Survive 15 minutes in a desert that wants you dead. Fight swarms out of Arabian folklore, forge elemental builds and weapon evolutions, answer daily contracts, and grow stronger between runs with deep skill trees. Free to play - every run tells a different story.

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Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“Desert Survival's core loop - 15-minute runs, six maps, character skill trees, and deep build variety - is complete and highly replayable. We're using Early Access to grow the content (characters, maps, weapons, elements) and balance the meta-progression economy with real player data before calling it 1.0. Survivor-likes live and die on tuning, and community feedback during Early Access is the best way to get it right.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We expect roughly 6-12 months, though this may shift based on the scope of feedback-driven additions.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The full version is planned to add more playable characters, additional maps and enemy rosters, new weapons and elemental synergies, expanded skill trees, and more run modifiers and mid-run events, alongside balance passes driven by Early Access feedback.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Fully playable and stable: 6 maps with unique enemy rosters and bosses, multiple playable characters with themed unlocks, 13 weapons with 12 weapon evolutions and committable attack styles, permanent element imbuing with bouncing shots, on-screen targeting, all hero capstones and a controller fail-safe path, an in-run settings menu, a reusable Lamp of Ascension and endless post-max growth, a Sacred Spring that hunts enemy by enemy and a fully pruned upgrade pool, 18 hero ultimates chosen mid-run at the Lamp of Ascension, 19 relics to hunt and master, rarity-rolled upgrade boards, an ultimate whose cooldown you train down on the skill tree, Sand Tide and Wayfinder account roads, animated XP orbs and more than 90 hand-drawn combat effects, genie wish and style lamps, ground loot (coins and region-themed food dropped by enemies, bosses, and breakable props), per-character and general skill trees, three difficulty tiers, 11 pre-run modifiers, daily contracts and strikes, mid-run events, beacon rings and Stand Your Ground zones that trade risk for reward, Steam leaderboards with account totals and per-region bests, a 63-achievement set, full controller support through the Steam Input API (Steam Deck ready), default controller bindings that ship with the game, ten more upgrade cards and new desert pickups (Tide Bell, brazier embers, offering plates, lamp echoes), and full localization in 31 languages. All content currently in the game is complete - nothing is stubbed or placeholder. If any placeholder content is ever used during Early Access, it will be clearly marked as such.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“We plan to keep the same price at full release.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Through the Steam Community discussions and regular update posts. We'll share patch notes for every update, run balance surveys after major changes, and prioritize the roadmap based on what players ask for.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Q4 2026

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About This Game

Face the desert. Survive the swarm.

Desert Survival is an action roguelike survivor game set in a world of Arabian myth. Choose your hero, step into the sands, and hold out for 15 minutes against endless waves of creatures drawn from desert folklore. Jinn, ghouls, and worse. Your weapons fire on their own; where you stand, what you build, and what you sacrifice is up to you.

Every Run Is a New Build

Level up mid-run and choose from a deep pool of weapons, elemental powers, and upgrades. Fire, ice, lightning, and poison that combine into devastating synergies. Many of the strongest upgrades carry real drawbacks. Do you take the power and pay the price? The sands feed you too: enemies, bosses, and breakable props drop sand coins and region-themed food that pull toward you like experience.

Forge Weapon Evolutions

Max a weapon while carrying its matching relic and the board offers its EVOLUTION - twelve transformed weapons with signature behaviours: djinn-fire pillars that erupt from your kills, harpoons that hook and drag the swarm, a sandstorm ring with a deadly calm eye, and orbiting sickles that carve enemy shots out of the air. Rub a wandering wish lamp and a genie deals boards of up to six wishes.

Answer With Your Ultimate

Every hero commands three ultimates, one for each path of their skill tree: the signature power they start with, and two more forged as path capstones. At the five-minute mark an elite warband carries the Lamp of Ascension, and rubbing it lets you choose which unlocked ultimate answers your call for the rest of the run: a falcon storm that clears the screen, a blood pact, a wall of wind, a mirage that draws the swarm away.

