Penguin Colony demo is cosmic horror through a penguin's eyes at Steam Next Fest

Penguin Colony – the next game from the studio behind Umurangi Generation – has a free demo out during Steam Next Fest, and it's arguably the strangest thing at the event. You play as a penguin, and life turns out to be lonely, frightening, and cosmically unsettling.

The developers keep some of the inherent silliness that comes with playing a flightless bird, but layer in cosmic horror and themes around human hubris. Polygon describes it as At the Mountains of Madness meets March of the Penguins, which is a pretty accurate read of the vibe.

Games about penguins are rare, and serious ones are almost nonexistent – Club Penguin is about as far as the genre usually goes. With Umurangi Generation behind it, Penguin Colony already has credibility in the indie space before it's even fully out.