Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗From Ruins – A Detective Adventure
DigiTales Interactive · Published by DigiTales Interactive
Content notice: From Ruins depicts and deals with the death of individuals as well as the mass extinction of humans. There are instances of violence and murder in the story (including the death of children), and grief is one of its major topics.
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
A new-gen detective adventure combining deduction gameplay with a gripping story full of twists and turns. Gather clues, establish connections, and solve a series of increasingly challenging cases. Will you uncover the feud that began at the end of the world?
Adventure · 2027 · More free games
Step into the shoes of a detective unraveling a complex case that began at the end of the world. Gather clues and make connections in this gripping new-gen adventure from DigiTales Interactive, where your choices shape the narrative.
About this game
From Ruins is the third detective adventure by DigiTales Interactive, creators of Lacuna and Between Horizons. Building upon modern genre staples like The Case Of The Golden Idol and Return Of The Obra Dinn, From Ruins combines true detective gameplay with a gripping story against the backdrop of an atmospheric post-apocalyptic world. A linear singleplayer adventure with multiple endings, From Ruins promises a hand-crafted, deeply immersive experience spanning an evening or two.
Caught in a feud that started decades ago, finding the truth is not just your job – your fate depends on it. The further you delve into the mystery, the more hidden interests are laid bare as friends and foes reveal themselves. Challenging investigation gameplay deeply intertwined with a story full of twists will keep you on your toes until the very end.
From Ruins challenges you to pay close attention to the information you gather from various clues and people, and subsequently draw logical conclusions to answer a host of different questions: Who is who? What does this symbol mean? What happened here? Every correct submission drives your investigation and the story forward. Occasional mini games keep the experience fresh.
You will never be required to ❌ pixel-hunt for clues, ❌ combine items using moon logic, ❌ use quick reactions or any advanced hand-eye coordination.
Unlike the cases you solve, many questions in life don't have a correct answer. From Ruins will confront you with a handful of these truly tough decisions, and there will be no turning back. In the end, it comes down to what you believe: Can humanity be trusted with its greatest achievement, or will it inevitably lead us all into ruins once again?
Although reminiscent of past generations of games, From Ruins
🕹️ offers all modern conveniences such as tight movement controls, gamepad support, and an autosave system,
🧠 relies on contemporary game design that can get tricky but is never illogical,
🎨 combines high-quality pixel art with state-of-the-art VFX and sound design,
🖊️ tells a fast-paced story that respects your time.
At the time of its launch, this page only featured footage of the first act. As development on From Ruins continues, we are working on more content and additional features, and will update the store page continuously. We are currently planning to add Steam Cloud support, achievements, and possibly support for additional languages. We expect to obtain a Verified rating for the Steam Deck on release. Support for Valve's new hardware lineup is planned, pending further details.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: TBD
- Processor: TBD
- Memory: TBD MB RAM
- Graphics: TBD
- Sound Card: TBD
Supported Languages
Latest news
Community & EventsOfficial
From Ruins @ Choices Matter Festival & gamescom 2026
Hi, everyone!This is Julian from DigiTales, here to tell you all about the Choices Matter Festival starting tonight and gamescom later this month – each featuring exclusive From Ruins content. Let's get right into it! 🔎Telltale's Choices Matter FestivalIf you've enjoyed any of our games so far, you should love the new event that Telltale Games has put together: Starting tonight, the Choices Matter Festival will spotlight the best choice-driven titles and stream a series of exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews – one of them with us!My co-founder Jasmin and I were interviewed for about 20 minutes by none other than Brian Crecente, founder of Kotaku and co-founder of Polygon, who nowadays runs Pad & Pixel. We talked about the unique challenges in combining branching storylines with detective gameplay, and how both aspects have evolved from Lacuna to Between Horizons to From Ruins. Tune in tonight at 1 PM PDT (10 PM CEST) right here on Steam!From Ruins demo @ gamescom 2026We are bringing an exclusive From Ruins demo to this year's gamescom! Even though DoKomi was just over two months ago, we've added tons of polish and improvements to the demo since. Its contents have also been extended by a second case, another minigame and more – so even our DoKomi players will have something new to discover.If you solve the cases at the treehouse, you receive a From Ruins keychain (while supplies last)! We will also take part in a stamp rally with other story-driven games around hall 10.2, offering additional prizes to those who played all the participating demos. ✨You’ll find us in hall 10.2, nearby the Indie Arena Booth (not inside it). We’re sharing a corner with some fellow Saar Indies at the GameUp! Rheinland-Pfalz booth (D043g). Besides From Ruins, our booth will feature demos for games such as Mindlock and Alabaster Dawn. Just keep your eyes peeled for this artwork:New logo, team member, and project!As we recently announced on our freshly overhauled blog, we have some genera...Read full article on Community Announcements (DigiTales)AnnouncementsOfficial
Behind The Scenes Trailer @ Women-Led Games Showcase
