Gamescom was once again a great opportunity to look beyond the biggest AAA releases and discover independent games that may not have enormous budgets, but often offer much more interesting and daring ideas. During the event, we had the chance to try out two very different games – NAME OF THE WILL and Helcast.

Although the two games have almost nothing in common at first glance, both attempt to combine familiar genre elements with highly distinctive ideas. NAME OF THE WILL leans toward psychological horror, mystery, and narrative adventure, while Helcast combines Norse mythology, a roguelite structure, deckbuilding, merge puzzle mechanics, and a physics-based system that directly affects combat.

NAME OF THE WILL – When Obedience Is the Only Way to Survive

NAME OF THE WILL is a psychological horror and adventure game developed by Zeitgeist Studio and published by HYPER REAL, currently planned for release in the first quarter of 2027. The game is planned for PC, Mac, and Linux, while a demo is already available on Steam.

Our first impression after playing NAME OF THE WILL was that the game understands one important thing very well – horror does not always need to rely on monsters jumping out of the darkness.

Here, the much bigger problem is the feeling that someone is constantly watching you. The story takes us to HOPE, a place controlled by a mysterious cult with very specific rules. In this world, pain represents a form of salvation, obedience is mandatory, and every decision you make can have consequences. The game puts you in the role of someone who must fit into this system. The problem is that practically every move you make is being monitored.

Every Mistake Can Have Consequences

One of the most interesting systems in NAME OF THE WILL is the Conduct System, a seven-level system that tracks the player's behavior. Every hesitation, refusal to follow a particular rule, or unusual behavior can affect your standing. When you break certain rules, the consequences become increasingly serious. This creates a very interesting situation. Instead of constantly wondering where the next enemy is hiding, NAME OF THE WILL makes you think about whether you have just made a mistake. During the day, you need to behave like a perfect member of the cult. You attend classes, go through interrogations, and complete the tasks assigned to you. Some of those tasks are far from pleasant. One example is being forced to decide who will be selected next for the painful “Reformation” ritual. These decisions further emphasize the game's central idea – how far are you willing to go to avoid punishment yourself?

The Search for the Truth Begins at Night

While the day is reserved for fitting into the system, the night reveals a completely different side of the game. This is when you begin investigating what is actually hidden behind HOPE. The player must find clues, explore rooms, and uncover pieces of information that gradually reveal the origins of this mysterious place. HOPE is presented as a huge facility with 34 floors, and exploring its rooms becomes a key part of the experience. There are also locked systems that you can hack, as well as areas you are forbidden from entering. Of course, there is a reason why those areas are off-limits. If you are caught by the Benevolent Father, the leader of HOPE, the consequences can be very serious.

Hand-Drawn Visuals Further Strengthen the Atmosphere

The visual style is another element that immediately caught our attention. NAME OF THE WILL uses a hand-drawn aesthetic, with more than 60 scenes and cinematic animations, while its visual identity combines surrealism with a dense urban atmosphere inspired by an imagined Hong Kong. This gives the game a very distinctive appearance. There is no attempt to make the horror photorealistic. Instead, the stylized visuals make the world even more unsettling, because behind seemingly simple scenes there is a constant feeling that something is wrong.

NAME OF THE WILL also places considerable emphasis on sound and music, featuring an electronic soundtrack designed to combine feelings of euphoria and unease.

Our Gamescom Impression

After playing NAME OF THE WILL at Gamescom, what stayed with us the most was the way the game attempts to combine horror and psychological tension with meaningful decisions. This is not a game that relies solely on traditional horror tricks. Its biggest strength could be the feeling that you are trapped inside a system from which you cannot simply escape. You have to learn the rules and follow them when necessary, while simultaneously trying to find the cracks through which you can uncover the truth.

That contrast between obedience during the day and investigation at night forms the foundation of the experience.

Helcast – Norse Mythology, Roguelite Gameplay and Weapons That Become Part of a Physics Puzzle

If NAME OF THE WILL was the game that caught our attention through its atmosphere and mystery, Helcast is a completely different story.

