Critical Reflex, the indie game publisher named "Best Weird Game Publisher of 2024" by Polygon, participated in Fusion for the third consecutive year. On October 24-25, 2026, the publisher brought 16 diverse playable titles to the Shougang International Convention Center in Beijing. Long queues formed under their pink booth entrance, with crowds flowing almost non-stop throughout the two-day event. Among them, Blood Ink Mystery, Satiety, Rusty City's Last Days, and Unbearable made their Chinese debut, offering players their first chance to try them out or see them officially unveiled. From detective推理 to horror cooking, from summer life simulation to Kafkaesque absurd adventures, this lineup once again affirmed their core philosophy of "turning niche into trend."
Chinese Debut Highlights
The four titles making their Chinese debut covered vastly different horror and narrative experiences, becoming the most crowded and queued areas of the booth.
In the supernatural detective adventure game Blood Ink Mystery, you play as an inquisitor, piecing together the horrifying truth of a society corrupted by evil witchcraft. Use a magnifying glass that can peer into the past to examine clues, take photographic evidence, organize case files, and construct deductions.
The horror cooking Roguelite Satiety takes you deep into a colossal structure made of rotting flesh, where you use a cursed refrigerator to cook horrifying dishes for otherworldly creatures residing within. Every turn of the crank to select ingredients is a gamble: either satisfy your customers, or you'll be the next dish served.
The oppressive horror narrative Rusty City's Last Days takes you back to 1983 in the city of Huta-Grobono, where you play as a manager in a slowly decaying apartment building. A strange substance called "Soup" is devouring the streets, while the local church tightens its control in the shadows. Curiosity is both your guide and your curse.
In the narrative-driven body horror experience Unbearable, you are grounded at home and forced to help out at your mother's clinic. More and more patients come in, some complaining of constant buzzing in their ears, others swearing they can hear something scratching beneath their skin. Pick up the ear-cleaning tools, remove foreign objects from patients' ears, and gradually uncover the true face of the town of Velviano.
Popular Title Demo Area
New content for Look At Me Now on PC is now live, and it will launch on Xbox Game Pass in 2027. This phenomenal work, nominated for WePlay and boasting a 93% positive rating (from 10,060 player reviews), brought its paranoid survival experience after disaster to Fusion.
The surreal immersive sim Eyes Wide Shut, highly popular among Chinese players, brought a new demo version to the booth. Framed for a crime, you are constantly watched by a giant police officer, with the goal of escaping the city.
Additionally, popular indie games like Buckshot Roulette and MOUTHWASHING were available for on-site demos, with players often spending half an hour at each station.
Release Information Announced
Pon the Tanuki: Panda's Summer, created by the Kyoto team Denkiworks, is set for official release on November 10. Play as Pon, a tanuki postal worker, ride a BMX to deliver packages and earn money, enjoy fun activities like bug catching, sushi making, and baseball, and rebuild the Great Tanuki Shrine for the late summer festival.
The pixel-art Metroidvania Dream & Destruction announced its release window on October 20 during CR Time. In a dying kingdom sustained only by the collective dreams of thousands of quasi-martyrs, defy prophecy, defeat the corrupted, and liberate the dreamers bound by tyranny.
More Titles on Display
The event also offered demos for Cyber Soul, Troublesome Station, Karimara: Beneath Withered Limbs, Tracing the Drowned Lake, Realm of Erosion, and Dice Spirit Shrine Maiden, allowing players to discover many obscure and quirky gems.
Fusion 2026 Beijing has concluded, and the Critical Reflex booth hosted a large number of players over the two days. Visitors who tried any game and left feedback in the launcher received a Critical Reflex sticker set. The exhibition may be over, but the games continue. Add them to your wishlist on their Steam store pages, and see you at the next event!
