Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. Here, I bring you the best news you may have missed from last week. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Dust till Dawn announced for PC
During today’s PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2026, Mac n Cheese Games announced its cozy paranormal cleaning game, Dust till Dawn, for PC. The game is set in a fictional Japanese village where a mysterious dust is appearing across the rural community. As a maid completing cleaning jobs in the village, you sweep, wipe, wash, and restore each location to bring back calm and order. The developer says Dust till Dawn “combines the meditative satisfaction of cleaning games with the creeping unease and surreal imagery of Japanese horror manga.”
Here are the game’s key features, via Mac n Cheese Games:
- Cozy, Satisfying Cleaning – Sweep, wipe, wash, and restore locations at your own pace.
- Explore an Entire Village – Clean homes, businesses, public spaces, and other distinctive locations.
- Earn Yen and Upgrade Your Tools – Improve your cleaning kit and unlock new jobs and areas.
- Stay Later for Greater Rewards – Work into the evening to earn more Yen and uncover things you might never see during the day.
- Watch the Mess Return – Revisit locations and discover how the dust and disorder are changing them.
- Uncover a Supernatural Mystery – Piece together clues to discover what is happening to the village after dark.
- Junji Ito-Inspired Atmosphere – Surreal manga-influenced imagery gradually intrudes upon the peaceful rhythm of everyday work.
Developed and published by Mac n Cheese Games, Dust till Dawn is in development for PC via Steam.
Turn-based RPG WANE announced for PC
Metis Creative has announced its second game: the industrial noir occult RPG WANE. You take on the role of Declan Wayne, a fading archaeologist whose fractured memories have transformed his cerebral realm into a shifting labyrinth of trauma, obsession, and regret. Recruit adventurers to form a three-person party and descend through three biomes in grid-based tactical combat. Between expeditions, you can return to an antiques shop to appraise and sell relics, upgrade facilities, and fund the next run.
Here are the game’s key features, via Metis Creative:
- Memory is the Map – Ravelle is a labyrinth built from Declan’s deteriorating memories, with his defining moments, traumas, obsessions, and regrets shaping the path forward… and reshaping it entirely.
- Tactical Turn-Based Combat – Fight through grid-based tactical encounters built around positioning, cover and line of sight, with the uncertainty of percentage-based attacks.
- Rule of Three – Descend through the Ravellian Sanatorium, the Palace of Arvanshah, and the Death Pilgrimage to Erabel, each of the three biomes connected to Ravelle’s history and Declan’s fractured memories.
- Run the Shop – Bring relics back from expeditions to appraise and auction in Declan’s antiquarian shop, using the proceeds to upgrade facilities and fund future runs.
- A Story Told Through Repetition – WANE’s narrative unfolds across repeated expeditions, revealing more of its characters and Declan’s story with each run.
Developed by Metis Creative and published by Shoreline Games, WANE is in development for PC via Steam.
A trailer for Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories introduces two characters
Koei Tecmo and Gust have revealed a new trailer for Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories, which launches in February. This new trailer introduces two characters, Rutger and Lenja.
Here is more information on each character, via Koei Tecmo:
- Rutger Arendt – A veteran adventurer who lives without constraints and has his own unique sense of aesthetics. He helped Yumia uncover the mysteries of Aladiss during the investigation two years ago. Though he has a foul mouth, his skill is undeniable, and Chief Viktor trusts him deeply. He grew up in the slums and sold his memories on the black market as a child. He got the doll he wears on his waist from [redacted] at [redacted].
- Lenja – A female Welleks who is a member of the Pioneering Team. She participated in the investigation of Aladiss two years ago, and although she was timid and insecure at the time, she grew and matured over the course of her journey with Yumia and the others. She is deeply troubled by the [redacted] occurring in the Welleks settlement in Sivash.
Developed by Gust and published by Koei Tecmo, Atelier Karia: The Night Kingdom & the Guide of Memories will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series on February 25, 2027.
Sugar Lies gets a release window
Publisher Kogado Studio has announced a release window for each version of the romance visual novel Sugar Lies currently in development. The PC version will launch in late 2026, and the Switch version will launch in 2027. For more information about the game, check out the catch-up from August 31.
Here is a description of the game’s story, via its Steam page:
“It makes me sick. This world is full of nothing but lies.”
Akito Nagatsuki is a young man who detests lies.
Whenever he sees someone lying or acting, he feels physically repulsed and nauseous.
But then, he meets Yui Sakuramiya, a girl more skilled than anyone at playing the role of her ideal self.
The moment their eyes met, Akito understood immediately:
This was the worst encounter imaginable.
Developed by Team S:OWLS and published by Kogado Studio, Sugar Lies will be released for PC via Steam in late 2026 and for Nintendo Switch in spring 2027.
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