Women-Led Games 2025 SGF Showcase

I think I said this last year, but I have an issue with the “Women-Led Games” showcase, and it isn’t the typical White guy on the internet problem. I assume the latter is the same reason the VOD version of the showcase won’t allow comments. My “issue” rather is defining what exactly is a game that’s led by women in the development space, which itself is a tricky thing to define. Nonetheless, returning for a second year of a summer showcase, let’s dive into the trailers, announcements, and reveals of the 2025 Women-Led Games showcase.

First up we got a look at WILL: Follow The Light from Tomorrrowhead Studio, and is a walking sim with a little bit of a difference. Or at least that’s the idea. Set in the “Northern Latitudes,” which seems to be a roundabout way of saying just outside of the Arctic Circle, it will be very story-focused and feature a few puzzles. With the studio based in Spokane, Washington, there is a lot of moody, weird vibes about WILL: Follow the Light. That said, I’m really interested to see more and get hands-on at some point, particularly for the navigation. No release date, but WILL: Follow The Light is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.

Up next was Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker, a sort of fantasy/D&D-inspired version of Coffee Talk. That’s not just me saying that because of the Shadowheart-like-looking character featured, but the trailer itself notes the D&D inspiration. Alexx reviewed the previous version of Gentle Troll Entertainment’s Tavern Talk when it was released last June, and this new release is set 36 years after the original. If the D&D feeling wasn’t enough for you, the announcement trailer released last month was voiced by Baldur’s Gate 3’s narrator, Amelia Tyler. No release date just yet for this fantasy drinks maker/conversation game, but we do know that Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker is set to release sometime in 2025.

Another sequel up next, but we do have a release date for Three Bees’ next game. Perfect Tides: Station to Station is the next point-and-click adventure about teenager Mara as she navigates her growth into being a young woman. I know I comment on the art direction a lot with these things, but Perfect Tides: Station to Station has a sort of more pixel-y 2000s Cartoon Network hand-drawn style that I like to look at, but I’m not a massive fan of playing.

With Perfect Tides: Station to Station, you’ll experience life through Mara as she comes to terms with being 18 in the big city. Coming to Steam on January 22nd, 2026, there is a demo. There was also a Switch logo at the end of the trailer, but no release date for that just yet.

This next one is where I started questioning the “Women-led” section, not because there isn’t a woman involved with the higher-up portion of the game or the developer, but because VoltekPlay is a husband-and-wife studio. We got the press release about Ministry of Order, a Papers, Please style of game set in a maternity ward in a 1920s authoritarian state. Studio co-founders Ivan Antsiferov and Polina Antsiferova made the game originally as a game jam, then it blew up on TikTok in the only way things do… by it reportedly being stolen.

Now those two are looking to release Ministry of Order at some point, but there is no release date for Steam. There is a playtest you can request access to, however. Again, I don’t have an issue with it in idea, in fact, I’ve wishlisted it already, but Polina is noted for “Visual style/Character design/Illustration” alongside co-founding the studio. While Ivan is noted for “Game design/Programming/Marketing,” which is fine. For me, I think this is more about what games are and aren’t “Women-led,” because someone will bemoan where the line is more aggressively. Ministry of Order is an interesting game though.

I’ll say it, this next one got the simple note of “High School sim.” Bloom Digital Media’s LongStory 2 is a sequel to the studio’s previous title released back in 2017. An LGBTQ+IA dating sim, this is one I’m really not qualified to talk too much about. However, you don’t need me to sell LongStory 2 to you, as it will be released on the 26th of June, according to the trailer, but Steam for me notes a June 25th release. If you’re still unsure, though, there is also a demo available on Steam.

Released onto Steam back in April, KreatureKind was shown off next, and I was a bit confused to start with. Beautiful art style, by the way. You play as Riley, a young woman in a world of magic that is running out of mana. Ok, not my thing in terms of story, but what’s the gameplay like then? A turn-based deck-building card battler where you don’t actually fight but rather “debate monsters, recruit friends, and start a world-changing movement.”

