- The debut title of the Italian two-person indie studio Horien Studio after 4 years of development
- A hack-and-slash roguelike featuring 16 elemental reactions and over 200 pieces of equipment
Countless adventurers have challenged the Phantom Tower in pursuit of power and glory, yet no one has reached the summit. The Tower does not easily yield to a player’s strategy or build. To survive, one must constantly grow stronger. Otherwise, one will simply fall.
Phantom Tower, a hack-and-slash roguelike action RPG developed over four years by Horien Studio, a two-person indie studio based in Genoa, Italy, will be released on Steam Early Access on July 13. Currently, you can experience the game in advance through a free demo on Steam.
The game is an action RPG that combines fast-paced hack-and-slash action with the unique fun of roguelike progression and building. Players can create 16 elemental reactions by freely switching between four elements, and formulate new strategies every time by combining over 200 pieces of equipment with various Tower Blessings. The core fun of the game lies in builds that change with every tower climb, powerful synergies, and a growth structure that allows players to become stronger through repeated challenges.
A spectacular battle created by 4 elements and 16 reactions
The biggest feature of Phantom Tower is its real-time element-based combat. You can freely switch between four elements—Fire (IGNIS), Water (AQUA), Earth (TERRA), and Wind (VENTI)—during combat, and combine them to create a total of 16 elemental reactions.
Combat unfolds continuously in a spectacular and dynamic manner, featuring various reactions such as instantly freezing enemies to immobilize them, ‘Erode’ which spreads corrosion from fallen corpses to chain-attack surrounding enemies, and shockwaves that traverse the entire room.
As you climb the tower, the number of enemies and the threats grow larger. The main campaign’s Climb Mode maintains tension with progressively increasing difficulty, while Survival Mode offers the extreme challenge of surviving against endless waves of enemies. The game also faithfully implements the characteristic roguelike progression structure, where players learn new strategies and gradually become stronger through repeated challenges.
A build completed with over 200 pieces of equipment and 47 blessings
The core of combat lies in elemental combinations and build configurations. Players can freely switch elements even during combat to create various elemental reactions. This allows for situation-appropriate strategic gameplay, such as freezing enemies to eliminate them all at once with a shockwave or spreading corrosion in a chain reaction.
In the lobby, you can create your own loadout by combining over 200 pieces of equipment. The equipment consists of 128 types of weapons across 6 categories, complemented by the Soulbinder system. Notably, it supports a high degree of customization freedom, such as permanently locking desired stats onto equipment and focusing on leveling up specific stats to level 99.
The 47 types of Tower Blessings acquired as you climb the tower are also a key element of the build. Combining various blessings, such as ‘Artemis Descent,’ which summons a powerful tracking arrow upon dodging, and ‘Chain Quake,’ which causes shockwaves to spread sequentially among enemies, significantly changes the combat style and allows you to complete a powerful synergy build.
Developed by two people for 4 years… Horien Studio’s debut work
Phantom Tower is the debut work of Horien Studio, which consists of only two people. Development took four years.
It is noteworthy that a small team implemented a scale of content comparable to that of major developers, including 8 classes, over 200 pieces of equipment, over 60 types of enemies, and 47 Tower Blessings.
The development team plans to prepare for the official launch by actively incorporating user feedback through Early Access and continuously expanding content.
Immediate reaction from hack-and-slash fans… communities and media take notice
Since the release of the free demo, interest among fans of the hack-and-slash and roguelike genres has been rapidly increasing.
In the community, reviews continue to pour in, stating that “the elemental reaction system successfully combines the flashy combat of action RPGs with the build fun of roguelikes” and that “the extreme stat growth method utilizing Soulbinders is impressive.” Furthermore, as it became known that the game was developed by only two people, there are quite a few reactions expressing surprise at the scale of the content and the level of polish.
In particular, with many commenting that “it looks like a typical hack-and-slash at first, but the gameplay feels significantly different as the build is completed,” expectations are gathering for the content to be added after Early Access.
Overseas game media outlets are also paying attention to the combat system and roguelike structure of ‘Phantom Tower’. GameDaily analyzed it as “a game that combines fast-paced hack-and-slash combat with deep dungeon crawling,” while Mobile Game Report introduced it as “an action roguelike reminiscent of ‘Hades’,” evaluating it as a game that faithfully implements the core structure of a roguelike rather than a simple imitation.
Information regarding ‘Phantom Tower’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Horien Studio (2-person team) |
| Genre | Hack-and-slash roguelike action RPG |
| Release platform | PC (Steam) |
| Release date | July 13, 2026 (Early Access) |
| demo | Free Steam demo available |
| Play Mode | Climb Mode (Main Campaign) / Survival Mode (Infinite) |
| Number of classes | 8 types |
| elemental system | 4 Elements (IGNIS, AQUA, TERRA, VENTI) / 16 Reactions |
| Number of equipment | Over 200 (including 128 weapons, 6 types) |
| Tower Blessing | 47 |
| core system | Elemental Reaction / Soulbinder (Stats Permanently Fixed, Level 99) / Tower Blessing |
| Development period | 4 years |
| Main Keywords | Hack and slash, roguelike, elemental reactions, build, dungeon crawling, indie |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
