A playable demo of Outbound , an open-world exploration game co-developed by Dutch indie studio Square Glade Games and publisher Silver Lining Interactive, has been released on Steam.
Outbound is a cozy survival game set in a utopian near future where players transform an empty campervan into their own mobile home. Play solo or with up to four players in co-op, exploring a vast open world, gathering resources, crafting items, and gradually expanding and customizing their campervan.
The game’s most distinctive feature is its clear “vehicle = home” concept. Both the interior and exterior of the camper van can be freely decorated using a modular building system. A key element is the system that operates the electric camper van using renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower. Adding to this content are the elements of growing plants and mushrooms and cooking to sustain survival, creating a game environment that prioritizes comfort and the joy of exploration over the typical tension of survival.
With the release of this demo, Outbound achieved remarkable success , surpassing 1 million Steam Wishlist entries . This figure currently ranks within the top 50 of the Steam Wishlist, a remarkable achievement for an indie game. An official gameplay video, released simultaneously with the demo’s release, also provides a preview of the game’s overall atmosphere and systems.
User feedback has also been positive. Those who experienced the demo praised the game’s identity, saying it felt like “a combination of a cooperative open-world survival game and an outdoor life simulation,” and that “the process of customizing the camper van itself is a form of healing content.” Many also found the cooperative play experience, where players take on different roles and expand their camper van, particularly impressive.
Developer Square Glade Games is a small indie studio comprised of just two people. Co-founder Tobi, who began his game development career as a teenager creating user mods for Warcraft III and Age of Empires, later majored in computer engineering and left a stable career to become a full-time indie developer. Co-founder Marc has an unusual background, having majored in AI and robotics and worked as an autonomous driving software engineer before joining the game development team.
The duo’s debut game, Above Snakes, sold over 60,000 copies within six months of its release, demonstrating a stable game design and high level of completion despite its small team size. This experience continues in Outbound, where the team has focused on minimizing system complexity while maximizing player freedom.
Outbound secured development funding after initially being announced in February 2024, raising over €250,000 through a Kickstarter campaign that same year. The full release is scheduled for Q2 2026, and a free-to-play demo is currently available on Steam.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2681030/Outbound/
