LIVING HELL Surprise-Drops a Steam Playtest — DEVOUR’s Creator Wants You Aboard the Last Train Out of Pelican City
Official key art. © Joe Fender
The heat finds you first. Then the smell. Then the thing wearing what used to be your neighbor’s face, shambling out of the collapsed subway entrance while the ozone hole gapes above you like God’s own skylight. You’re sweating through your shirt, the air tastes like pennies and burnt plastic, and somewhere down the line there’s a train — your train — and the only thing standing between you and a rocket off this dying rock is a backpack full of mutated specimens and three teammates you suddenly don’t trust at all.
Turn up the volume, horror hounds. Co-op horror just found its next stop.
Joe Fender — the mind behind DEVOUR, one of indie co-op horror’s defining nightmares — surprise-launched the first Steam playtest for his new game LIVING HELL alongside a fresh trailer at the Fall Triple-i Showcase. The playtest is live now. The full game is slated for Steam in 2027.
Watch the Trailer
Quick Specs
- Developer: Joe Fender (DEVOUR)
- Publisher: Future Friends Games (CloverPit, Queen’s Domain, The Cabin Factory)
- Release window: 2027 (Steam)
- Players: 1–4 co-op
- Playtest: Live now on Steam, free to join
- Reveal: Fall Triple-i Showcase
LIVING HELL drops you into Pelican City, where the ozone layer’s collapse has triggered widespread, terrifying mutations. The loop is lean and mean: venture out from your train, capture mutated specimens, process them into biofuel, and keep the engine running toward one of humanity’s last remaining rockets. No train, no escape. (Fender made his name feeding you to demons in DEVOUR — now he’s making you the engine. Talk about an upgrade.)
The twist that’ll end friendships: Thermal Load. The blistering heat isn’t just atmosphere — let it climb too high and you risk mutating yourself and turning on your own teammates. Nothing says bonding like watching your buddy’s temperature spike and quietly backing toward the exit. Each journey also charts a different subway route through Pelican City, so no two runs to the launch site play the same, and the mutated creatures you meet each have their own nasty habits.
Full disclosure, up front: the Vault hasn’t gone hands-on with LIVING HELL yet — the playtest launched this weekend and we’re still wiping the ash off our boots. But the pedigree speaks. Fender is indie co-op horror royalty, and Future Friends has a nose for this stuff. We’ll be watching (and sweating) closely.
Trivia & Facts
- Joe Fender built DEVOUR largely as a solo developer before it became one of indie co-op horror’s biggest names.
- LIVING HELL is published by Future Friends Games, also behind CloverPit, Queen’s Domain, and The Cabin Factory.
- The core loop: capture specimens, refine them into biofuel, keep the train moving, reach the rockets.
- The Thermal Load system means overheating can literally turn you against your squad — trust no one.
- Every playthrough follows a different subway route through Pelican City, with mutated creatures that each behave differently.
Harper’s Extras — if this hooked you:
- Fire and Ashes ships October 14 — in this horror game, your scream fights back: https://thinkhorror.com/fire-and-ashes-ships-october-14-in-this-horror-game-your-scream-fights-back/
- Hellraiser: Revival is out now — Doug Bradley is back: https://thinkhorror.com/hellraiser-revival-out-now-launch/
- Wishlist LIVING HELL and join the playtest on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3078760/
Where to Play: The playtest is live on Steam now — free to join. Full launch targeted for 2027.
First reported by The Magic Rain.
FAQ
- Is the LIVING HELL playtest free? Yes — join it on the Steam page while slots last.
- When does LIVING HELL release? The full game is slated for Steam in 2027.
- Who made DEVOUR? Joe Fender, who developed the hit co-op horror game DEVOUR.
- How many players does LIVING HELL support? 1–4 player co-op survival horror.
- What’s the goal? Capture mutated specimens, convert them to biofuel, power your train, and reach one of Earth’s last rockets.
Until the next nightmare, fiends.
