Summer Game Fest 2025 was packed with eye-catching reveals, yet it was a small indie title from Canadian developers that stood out as one of the most unique and haunting. Ambrosia Sky, a first-person sci-fi adventure from Toronto’s own Soft Rains, isn’t your typical shooter or puzzle game. Instead, it weaves together themes of loss, memory and humanity’s struggle with mortality—all set within a world that feels equal parts horror and Power-Wash Simulator, yet somehow delivers an experience that’s both ethereal and alive.
In Ambrosia Sky, you play as Dalia, a cleanup specialist deployed to the moons of Saturn after the fungus people were cultivating turned deadly. It’s your job to visit derelict spaceships and planetary outposts to tidy up the disasters left behind by the mysterious Ambrosia project. But this is no ordinary janitorial assignment—Dalia is also somewhat magical, tasked with collecting the final words of the dead and helping the project uncover the secrets of death itself, along with what went wrong with the fungus. Ambrosia Sky is surprisingly complex, and even now, I am still unsure how to explain it in a way that does the overall experience justice.
The gameplay loop is as unique as the premise. Armed with a high-tech sprayer, Dalia navigates beautifully realized, comic book–style environments, solving puzzles, battling aggressive alien fungi and restoring power to abandoned facilities. The sprayer isn’t just a gadget—it’s your primary tool for tackling nearly every problem you encounter, with different nozzles and sprays suited to various situations. Narrow sprays cover long distances, vertical sprays reach tight spaces, and horizontal sprays flood the area in front of you. And that’s not even touching on the powered sprays you can unlock through your interactions with the world around you.
Even after just 20 minutes, I was excited to see more—Ambrosia Sky is packed with ideas, and I felt like I was only scratching the surface. The game blends puzzle-solving, light combat and emotional storytelling into a cohesive experience. As I mentioned earlier, your sprays have multiple uses: water cleans and clears, electric spray restores power, and flammable spray ignites obstacles and enemies. As you progress, you collect fungal fruits to unlock and upgrade new sprays, adding layers to both the puzzle-solving and combat. Honestly, it gets quite complex, but even with all the layers, it never loses the ethereal feel that permeates most of what I played.
“Ambrosia Sky is packed with ideas, and I felt like I was only scratching the surface.”
The Summer Game Fest demo I played offered a range of gameplay that showcased what Ambrosia Sky is all about. The demo featured puzzle-solving elements alongside a mission to locate a deceased crew member who wished for their body to be donated to the project’s quest to cure death. These missions are framed by comic panel–style cutscenes, using the game’s watercolour-inspired art to deliver poignant narrative beats.
Ambrosia Sky stands out visually with its lush, cosmic comic aesthetic. While most space games lean toward hyper-realism or cartoonish simplicity, this title finds a middle ground that feels fresh and evocative. The environments shift and flow like living paintings, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that’s both beautiful and haunting. I mentioned to the person walking me through the demo that the game feels very much like an interactive graphic novel in how it handles colour and story. He confirmed that this was intentional, and I can see it.
“Ambrosia Sky stands out visually with its lush, cosmic comic aesthetic.”
The narrative is equally distinctive. Dalia’s journey is interwoven with the stories of those she encounters—often shared through last wills and testaments, presented in comic panel–style cutscenes. These moments are poignant, sometimes funny and always deeply human, grounding the sci-fi premise in relatable emotion. I love how Ambrosia Sky isn’t afraid to ask big questions: What does it mean to die? Can we ever truly overcome death? What do we leave behind? The writing is thoughtful and restrained, allowing players to sit with these questions rather than offering easy answers.
Playing Ambrosia Sky at Summer Game Fest was an experience—one I didn’t expect walking into the demo. The blend of puzzle-solving, shooting and emotional storytelling felt unlike anything else on the show floor. The demo’s two missions offered a glimpse of the game’s potential, but it was the smaller moments, like reading a crew member’s final message, walking through the hauntingly empty hallways, or simply taking in the quiet beauty of a derelict ship, that left the strongest impression.
Ambrosia Sky doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but it’s expected to launch on Steam for PC and Steam Deck. A playable demo is available now on Steam, offering two missions that provide a clear sense of the game’s direction and tone.
The developers have hinted at more sprays, upgrades and narrative twists to come, promising a deeper and more varied experience, along with voice-over for moments when you witness the final moments of a person’s life in the full release. If the demo is any indication, Ambrosia Sky is shaping up to be one of the most original and emotionally resonant indie games of the year. It’s a rare gem—a game that dares to ask big questions while delivering inventive, satisfying gameplay. I can’t wait to dive back in and see what else it has to offer.