Hi, everyone!Julian here. The reception of From Ruins and Thinky Direct and the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase has been fantastic, and we had an amazing weekend showing off the game – as well as The Great Sassanelli – at DoKomi. Thanks again to everyone for wishlisting and for your kind words! 💖Today, we're delighted to reveal our exclusive trailer for the Women-Led Games 2026 Summer Showcase. It spotlights both the fictitious women in the game – giving a first insight into the story –, and the real women developing it – providing a peek into our work behind the scenes. My co-founder Jasmin will take it from here!Shoutouts 📢In the same spirit, we’d like to shout out some other upcoming games that also take part in the Women-Led Games Showcase. They're all developed by German friends, and we just shared a booth with the first two at last week's DoKomi. Check them out!Tiny Capsule CollectorTake a look at this new super-cute desktop idler from Playing Mantis Studio in Cologne. Run a cozy capsule shop at the bottom of your screen. Attract cute animal customers, collect charming capsule toys, and build a relaxing, ambient world in this idle sim bringing you small moments of joy while you work. Make your desktop a place you’d rather be.Lucky PunkOur friends at Green Parrot Games from Cologne announced their debut title Lucky Punk. They've distilled the roguelike deckbuilder into one simple choice: Draw or Stop. Push your luck and beat the odds in the vibrant post-apocalypse. Gather supplies and build your community. Survive and thrive in a vibrant eco-dystopia… or don’t. – 1% chance. 100% choice. Do you feel lucky, Punk?Map MapOur friends at Pipapo Games from Hamburg just released their award winning game Map Map. In this game, YOU make the maps! Become the cartographer of a small adventure crew and use proper navigation tools like a real explorer. Map the environment to turn unknown islands into a hand-drawn journey toward a legendary treasure.Light Of AtlantisOur fellow devs ...Read full article on Community Announcements (DigiTales)AnnouncementsOfficial
Spring 2026 Events, Trailers, and Reveals!
Hey, everyone!This is Julian from DigiTales. On behalf of the whole team, thank you all for the support you've shown From Ruins ever since its reveal. We're about to hit 10.000 wishlists here on Steam, which is far beyond our expectations.We have tons of news for you today, so let's dive right in!New trailer @ Thinky DirectYou may have already noticed that we've spruced up the store page a little, adding new screenshots and videos, as we've been polishing the hell out of the visuals over the past few months.Today, we're dropping a whole new trailer as part of Thinky Direct, which kicks off the week-long Cerebral Puzzle Showcase. We're very grateful that From Ruins was selected to be included, and we recommend you all go check out their stellar selection of puzzle games!If you missed Thinky Direct, you can view the new trailer on our YouTube channel below (and subscribe 💖). After the flashy but cryptic reveal trailer, we wanted this one to be much more informative to give you an idea of the game's core mechanics. Cringeworthy voice-over by yours truly!Public demo @ DoKomiDigiTales will have a whole row of booths at the DoKomi Gaming Area this weekend! If you're going, please don't hesitate to come say hi; you'll find us in hall 9, booth 9B08. We have stickers and merch, but most importantly: You can play the very first public demo of From Ruins, (for now) exclusively at the event. We're also bringing a demo of The Great Sassanelli, which you can already play on Steam as of two weeks ago!More soon!We have another big thing coming up very soon, but I have to bite my tongue for now. What I can say is: Check back here next weekend, and/or have a peek at our socials so you don't miss it. There will be additional From Ruins news, the release of The Great Sassanelli, and – perhaps, maybe – even another new game announcement all before 2026 is over, so follow along!We hope that you like the new trailer, that you find some nice games at the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, and that ...Read full article on Community Announcements (DigiTales)Press Coverage
From Ruins – A Detective Adventure looks worth keeping an eye on
From Ruins – A Detective Adventure caught my eye recently with it's interesting premise and some pretty slick looking pixel-art for point and click fans. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/12/from-ruins-a-detective-adventure-looks-worth-keeping-an-eye-on/Read full article on GamingOnLinuxAnnouncementsOfficial
What A Week It's Been!
Hi, everyone!This is Julian from DigiTales. We're extremely stoked to finally show you this first glance of our next game. Even though Between Horizons was released just last year, we have been tinkering with (what would become) From Ruins since 2022.You can imagine that we've been anxious to see the public's reaction to the reveal. Well – it seems very positive! From Ruins was first shown Wednesday night at the German Indie Showcase, and went on to accumulate over 1,000 Steam wishlists within just the first 24 hours. Thank you to everyone who wishlisted the game; those who liked, commented, shared on social media; those who helped spread the word, and those who reached out to us since the announcement.Even though the game's release is still over a year away, we have plenty of things planned to make the wait more enjoyable. Right now, we're working on a longer, descriptive trailer that will show off much more gameplay. As development progresses, we're going to update the store page with new screenshots etc., and gradually reveal more about the game's world, plot, and characters. A lot of this will happen on social media, so follow us if that sounds interesting!As you may know, we have another release planned before From Ruins: We're publishing The Great Sassanelli, which is being developed by our friends over at Forking Paths Gardening. If you're in the market for an interactive novel with light sim elements that revolves around a travelling circus in WWI Europe, you can wishlist the game right here:If you'd like to read more about the genesis of From Ruins, how it compares to our previous titles, and what it means for our studio, check out the new post on our blog. For now, I just wanted to say thank you here on Steam, and encourage you to use this community forum (or join our Discord server) if you have any questions about the game.Happy holidays, and have a nice rest of 2025!JulianRead full article on Community Announcements (DigiTales)