It is really not my thing, but I think that it has just excited enough people to go wishlist and get eager about its release onto PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The console release of KreatureKind is June 27th, so you don’t have long to wait.

If you know dark, horrible history, the name of the next one doesn’t have the light BookTok sort of pun that I think is aimed for. Alexx (I assume) and I have wishlisted Mushroomallow’s Death & Faeology already, a sort of 1920s-themed visual novel about fae in this “dark academia murder mystery […] with supernatural cases.” Before you ask, yes, there are romanceable characters. No release date for Death & Faeology just yet on Steam, but you can play the demo out now.

The next one was really interesting as it wants to be a VR game that is “accessible,” yes, my ears pricked up then too. Developed by Triangular Pixels and shown off by Creative Director, Katie Good, the team is making a sequel to its previous game, Unseen Diplomacy, from 2016. Good notes that during the development of Unseen Diplomacy 2, however, some challenges arose with a VR game when you are pregnant, so accessibility adaptations have been a focus. Much like the previous game, Unseen Diplomacy 2 is a spy sim that has you rolling around, twisting, turning, and generally being something only possible in VR.

How the team manages to achieve this accessibility will be interesting, but we don’t have a release date just yet for Unseen Diplomacy 2. We do know that Unseen Diplomacy 2 will be releasing on Steam with Steam VR and will be available on Meta Quest 3/3S, with the latter platforms having mixed reality capabilities.

Telescope Games Studios, developer of Lani’s Call: A Tiny Whale Singer Story, was up next with its next game, Summer Camp. Basically, what if someone made a Playmobil version of Mario Party, but also attached a narrative to it? Sure, do your thing, love, but I’m really not that excited by the concept. There is no release date for Summer Camp just yet, but you can check out the demo on Steam right now.

After saying what I said at the end of the Wholesome Direct for this year, I think covering this one is going to be quite interesting. Nano Neighbors is one of those idle games that sits at the bottom of your screen, being a bit distracting, but with an extra twist. Described as an “MMO-world,” you can decorate and build your own little world of NANOs (androids in this world) and hang out with people while you… ignore work?

As I said the other day, I’m older than the hills themselves, so I don’t understand these newfangled things. If Nano Neighbors is your type of thing, power to you, but Studio BitDot’s little idle game is set to release on Steam sometime this year.

Probably one of the more colorful and visually interesting Metroidvanias in a long time, Fallen Tear: The Ascension is a “ combat and exploration-driven 2D animated Metroidvania.” So, a Metroidvania then? I don’t want to belittle Winter Crew Studios’ upcoming title, especially since I’ve just wishlisted it, but it is another one in a genre that is heavily saturated. The trailer said something about a demo, but I can’t find it. However, I do know that Fallen Tear: The Ascension is set to release sometime in Q1 of 2026.

I’m still “angry” about this one, mostly because the only thing being announced now is a Kickstarter for a game we saw a while back. Electric Saint’s queer witchy broom-riding game Crescent County still has no release date, but you can now back it on Kickstarter ahead of its eventual release on Steam and Xbox.

One of the few Rogue-likes I’ve wishlisted this year, Ascend to ZERO is a play on the idea of the isometric action Rogue-like with a sci-fi voxel-world sort of thing going on. Oh, and it has a bit of time control too, if that wasn’t enough for you. The trailer notes a 2025 release date for Steam, but if you can’t wait for that, there is a demo available now.

My nightmare is working in an actual office with people, so I think Drywall Eating Simulator is basically what I’d do before I go on the murder spree. A really simple trailer that lets the game’s comedy speak for itself without a developer who has no on-screen presence being the focus, I’m looking at you, Omelet you Cook from Wholesome. Drywall Eating Simulator is a simple, short, comedic adventure about hating people and working in an office. No release date just yet, but it will be coming to Steam sometime this year.

Speaking of Wholesome, we got another look at Yaldi Games’ Out and About; the cozy foraging game where you pick and forage ingredients before going on to make drinks and such with your finds. What I didn’t know from the trailer the other day was that Yaldi Games went to the painstaking effort to make sure every recipe is something you can repeat in real life. I’m not endorsing doing that, as you might poison yourself, but here’s hoping you don’t. No release date yet for Steam, but there is a demo and a playtest on Steam right now, and the trailer notes “coming to Switch and consoles in 2026.”

