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The Helltaker creator has a new free game with ghost girls instead of demon girls, and after less than a month it's got over 9,000 Steam reviews at 96% positive

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By Jordan Gerblick published 13 January 2025

Awaria has kissable ghost girls and... "claustrophobic penal labor"

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Awaria
(Image credit: vanripper)
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Almost five years later, the creator of the cult puzzle hit Helltaker is back with another free game, and it's already a big hit on Steam with 96% positive user reviews.

Awaria released last month while we were all collectively blinded by the haze of the holiday season, and impressively, it's still managed to rack up almost 10,000 reviews and Steam's coveted 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating. Although frankly, it's pretty easy to see why.

Developer vanripper bills its latest free game as "a short game about working in haunted maintenance tunnels," which is a strong enough hook alone that I instantly added it to my Steam library.

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In case you need more convincing, in place of Helltaker's "sharply dressed demon girls" are ghost girls who try to kill you and, ideally upon failing to do so, become kissable. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot more to the story than that, but frankly, is that not more than enough?

As part of a tunnel maintenance crew, it's your job to fix failing generators by identifying the problem and crafting parts necessary to fix them. "It's simple," vanripper says in the Steam description, immediately contradicting themselves by warning of bullet hell-style hazards.

"Just stay clear of anything that randomly cracks bolts of electricity, spews fire, throws sharp pieces of scrap at high-velocity or radiates with ominous green light." Oh, and there's also the aforementioned anime ghost girls you'll have to contend with. "You may even... kiss a ghost?" teases vanripper.

In case you're rightfully concerned with just how explicitly these anime girls are portrayed, the game's "mature content description" only warns of "suggestive clothing and poses" and assures, "it's all tame." That's no surprise to anyone who played Helltaker, but it's always worth clarifying when talking about this sorta stuff.

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Jordan Gerblick
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After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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