Erosion

A good story has meaningful stakes, but in a roguelike, a game where death is often trivialized, this can be hard to establish. So when I heard about Erosion, the twin-stick shooter from Plot Twist, I perked up in my seat. In this game, your goal is to save your daughter, but every time you die, time advances a decade. If you're too slow, she will die.

I was one of the first people to see the game in a private event prior to its reveal at the Xbox Partner Preview today. Its voxel-based art style really stands out, and every time you destroy an object or an enemy, they break down into tiny rendered blocks. The art and animation style adds a goofy element to the game's otherwise deadly serious tone, which ultimately strikes a balance I'm quite fond of. Your daughter will die if you don't move quickly enough. Also, there are chicken cultists who wear giant chicken costumes and worship The Great Old Rooster. At one point, the developers mention the team was inspired by Adventure Time, and yeah, I can definitely see that.

Those cultists, along with the bustling town of Neu Amsterdam and an open spaghetti western countryside, exist in Erosion's overworld, which you can visit and explore between runs. While Neu Amsterdam is the main area we've seen so far, Plot Twist tells us it's just one of several biomes; I catch glimpses of swamp and desert areas in the presentation. Erosion's overworld also includes vehicles (and a racing minigame!), making for quicker traversal. The interactions you have here and the decisions you make will create long-lasting effects over time, as you'll revisit the area every 10 years between runs.

In our presentation, we see three timelines. In one, the player sides with a shopkeeper to eliminate the chicken cultists who took over his farm. A decade later, that shopkeeper has become mad with power, using his wealth to rule the town. Alternatively, siding with the cultists means wiping out the town. Return a decade later, and you'll see they've begun an ancient summoning ritual. Finally, truly chaotic players can wipe both populations out. When revisiting Neu Amsterdam a decade later, the player will encounter a ghost town full of aggressive squatters. The developers also state that this is just one of several world-altering decisions the player can make, and I look forward to seeing the rest.

The other half of the game takes place in the dungeons, combat-centric zones with classic roguelike elements, including "over 100" weapons and skills. We see the protagonist wielding guns, bows, and even a chicken to take down waves of zombie-like enemies, but you can also unlock passive and special abilities. There are also, naturally, bosses, each inspired by a different classic video game. The demo we see most prominently features a giant snake (like the one in Snake), but the developers also mention others based on Pong, Tetris, and Dance Dance Revolution.

Progress far enough, and you'll unlock the ability to go backwards in time. This, admittedly, kills some of the excitement I had about the game's stakes, but you don't get it immediately, and I'm glad for the ability to test out several timelines in a single save file. After all, it is a roguelike; replaying sections is the name of the game. 

In addition to seeing a trailer and clips of gameplay, we were able to ask the developers at Plot Twist some questions, and I asked if the game's timeline has an endpoint. The developers assure us that the game doesn't have a "fail state," so to speak, but don't elaborate any further, implying the answer involves spoilers. I'm excited to discover it for myself when the game launches in early access on Xbox and PC in Spring 2026.