Taking a bit of Parisian liberty with the whole outdoor dining in a Japanese-inspired market (not saying it doesn’t happen, just how big), the next game was Kokoro Kitchen. A wholesome farm-to-table sort of restaurant management game that has enough muted colors to be interesting and sweet. No release date just yet, but there is a demo out now on Steam, and of course, you can always wishlist.

Ok, this is where I expected something like On-Together to appear in a games showcase like this, take notes, Wholesome Direct. Much like my “rant” during the Wholesome coverage and here with Nano Neighbors, I’ve said my piece on On-Together: Granddad here needs one of you to come and explain it to him calmly. Still no release date, still being developed by GigaPufl, and something I didn’t know before, there is also a demo available right now.

An update to Cozy Room Decorator was announced next. Released last year, the simple, cozy room diorama designer has seen lots of designs from people. Now, with the latest update, you can add a few Women-Led Games-themed items to your cozy little rooms. Of course, Cozy Room Decorator is out now and there is a demo available now.

See, this was a better look at Grave Seasons, which was shown off a little during the PC Gaming Show a day later, and I still have my gripes, but I understand it a little. Grave Seasons is a horror farming/life sim where there is a supernatural serial killer in town. Part of me is put off by the idea of making this type of genre horror-infused, but what really “annoyed” me was the Steam description outright saying, “a narrative farming sim with a terrifying twist – someone in the town is a supernatural serial killer.” Great, but it is no longer a twist, is it?

Developed by Perfect Garbage, the women-led team showcasing Grave Seasons did better at selling the unsettling nature of the studio’s next game. Though we don’t have a release date just yet, social media and otherwise note a 2026 window with releases on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. No demo though.

Skipping the sponsors, we’ll jump straight to talking about Miriam-Teak Lee and the fact that she’s in Woodo. We first saw Woodo a couple of years ago, back during a Wholesome Direct, but haven’t really seen much about it since, aside from occasionally popping up here during showcases. This year, Woodo showed up to highlight that it is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam at some point, but we don’t have a release date or demo to enjoy just yet. The trailer focused on the character played by Doctor Who alum Miriam as she will play Foxy, a cute little wooden fox friend.

Wholesome’s previous offerings are really all over this showcase, as we got another look at ILA: A Frosty Glide, a muted-color adventure game about a lovely little witch exploring a magical island. I won’t say that Magic Rain Studios’ game isn’t interesting, especially as I love a traversal exploration-style game, but I’ve yet to be sold on wishlisting ILA: A Frosty Glide. Still no release date, but we did get a “coming soon to Steam and consoles.” No word on which consoles either, but there is a demo available right now on Steam.

One that David covered during the Future Games Show earlier in the week, we finally got a release date for Cairn. That’s the weird, French game from the devs of Furi and Haven that is sort of a survival climbing sim about climbing Mount Kami. There is a demo out now on Steam, but you don’t have to wait too long for the release of Cairn as it will be coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and, of course, Steam on November 5th.

I fell in love with this next one as it does something only video games can really do, though films can certainly do the visual bit. A Heavy Morning is about having depression and the struggle of literally pulling yourself out of bed in the morning. In a paragraph, I cannot express how good the visual representation of that feeling is done in this trailer and generally from Saf Interactive’s A Heavy Morning. A beautiful art style and a great psychological visual novel idea, you can wishlist A Heavy Morning right now on Steam, and it will be coming to Xbox too. No release date yet, and there is no demo.

Speaking of consoles, we got an announcement that the simple, oil spillage cleaner Spilled will be coming to Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch soon. Spilled of course released earlier this year and Alexx quite enjoyed it on PC via Steam.

There was just a series of great games here, as Prison of Husks came along to show off its Dark Souls-inspired gameplay. However, something else I noticed was Glass Head Dolls’ very PS2-era art, I’m particularly thinking Ico and Shadow of the Colossus for the visual style. I might as well be shouting into the void, “Give it to me now!” as I love all of those comparisons. No release date just yet for Steam, but there is a demo out now.

