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If there's one surefire way to make my ears perk up and my wishlist grow, it's by telling me a game is 'like Stardew Valley but...' There's already Stardew Valley but in the Stone Age. Stardew Valley but this time it's also Sailor Moon. Stardew Valley but there's also a murder mystery. And that's exactly what happened with Emberville, a game that sits at a comfy midpoint between Stardew Valley and Diablo.
Emberville's been in development for a while now, but co-creative director and popular streamer Ben Cassell, AKA CohhCarnage, announced earlier this month that the pixel-art action-RPG would be heading to Steam Early Access sometime in summer 2026, via a gameplay walkthrough.
"I'm very confident this game is gonna be awesome," he said in the recent video, but don't just take his word for it. What he showed off of Emberville's opening seems very promising as we got a look at the game's unique progression, various jobs and classes, and a few life-sim elements.
The basic gist of Emberville is that you're tasked with rebuilding the ruined, titular town. The loop has you descending into a procgen dungeon that changes every time to slay some beasties, gather resources, and show off your cool combos before coming back up to craft and cook and socialize and all that non-violent jazz.
Outside of all of that, Cohh also showed off the player's home base, which is separate from the rest of the town and looks much more like your starting farm in Stardew Valley, complete with a humble house and mostly barren field ripe for resource harvesting. "This is the area where you kind of unleash your creativity," he explained, before noting you can customize your home, farm on the plot, and engage in some light automation.
IGN also reports that Doug Cockle (Geralt in The Witcher games) and Alex Jordan (Rook in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, 'sex noises' in Baldur's Gate 3) will have voiced roles in Emberville.
Embervilla's due to hit Steam sometime later this year. Developer Cygnus Cross guestimates it'll be in early access for about a year.
For much more, check out the upcoming indie games of 2026 and beyond.
