Image: Amurdat Phantasmagoria

I do not know if Ablahshikar is a good game or not. I do not think I will know until I have sunk several more hours (and many more ships) into this demo. But what I can tell you is that it is one of the most fascinating artifacts I have found on Steam in a while. It's a primarily ASCII, very prose-heavy poetic game about salvaging shipwrecks in a deadly sci-fi world. The developer describes the primary audience for the game as themselves, and the secondary audience as "whoever wandered into the blast radius". This is a singular work.

As an aside, the demo is accessible through a small 'download demo' button on the right-hand side of the store page.

The demo opens with several minutes of introduction. Poetic prose in shaky font, delivered one line of dialogue at a time, prompting you for the occasional piece of information. Your gender (which you can fiercely refuse to divulge), your name, and how you feel about morally twisted alchemical experiments. This is your introduction to an arabesque sci-fi setting that immediately reminded me of Caves of Qud. The narrator tells you the story of the Ablahshikar, a ship that has lived many lives and seen many crews. In this story, you play as the latest captain to sail a vast, dark, monster-infested sea, your crew hoping to eke out a living salvaging wrecks from the depths and patching up the ship as you go.

It then plunges you into ASCII roguelike hell. Via a smash-cut, even, plunging you immediately into a complex interface and little chance of survival. There is so much text on screen. Much of it seems useful. Even more of it seems to be beautifully written prose. The music drags me deeper. The developer has kindly posted a whole beginner's guide to Steam, because there is little in the way of an in-game introduction. This is thematically appropriate, because your character appears to have zero experience at sea either. Death is inevitable until you become someone who DOES know how to sail a ship and lead a crew.

This is a strange, fascinating mixture of arthouse game design and ultra-simulationist RPG mechanics. The development blog posts on Steam are detailed, whimsical, and funny in equal measure. I will be digging deeper into those when I can find the time. Also, as the demo launch post declares, it is technically possible to reach the end of the game in the demo alone. Technically. Much as it is technically possible to–and I quote–"assemble an IKEA wardrobe from flat-pack parts without starting an argument". So, you probably shouldn't go in expecting to accomplish much of anything.

The full version of Ablahshikar is due out by the end of the year, although I'd not be surprised if launch plans end up stretching into 2027. But for now, I need to return to take another bite out of this demo and find out how it sits with me, once I've had a chance to digest it.