Cozy hex builder Fangtopia gets an October 26 release date

UK-based developer Absolutely Games and publisher Secret Mode have locked in an October 26 release date for Fangtopia. The cozy tile-placement puzzle game is coming to PlayStation 5, PC, and the Switch 2. It was initially revealed earlier this year. This update finalizes the Halloween-adjacent launch window, giving players a care-free monster builder right at the end of October. The setup borrows heavily from relaxing hex-grid builders like Dorfromantik, swapping out pastoral European countryside for a cartoonish monster realm.

You place hexagonal tiles around a central creepy castle. You connect matching edges to score points and expand the board. Absolutely Games previously made the tactical World War II strategy game Classified: France '44. Going from a gritty historical tactics game to a cute monster puzzle game is a massive pivot, but the studio's background in systems-driven design seems to fit the hex-grid format well enough. Publisher Secret Mode already has plenty of experience in this space. The Sumo Group publishing arm previously handled the breakout puzzle hit A Little to the Left, alongside titles like Still Wakes the Deep and Make Way.

Six terrain types and no time limits

According to the PlayStation Blog announcement, the standard tiles feature fields, towns, mountains, forests, and railroads. You will often see two different terrain types on a single tile. Matching these edges advances objectives and unlocks special landmarks. Placing these landmarks expands the playable area. This gives you more tiles to work with, allowing you to build sprawling forests that border quaint towns or railways that wind across open fields. The visual style is bright and readable, which is a necessity for a game where you need to quickly identify edge types on a crowded board.

The game removes all time pressure. You have a limited number of tiles, but you can take as long as you want to place them. The best design choice here is the full undo system. You can take back any placement if you realize a railroad is about to dead-end into a yeti enclosure. Puzzle games in this subgenre can get frustrating when a single misclick ruins a long run, so a dedicated undo button is a welcome safety net.

Ghoulish mode adds rivers

The base game mode is built for casual play. If you want more friction, a secondary Ghoulish mode introduces more complex rules. This mode adds rivers as a sixth terrain type. It also introduces tile-swapping mechanics and requires placing larger groups of tiles at once. As you expand the map toward oceanic portals, you can summon creatures like ghouls, werewolves, and yetis. Giving these monsters suitable habitats rewards you with bonus tiles to keep the run going.

Everything you collect gets tracked in an in-game stickerbook. The stickerbook acts as a persistent progression system. Even if a run ends early because you ran out of valid placements, you still make progress toward filling out your catalog of monsters and architectural oddities. Sony's blog post focuses entirely on the PlayStation 5 version, but the October 26 date applies across the board. The game will launch simultaneously on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Stove, alongside the Nintendo Switch 2. It fits right into the current wave of desktop puzzle games, offering a spooky alternative to the usual city builders.