Wielders of the Essence demo is now live on Steam – an incremental survivors-like from the Songs of Conquest studio

A demo for Wielders of the Essence is now available on Steam. It's a minimalist incremental survivors-like from Lavapotion – the studio behind the well-regarded turn-based tactics/RPG Songs of Conquest. The demo has already picked up positive reviews on the platform.

The core loop revolves around short runs, much quicker than what you'd find in a typical survivors-like. You play as a spell-casting Wielder, fight through chaotic encounters, collect resources, and bring them back to build up your town. Death comes often, but every run moves you forward regardless.

Resources go toward constructing buildings, and each one unlocks something new – a Wielder, a troop, a spell, or a skill. Your town grows from nothing into a proper settlement while your Wielder gets stronger with each attempt. The full game includes over 10 buildings, 9 unique Wielders, 8 troops with different abilities, 9 spells, 42 trinkets, and 15 upgradeable skills.

Each run drops you onto a randomly generated adventure map with gear shops, trinket-filled chests, and miniboss encounters along the way. A final boss waits at the end of every level. The demo gives access to 5 unique maps.

The full release of Wielders of the Essence is estimated at 10–20 hours, with no launch date announced yet.