Global indie game publisher Devolver Digital has announced plans to release the narrative exploration game ‘Virtue and a Sledgehammer’, currently in development by Spanish indie developers Deconstructeam and Selkie Harbour, on the PC Steam platform in 2026.
A hometown haunted by digital ghosts
The game is set in an abandoned hometown. However, it’s not completely empty; the digitized android “ghosts” of its inhabitants still roam the area. Armed with a large sledgehammer, the player must destroy these mechanical figures and the buildings they inhabit, confronting the darkness deep within themselves.
The visuals, combining a low-poly art style with retro-futurism, evoke both nostalgia and alienation. This space, inhabited by mechanical human replicants, can be seen as a stage that reflects the protagonist’s inner self, a mixture of warm memories and trauma.
Gameplay and Features: Exploration through Destruction
The game’s core mechanic is exploration through destruction. Since paths aren’t always clear, players must forge their own path through the rubble, wielding a 20-pound sledgehammer to destroy mechanical human replicas and the buildings they inhabit.
The game presents the protagonist’s fears and desires through cinematic interactive fiction sequences, with each destroyed landmark revealing a chapter from his past. Through these cinematic interactive fiction sequences, the protagonist’s fears, desires, and the complex virtues and flaws of his family unfold. With each swing of the hammer, repressed emotions surface, gradually leading to a deeper understanding of why the protagonist decided to return here and destroy everything.
Development Team Deconstructeam’s lineage
Deconstructeam, a Spanish indie developer known for its compelling narrative and unique gameplay mechanics, has earned rave reviews on Metacritic and an 88% critics’ recommendation rating on OpenCritic. Like its predecessor, which explored destiny through the crafting of tarot cards, Virtue & Sledgehammer is expected to explore deep emotional themes through its unique mechanic of destruction.
Additionally, Selkie Harbour is the team that created ‘Many Nights a Whisper’, and this is not their first collaboration with Deconstruct Team, so many gamers are looking forward to seeing what kind of results the synergy between the two teams will produce.
The game’s themes and vision: family, tradition, and misfits.
The game explores family, tradition, and being a misfit. Featuring a low-poly art style and a retro-futuristic, nihilistic atmosphere, the game promises to tackle heavy, emotional themes.
While the title suggests a forefront of violence, the film’s core concerns family and identity, tradition and disconnection, and the emotions of living as a social outcast. Combining Deconstruct Team’s signature delicate narrative with Selkie Haber’s sensuous directing, the film promises to explore emotions and philosophy beyond mere destructive action.
This new work, which was revealed at ‘Day of the Devs’, the digital showcase of The Game Awards, can be found in more detail on the official website, Devolver Digital Korea Official X (Devolverkr).
‘Virtue and a Sledgehammer’ is scheduled for release on PC in 2026 and can be wishlisted on Steam.
Developer: Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform: PC (Steam)
Scheduled for release: 2026
Genre: Narrative Exploration, Adventure
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3743260/Virtue_and_a_Sle dgehammer/
