Join an improvised spellcasting journey through grotesque horrors, all in time for a birthday party
Pluto, a darkly comic roguelike deckbuilder, has been released on Steam today. Available on PC, Pluto was developed by Siege Wizard Interactive and published by indi.io. In Pluto, we follow a wizard imprisoned for magical crimes who awakens from an arcane slumber to a single, urgent mission: make it to his niece’s birthday party on time. Escape won’t be graceful. He must carve a path through cursed ruins, suffocating forests, and forgotten crypts crawling with grotesque, vaguely tragic monstrosities. Burn enemies into charred remains as jailors relentlessly pursue the wizard through corridors slick with magical fallout.
Built around a tactile, gesture-driven spellcasting system, Pluto transforms deckbuilding combat into something volatile and physical. Players must construct spells from elemental sigils etched across the wizard’s fingers. Overlapping patterns spark explosive synergies, strange chain reactions, and the occasional catastrophic misfire. Each encounter becomes a frantic act of improvisation where a single misplaced gesture separates careful planning and reckless experimentation.
Pluto’s dark, hand-drawn world is illustrated in stark detail by 2D artist DitchWitch and features eight spellcasters at launch, each bending the gesture-based magic system in distinct ways to manipulate fortune across fast-paced, one-hour runs designed for repeated attempts at escape.
“We wanted spellcasting to feel dangerous, like players are borrowing power they shouldn’t,” said Brodie Lockard, co-creator of Pluto. “Magic in this world isn’t clean or heroic; it’s messy and reactive. The wizard is constantly one gesture away from strategic prowess and massive catastrophe. All for something deeply human: showing up to support loved ones.”
Pluto launches on Steam today, with a launch discount of 20% running until March 23rd. You don’t have to commit straight away, however, as the demo is free to download and play. The candles are burning, don’t leave your neice waiting.