Six Deserts, Each With Its Own Dangers

Fight across six distinct maps, each with its own roster of enemies, elites, and a boss waiting at the end. 63 unique enemies and 12 bosses in total. Learn their telegraphs, break their patterns, and claim each map's elemental orb to unlock new heroes.

Grow Stronger Between Runs

Death is not the end. Spend what you earned on a sprawling general skill tree and dedicated per-character trees. Permanent stats, starting weapons, and defensive powers like the Pearl Barrier that cheats death itself. Refund and re-spec freely to chase new strategies.

Bend the Rules

Stack up to 8 run modifiers before you set out, and pick one of three difficulty tiers that scales every one of them. Sandstorms that cut your vision, elite-infested wastes, cursed runs for the brave, or endless mode for those who never want to stop. Mid-run events keep you on your toes: ambushes, shrines, and a wandering merchant with prices worth killing for.

Answer the Daily Contract

Every day posts a contract on a month calendar - a hero, a region, and two amplified modifiers. Miss a day and it waits for you, harder and richer the longer you leave it. Open its posting, read the bounty, and EMBARK.

Features

  • Fast, replayable 15-minute runs. Easy to learn, brutal to master

  • Six handcrafted desert maps with 63 unique enemies, elites, and 12 bosses

  • Playable heroes with distinct weapons and playstyles, including a falconer whose bird hunts at your side

  • 13 base weapons, 19 relics, and 12 weapon evolutions with unique behaviours

  • Rarity-rolled upgrades: every level-up deals three cards and each card rolls Common to Legendary - a rarer deal means a stronger pick

  • Ground loot: coins, coin sacks, caravan treasure, and healing food dropped by enemies, bosses, and props

  • 18 hero ultimates, three per hero, unlocked as skill-path capstones and chosen mid-run at the Lamp of Ascension

  • Daily contracts on a month calendar - missed days return harder and richer

  • Deep meta-progression: general + per-character skill trees with full refund support, plus utility nodes such as the Wayfinder and the Sand Tide - and no stat caps, so builds scale as far as you push them

  • Elemental build-crafting: fire, ice, lightning, and poison synergies

  • 11 run modifiers, three difficulty tiers, and an Endless mode

  • 63 Steam Achievements and leaderboards

  • Full controller support through the Steam Input API: every prompt shows your own controller's glyphs (Steam Deck, Steam Controller, Xbox, PlayStation), the default configuration reaches all content with no settings to change, and keyboard controls stay fully rebindable

  • Accessibility options: reduced screen shake, flash, and motion effects

  • Fully localized in 31 languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified and Traditional Chinese

AI Generated Content Disclosure

The developers describe how their game uses AI Generated Content like this:

Art: AI image tools assisted with 2D assets/icons; all final art was will be replaced by our artists based on original designs and concept.

Localization: Core languages were translated by our team; additional languages use AI-assisted translation.

This currently includes some 2D art assets (character, enemy, maps, and environment artwork and a few remaining icons), achievement icons and store artwork, and AI-assisted translation of the game's text into languages beyond the original Arabic & English, with human review. The in-game credits include an AI usage disclosure.

The game does not generate any content at runtime (no live AI-generated content)

Note: We are deliberately moving away from AI-generated assets. The AI-generated UI art set (themed frames, buttons and panel artwork) has already been removed from the build because it did not fit the game's art direction, and the interface now uses normal unity built elements; we will share that set only as a design concept while we look for an artist to rebuild the interface art from scratch. Our intent is to replace the remaining AI-generated images with original, non-AI artwork. We currently rely on AI only as a temporary baseline until we can work with experienced artists in Middle Eastern art to create the final assets.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i3-4130 / AMD FX-4300 (dual-core 2.5 GHz)
    • Memory: 4096 MB RAM
    • Graphics: DirectX 11 compatible, 1 GB VRAM (Intel HD 4600 / GeForce GT 730 or equivalent)
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: Windows 11 64-bit
    • Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (quad-core)
    • Memory: 8192 MB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 / Radeon RX 560 (2 GB VRAM)
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 1000 MB available space
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