Demon Spore feels like a horror film gone roguelite

When a lab experiment goes terribly wrong, you get Demon Spore: a game about scientists desperately trying to escape a facility as a dangerous creature quickly spreads throughout. I stepped into the lab boots of said scientists to see how I fared against the creature during a demo at PAX East.

True to its roguelite nature, every run of Demon Spore is different. There is always a large grid of rooms to travel between, but the connecting pathways between them and the loot found therein is altered every time you start anew. The game offers a variety of weapons, but most runs begin with the Fire Extinguisher, which can be used to temporarily freeze creatures, allowing you to finish them off with a melee attack.

Every time you move through a room, so will the spore. You’re forced to think strategically and plan a route that’ll provide the least resistance, though there’s no avoiding confrontation with this unholy creature.

Some of the creatures I faced off against included small brain-like monsters that leaped at me from a distance, a bubbling growth that quickly spread across the ground, and large nodes that sent out flailing tentacles to attack me. It was all quite repulsive, and I breathed a sigh of relief every time I killed a creature and the exit door lit up green.

During my runs I found a laser gun that dealt a lot of damage really quickly, and chests that could be used to resupply my ammo. One of Demon Spore’s more rare finds is a token that can be redeemed at a security terminal, allowing you to close access to a single room, cutting off a pathway for the spore.

Demon Spore also supports co-op sessions of up to four players, which should help players deal with the game’s difficulty. The game is currently set for a 2024 release date on Steam.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_