Every deity introduces its own mechanics and puzzles, requiring a different approach rather than simply repeating the same formula eleven times.
No words required
Perhaps the most interesting design decision is the complete absence of written language. There are no text-based tutorials, dialogue or conventional text menus. Instead, Dos Estrellas wants players to learn the game’s rules entirely through playing it.
The only words appearing on screen are the names of the different regions, presented using the Greek alphabet. As these remain identical regardless of where the game is played, Estigia effectively doesn’t require localization.
The minimalist approach carries over to the visuals. Estigia uses dark pixel art built around a sixteen-colour palette. Its underworld has remained frozen in the classical age, while its gods have gradually become corrupted as the living world forgot about them. Lost souls that never managed to reach their destination can also be found scattered throughout its regions.
Your own destination isn’t necessarily fixed either. The game features three possible endings, sending the player towards Elysium, Asphodel or Tartarus depending on their actions during the final descent.
From the creator of Countless Army
Estigia is being developed by Spanish studio Dos Estrellas, led by Daniel Navarro Olmedo. The studio previously released Countless Army in 2024, an unusual reverse tower defence game that puts the player in control of the attacking hordes rather than the defending side. The game subsequently made its way to consoles and mobile platforms.
Estigia is currently scheduled for release in 2027, with versions planned for PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and mobile platforms. Dos Estrellas estimates a playthrough will take around four to five hours.
The Steam page is now available for wishlisting, while a playable demo is planned ahead of release.
A first trailer gives us a look at the game’s sliding puzzles, sixteen-colour underworld and some of the deities standing between our unfortunate soul and its final destination.