Ok, the tempo slowed a little here with another showcase of Capy Castaway, but unlike the other two showcases we’ve seen this one in, I think we finally-actually got to see interesting gameplay. Very collectathon-style gameplay, you’ll play as a lovely little Capybara as they run around a colorful and bright world doing typical action-adventure gameplay in that vein. Still no release date or demo, I did previously mention that there is a note of further announcements yet to come. I’ve no idea where they are, but sure.

From something that finally sold me (sort of) to something that I don’t think ever will, and that’s ok. Rewinding Games’ Roots Devour is a Lovecraftian horror (see the tentacles) thing, the gameplay looks quite difficult to really explain as it is a card-based “management strategy game” where you have to consume blood to survive as new gods try to take over a forest. Again, not my thing, but for fans of horror, this one is going to scratch right behind the ear. No release date exactly, but we do know Roots Devour will be released in 2025 on Steam. There is also a demo available right now.

Now for something a little bit different. I wishlisted SonderingEmily’s Lily’s world XD so long ago when it was announced, and I am so excited about it. Lily’s world XD has you playing as someone who opens up the laptop of a young woman and basically looks at her entire life from the 2000s, with UI and such inspired by those MSN chatrooms that some of us are old enough to remember. Using her actual “cringe” photos from that time, Lily’s world XD’s developer Emily Pitcher tries to make it as authentic as possible.

Oh, by the way, Lily’s world XD is also a bit of a psychological horror despite all the glitter, sparkles, and pink shown throughout. I am so excited about this one and I can’t wait, but that’s exactly what I’ll have to do as Lily’s world XD doesn’t have a release date just yet. There is also no demo on Steam.

A bit of a longer view now at Mac n Cheese Games’ top-down nun space horror, but I’m still not really sold on Void Martyrs. Dark, twisted, and a little bit of action, I think I’d need to know a bit more about the story rather than the action to get too excited here. Still no release date and no demo, but you can wishlist Void Martyrs on Steam right now.

From something that I did wishlist and something I am in two minds over wishlisting, to something I’ve told Steam to ignore. Dark Hours is a “co-op survival horror game for up to 4 players,” which should say all that it needs to validate me. For me, having other people around pulls me out of the horror experience and makes me want to “perform” for them by overreacting, which makes Dark Hours far less of a horror game and more of something else completely.

Nonetheless, Piece of Cake Studios’ Dark Hours released into early access last year and has seen some success, but the “Cruise Into Madness” update is set for later this summer, which will seemingly add a new difficulty and a new monster. Oh, how totally (this is sarcasm…) exciting! Available now on Steam, and if you’re still unsure, you can check out the demo on Steam right now.

I don’t want to say that I hate it, but I don’t love Tara Kan’s art style for their upcoming game Provoron. A surreal psychological 2.5D adventure thing about our demons and such, I don’t want to say that I hate it because I don’t. The art style just isn’t appealing to me and Provoron is inspired by the developer’s own childhood, so it would be wrong for me to hate it. No release date or demo just yet, but you can request access to the playtest of Provoron on Steam right now.

Sticking with the horror and me not loving the art style theme we’ve got going on, Sisterhood Games’ DOWNHILL is an action RPG about someone called Fade, “who is painfully aware that you are controlling her.” DOWNHILL is trying to play with the idea of how you react when the character knows and reacts to your actions, but something about it just doesn’t gel with me. That’s totally a me thing, so don’t take that as gospel. No release date on Steam, but there is a demo out now, and if you enjoy what you see about DOWNHILL from there, you can back in on Kickstarter now.

I’ve been staring at the blinking cursor in my word processor for as long as I can remember, trying to find something else to say about Voyagers of Nera. Featured in the PC Gaming Show, Treehouse Games’ upcoming “cooperative survival-crafting game” looks nice, but I can’t get interested for love nor money. Colorful and bright, there is a chance the survival-crafting open-world thing for you and 9 other people will be interesting, but I’ve had my fill of those, and I’m not a fan of the character designs.

