Drunken Goddess Reflux, a roguelike survival game built around a drinking contest with a demon, will launch on PC via Steam on December 8th.
Publisher Alliance Arts and developer WHO YOU revealed the release date during the Triple-i Showcase, a presentation of upcoming independent games. Players can try the game before launch, as its first demo goes live during Steam Next Fest on October 19th. Steam Next Fest is a recurring Valve event where developers release free demos of games that haven’t come out yet.
According to a release, Drunken Goddess Reflux has passed 500,000 wishlists on Steam, which places it among the platform’s top 100 most wishlisted unreleased games. Steam users wishlist a game to save it to a personal list and get notified when it launches or goes on sale.
How Drunken Goddess Reflux plays
The game is set in Pandemonium, a bar in Hell run by Femme Soule, the demon of alcohol. Players take part in a drinking version of Russian roulette fuelled by infernal liquor, and every drink brings both sides closer to vomiting out their souls. Like other roguelikes, the game is built around repeated attempts, with a loss ending the current run.
In the story, Femme Soule is looking for a soulmate with a supernaturally high alcohol tolerance. The release says she has fallen for the player character and believes they would be happier living with her in Hell. The player character disagrees and must stay conscious for as long as possible to escape.
To help with this, players can use what the release calls ‘devious drunken tricks’ to bend the rules. One example involves driving an ice pick into the player’s own hand, using the pain to shake off a drunken stupor. If Femme Soule throws up first, the player returns to reality. If the player goes first, they spend the afterlife in Hell with her.
Demo and launch details
“The overwhelming community response to everything we have shown for Drunken Goddess Reflux has been nothing short of amazing,” said Fuyuki Hayashi, Head Developer at Alliance Arts. “With Steam Next Fest around the corner, everyone can finally get a taste with the debut demo, and to lend their voice to development as we approach launch in December.”
Drunken Goddess Reflux will launch with English, Japanese and Simplified Chinese language options. Alliance Arts posts updates on the game through its official website and on X (formerly Twitter).
