If you’ve been waiting for the perfect blend of post-apocalyptic chaos, survival, and exploration… this one’s for you.
Imagine a world where the remnants of a broken society clash with the untamed wild. A place where your survival instincts are tested, and every step could lead you to an enemy or an ally.

This open-world RPG draws from the best elements of your favorite games: the gritty, desolate wastelands of Fallout, the survival and crafting mechanics of Valheim, and the high-octane thrills of Mad Max. It’s a world where you’re in control, whether you’re scavenging, building, or engaging in intense combat with ruthless foes.

This upcoming Steam game looks like Fallout 4 meets Valheim, wrapped up in a very Mad Max-esque package… and you can play it well ahead of its 2025 release date (if you’re lucky).

Sand is an upcoming PvPvE, post-apocalyptic shooter from developers Hologryph and TowerHaus, and publishers TinyBuild on Steam, and you can apply to be a part of its next playtest right now.

Described by the devs as an “extraction shooter where players operate giant walkers across the post-apocalyptic dunes of a fallen planet”, Sand’s main gameplay loop encourages players to “battle rival players, explore, loot and extract valuable resources in a hostile, ever-changing world”.

Sorry, I guess I should update the first paragraph to include a reference to Dune now that I think about it.

The devs plan to launch Sand into early access at some point in 2025, but they’re planning to hold another playtest for the game well before then (at some point in “summer”, to be exact).

You can sign up for the next playtest right now by heading to the Steam page for the game, but don’t worry if you’re only only console.

As revealed back in the end of May, Sand will also be landing on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X at some point in the future, although it sounds like the console port of the game will be coming some time after the PC release.

I guess that means the playtest will be your earliest opportunity to play this one by quite a large margin, so make sure you head over to the Steam page and apply ASAP before all of the spots fill up.

Also, keep an eye on the Steam page leading up and following the playtest if you’re keen to grab this one at launch, because I wouldn’t be surprised if an exact release date follows it.