Voyagers of Nera does get a short overview of gameplay that might sell it to some, but I’m still looking for that spark to hit. Voyagers of Nera will be heading to Steam early access on August 5th, but if you want to have a quick look, then you might want to check out the demo available now.

Released back in April of 2023, we got a look at a content update to Re:Fresh from Merge Conflict Studio. Odd that we’re getting a look at this one when this is the same team that is working on Gemporium, which was featured in Wholesome. Nonetheless, this will be the last major update for Re:Fresh for PC, but that wasn’t all. Re:Fresh is now (as of yesterday) on Nintendo Switch.

Ponies!!! I love a good horse game, and I didn’t know this had already been released into early access back in May, but Equinox: Homecoming showed up next. Developed by Blue Scarab Entertainment, the studio’s first game is part horse management MMO and part mystery game about a missing parent. This is going to be the queerest thing I’ll ever write: Equinox: Homecoming is World of Warcraft for the horse girlies. Well, there is a new update coming soon, as detailed on Steam. Equinox: Homecoming is currently available on Steam in early access.

So, from one horribly offensive but accurate statement to another, as I try to describe Angeline Era. An RPG aimed directly at those who really enjoyed the late PS1 JRPGs and later found out they are at least a little bisexual, if not gay or non-binary. Try and tell me otherwise hun, I dare you. Developed by Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittaka’s, otherwise known as Analgesic Productions (developers of Anodyne 2: Return to Dust), Angeline Era doesn’t have a release date for the fans of Final Fantasy VII, but there is a demo available right now and a 2025 window for the release.

I think I said my peace on Danchi Days the other day, but during the Women-Led Games showcase, we got a little more than we did during Wholesome. A bit of a solo project for Melos Han-Tani, Danchi Days is a story-focused adventure game with several mini-games about helping a young woman named Hoshino make her gran smile. No specific release date just yet, but as we covered the other day (I hope), Danchi Days will be coming to Steam sometime in 2026. There is also a demo available now, and over 20,000 people have already wishlisted the game.

Well, I was about to be nice and pretend to be excited about something with a very PS3-4 bargain bin action-adventure art style, but then I did the research some seemingly haven’t bothered to do. Ascend is a “zodiac puzzle adventure” from Miami Avalon, a studio that renamed itself after the last game, Pandora: Chains of Chaos, released into early access in October 2020 and hasn’t left since. The last known update “V1.4” was released in October of 2024, with the patch before that being for “0.3” back in February of 2021.

“But surely that game is reasonably stable?” According to several Steam reviews (“Mostly Negative”) on Party Llama Games’ Pandora: Chains of Chaos, including one recently, it is quite buggy/unplayable. So, without the previous game being in a stable, playable state, Miami Avalon is set to release Ascend on August 28th, 2025, and there is a demo out now. The thing is, Ascend doesn’t look bad, but I can’t say I’m terribly excited when the studio seems to have abandoned its previous title, renamed itself, and started working on another project.

Now, that would have been a dour ending to have, but thankfully, there was one more thing, and it’s one more thing I’m actually excited about. We saw Paper Castle Games’ turn-based RPG about collecting words before, and I must say the art style is probably what is selling it to me the most. So much so that in my notes, I called it Wander Stars: Z. No, simply called Wander Stars, you can tell the Venezuelan studio watched a lot of Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, One Piece, and so on.

In Wander Stars, you’ll use the words you collect throughout your playthrough to create attacks, such as what you see in the Steam description, “Super Special Fire Kick!” A very interesting take on the idea of turn-based and typical JRPG-style combat. However, that’s not all we saw. Wander Stars will be releasing on Steam and for Nintendo Switch this August, August 1st to be exact. If you can’t wait that long though, there is a demo available right now.

That was it, a lovely, quick showcase of a vast array of games from studios that are supposedly Women-led. Part of me wonders where the line is for games and studios that are Women-led, but that’s a discussion for another time. As always, you can check out the full showcase down below from the very beginning.