The game is being developed by Swedish indie studio Ricpau Studios, with HYPER REAL and 2P Games serving as publishers. The game is currently planned for release in the first quarter of 2027. Helcast is difficult to describe with a single genre because it combines several different ideas. At its core, we have a turn-based roguelite deckbuilder, but it incorporates a merge puzzle mechanic based on physics. Everything is set within a world inspired by Norse mythology, where we fight gods, giants, and other mythical creatures. And it is precisely this combination of systems that makes Helcast interesting.

From Helheim to Asgard

The story takes us into a conflict between Asgard and Helheim. Odin wants to destroy the underworld, while the hordes of Helheim want to turn Asgard into ruins.

The player takes on the role of Modgunn, the guardian of the bridge between life and death, who must put an end to the conflict. The goal is clear – fight your way out of the underworld and reach the gates of Asgard, standing against the enemies attempting to destroy both worlds. However, the way Helcast handles combat is much more interesting than the premise itself.

Weapons Are More Than Just Weapons

The biggest unique feature of Helcast lies in the way its merging system works. The player builds a deck consisting of weapons, magic, and totems, using them through the game's merge system during combat. However, simply combining two identical elements is not enough.

Helcast uses the physical properties of objects, including their mass and speed, to create different effects when certain combinations are made. As a result, every attack becomes something of a small physics puzzle.

This means you need to think about how a particular weapon will behave when you introduce it into the system and what you should combine it with.

That is what makes combat different from a traditional deckbuilder where you simply look at the cards in your hand. Here, there is an additional layer of experimentation.

The Roguelite Structure Encourages Experimentation

As with other roguelite games, every attempt represents a new opportunity to build a different combination of abilities. During each run, you unlock new items, experiment with different combinations, and attempt to create the most effective build possible. The goal is to create a combination capable of dealing with increasingly difficult enemies as you progress toward Asgard. This means failure is not the end, but part of the learning process. Every new attempt allows you to test a different approach, discover better combinations, and understand how the game's physics system can be used to your advantage.

When Norse Mythology Collides with Physics

What makes Helcast particularly interesting is the contrast between serious Norse mythology and its somewhat chaotic combat system. On one side, you have Odin, Asgard, Helheim, gods, and hordes of the dead. On the other, you have weapons that merge together, physical reactions, and attempts to create increasingly crazy combinations. That contrast is where the game's identity lies. Helcast is not trying to be a traditional Norse adventure. Instead, it uses familiar mythology as the foundation for an experimental gameplay system.

Our Gamescom Impression

Of the two games, Helcast interested us the most because of its gameplay concept.

Roguelite deckbuilders are certainly not rare these days, but combining deckbuilding with a merge puzzle system and the physical properties of weapons is not something we see every day.

The most important thing will be whether the final version manages to maintain a good balance between all of these systems. If the physics-based combat offers enough depth, while the different items provide a large number of meaningful combinations, Helcast could become a very interesting title for fans of roguelite and strategy games.

Two Games, Two Completely Different Approaches

NAME OF THE WILL and Helcast could hardly be more different when it comes to genre, atmosphere, and gameplay, but that is precisely why both games stood out to us at Gamescom.

NAME OF THE WILL attempts to draw the player into a dark cult through psychological horror, mystery, exploration, and decisions that have consequences. Its biggest strengths are its atmosphere and the feeling that you are constantly being watched.

Helcast, on the other hand, grabs attention with its gameplay systems. Norse mythology serves as the starting point for a combination of roguelite mechanics, deckbuilding, a merge puzzle system, and physics.

Both games are still in development, but based on what we had the opportunity to see and play at Gamescom, they are good examples of why indie games remain one of the most interesting parts of the gaming industry.

NAME OF THE WILL is currently planned for the first quarter of 2027, while Helcast is also scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. Demo versions of both games are available on Steam.