Gamescom Opening Night Live is always full of surprises, and this year, indie developer Octopus Panic made a splash with a first look at its new action-builder game Gravhounds. As seen in the reveal trailer below, Gravhounds takes place in a future where interstellar exploration and colonization have become the domain of man’s best friend.
Although the trailer states that the titular Gravhounds have been “bred” for this life, their humanoid appearance suggests more than a little genetic engineering was responsible for this turn of events. In fact, there’s no sign of human life at all on this hostile alien world, but the Gravhounds themselves seem human enough.
The gameplay supports 1-4 players as they attempt to build up resources for a new colony while holding on to the potential promise of coming home. Upgrades appear to play a major role in the main characters’ survival, especially when they get overwhelmed by alien forces that really don’t want them around at all.
According to Gravhounds’ Steam page, the game’s early-access period will last at least six months. It will “include the core Gravhound experience,” but we plan to expand its breadth, depth, and replayability on the road to 1.0,” reads the statement. Both solo and co-op campaigns will be playable during this initial release.
Gravhounds’ early-access release will hit Xbox Series X|S and PC on November 2. It will also be available on day one with Xbox Game Pass.