Denshattack! is easily one of the most bizarre and delightful indie games of 2026, following in the footsteps of other quirky and unexpected indies like Promise Mascot Agency. The game fuses the high-octane arcade-sports gameplay of Tony Hawk with the playful locomotive-oriented tone of Unrailed, with a dash of Jet Set Radio’s swagger for good measure, and the results speak for themselves.
In Denshattack!, you play as Emi, a young and rambunctious train conductor in a near-future cyberpunk dystopia. After working in the world of ramen delivery for an unspecified amount of time, Emi decides to join Denshattack, a countrywide event wherein train conductors compete in X-Games-style score attack challenges. It’s a completely ridiculous premise, which facilitates equally ridiculous gameplay: players have to control Emi’s train as it bounces, careens, grinds, and flips through all manner of gorgeous cartoon environments, racking up as many points as possible through stylish precision. It’s a game that needs to be played to be believed, and I’m saddened by the realization that you just can’t say that about most AAA titles.
Denshattack! Is Genuinely, Meaningfully Bizarre
Denshattack! has some charming characters and decently intriguing lore, but the real star is its overwhelming sense of style. You probably won’t be able to pen a dissertation about Denshattack!‘s social commentary, nor is there likely to be a great deal of discussion about the psyche of its protagonist, but most players will never forget its impeccable vibes, for lack of a better term.
The way the game blends its rock-jazz-funk soundtrack with cel-shaded graphics makes it a constant treat for the senses, but its power doesn’t just stem from aesthetic sources. The same maximalist approach Denshattack takes with its characters, world, and audiovisual suite, it also takes with its gameplay, which is consistently exuberant and surprising. Not only is the balance of drifting, air-tricking, and track-switching perfectly tuned for this sort of score-based arcade experience, the structure and presentation of gameplay are also brimming with personality and verve.
For instance, one of the game’s early levels sees you moving from a basic train track to a Ferris wheel that can be driven around like a unicycle; the game is full of these sorts of surprises, going above and beyond what’s expected from its already-unpredictable premise. It’s funny, for a game about machines that are literally on rails, Denshattack! is surprisingly flexible, pulling you in one direction only to yank you in another, and it’s lovely.
Denshattack!‘s creativity and wild energy have earned it a sterling 98% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam, and it hasn’t done too poorly with critics either. Here are the Denshattack! review scores from some top outlets:
- Eurogamer Germany: 10/10
- IGN: 9/10
- DualShockers: 9/10
- Shacknews: 9/10
- Noisy Pixel: 9/10
As a PC-focused gamer, I see ambitious indie darlings on Steam all the time—sometimes they live up to the hype, other times, not so much. Denshattack! most certainly falls into the former camp. Kick-flipping trains in a hyperpop-influenced far-future Japan doesn’t sound like an idea that should work, but once you see it in action, you can’t help but wonder why it hasn’t been done before. This sort of risky, confident creativity is what makes the world of indie gaming so special, and the AAA space ought to learn from that.
For a game about machines that are literally on rails, Denshattack! is surprisingly flexible, pulling you in one direction only to yank you in another, and it’s lovely.
Even looking at some of my favorite AAA games of the year so far, I can’t say that any of them have been that inventive. Resident Evil Requiem is incredible and an absolute blast to play, but it feels like a victory lap for Capcom, a compilation of Resident Evil‘s best hits from the past decade or so. Similarly, Pragmata and 007 First Light, while compelling, can also feel a bit designed-by-committee. This isn’t to say that these games aren’t creative, but they are relatively workmanlike and safe when compared to an indie experiment like Denshattack!.
Denshattack! Further Proves Something the Indie Scene Has Known for Years
It’s clear that Denshattack! is more risky and experimental than the average AAA game, but there’s something else I’d like to hone in on: its budget. Now, developer Undercoders has not officially released any information about how much the game cost to make, and I don’t wish to speculate about specific numbers either. However, it’s safe to say that Denshattack! Was probably far cheaper to produce than the average AAA game. Evidence in favor of this notion includes the game’s art style, its limited voice acting, and the fact that it is only $20 (sold at a $2 launch window discount on Steam).
Denshattack! has captured the hearts and minds of gamers better than something like Concord or Highguard ever did, despite being made for a fraction of the price. Rather than always trying to make “the next big thing,” with the best graphics or the most robust live-service features, maybe leading publishers should strive for smaller, riskier projects like Denshattack!, projects that are designed with a central vision in mind rather than as a response to market conditions, focus group testing, industry trends, and so on. For a large platform-holder or AAA developer, a game with Denshattack‘s scale would actually be far less risky than the next blockbuster extravaganza.
This isn’t a revelatory concept for anyone familiar with mainstream indie gaming. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least ten commercially successful indies that succeeded despite having unusual premises and lower budgets:
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Hollow Knight
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- Her Story
- The Alters
- The Binding of Isaac
- Balatro
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
- Palworld
When I compare these kinds of games, ones where I play as a drug-addled, incompetent detective, a poor young boy being chased by his murderous mother, or a 19th-century insurance investigator with a magical pocket watch, to the likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man, there’s simply no contest. It’s great to be a superhero or god in a cinematic, Hollywood-like story, but there haven’t been many Hollywood movies that have changed my life. That’s an effect more likely to be evoked in me by independent films. The same sort of dynamic applies in the world of gaming, I’ve often found.
- Released
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July 15, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Undercoders
- Publisher(s)
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Fireshine Games
- Number of Players
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Single-player
