Take a free 'slaycation' in the demo for an indie action RPG where you can fight monsters with a snowboard

Dungeons of Hinterberg - Marsh Puzzle Showcase! - YouTube Dungeons of Hinterberg - Marsh Puzzle Showcase! - YouTube
Watch On

The developers of Dungeons of Hinterberg describe main character Luisa's trip to the Austrian alps as a "slaycation" because she came prepared to battle monsters. But she didn't just bring a sword; she has a snowboard that leaves a trail of magical fire in its wake.

In the demo, which is out now on Steam, you can circle enemies on your snowboard before going in for more traditional hacking and slashing. Enemies won't go down in just a few hits, however, so you'll need to dodge-roll out of their attacks and stun them with your sword to defeat them. Dungeons of Hinterberg isn't a soulslike, but it seems to punish mindlessly spamming attacks without having a plan first.

When the fighting is over, you can take the rest of the day off to chill with the other people who came here to explore Hinterberg's many dungeons or visit a lodge to buy healing potions. Chair lifts can drop you off in small areas to explore (on your snowboard of course) and find new powers, like a spinning attack or a long-range beam attack. Much like a Zelda game, the monsters and puzzles you'll face change based on which one of the four zones, or overworlds, you're in. 

The trailer at Wholesome Direct takes place in the marsh overworld, called Brünnelsumpf, and shows off puzzles that involve setting up paths for an orb to follow and using a jiggly cube to reach a ladder. I'm impressed with how well the game's cel-shaded art style can shift the mood from the sky-high peaks of the snowy mountains to mossy stone rooms of the marsh. The screenshots on the Steam page hint at other locations, like a sunny mountain range and a traversal puzzle where you can rotate entire chunks of the level.

The newest demo for the game will take place in the glacial region and will send you into an ice cave to fight off enemies as you search for new magical skills. Developer Microbird has been playtesting different parts of the game through Steam demos and said this one will have some changes and new features that weren't available before.

And if you like the demo, it won't be a long wait for the real thing, because Dungeons of Hinterberg will fully launch on July 18.

Tyler has covered videogames and PC hardware for 15 years. He regularly spends time playing and reporting on games like Diablo 4, Elden Ring, Overwatch 2, and Final Fantasy 14. While his specialty is in action RPGs and MMOs, he's driven to cover all sorts of games whether they're broken, beautiful, or bizarre.

Read more
A man in a leather jacket with a crystal dragon on his shoulder
Lost Soul Aside, a spectacle fighter where your dragon pal turns into a hoverboard, is coming out in May
Fantasy adventurers face a giant foe in Solasta 2's key art.
The homebrew Dungeons & Dragons 5E CRPG alternative returns, with a demo you can play right now
The protagonist of Haste dashes with alacrity in a vivid piece of artwork for Haste: Broken Worlds.
Haste: Broken Worlds finally lets me live out my childhood fantasy of running really fast and then slamming into a rock at Mach 1 and breaking all my bones
Ascendant on Steam.
Ascendant brings a unique spin to the bullet hell dungeon crawler with its huge item stash and extensive build crafting for new and deadly synergies
White Knuckle trailer still
Ascend through 'ten thousand meters of concrete and decay' in this horrifying 'first-person roguelite speed-climbing game'
Lonely Mountains Snow Riders screenshots depicting in-game action
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders review
Latest in Action
The First Berserker: Khazan review - Blade Phantom
How to claim The First Berserker: Khazan pre-order bonus and deluxe edition DLC
gta 6 trailer
Publishers 'don't want to be anywhere near' Grand Theft Auto 6 when it launches: 'It's proving to be very stressful'
An image of a Helldiver from Helldivers 2 shooting at a red dragon from Dungeons & Dragons.
'Ok, so dragon builds are a thing now': galaxy-brained Helldivers 2 player incinerates a bile titan with a hover pack and a flamethrower
Assassin's Creed Shadows promo image
Ubisoft scores a legendary ratio against Elon Musk on his own platform—which hopefully marks a final end to all the Assassin's Creed Shadows' culture war nonsense
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A plastic duck dressed like a circus weightlifter
The 5th highest-rated game on Steam in 2022 is back with a multiplayer sequel
Latest in News
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'