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HOMEWARD:Ark playtest
by Aurora
HOMEWARD: Ark is a meticulously crafted horror extraction shooter. As a survivor of the apocalypse, you take on the role of "Dove," sneaking into perilous locations to scavenge supplies, hunt for clues, and battle the Infected, all while building up the Ark—humanity's home.
Anyone with a Steam account can join, and it's free.
- Access
- Instant
- On playtest since
- Oct 16, 2026
- Planned release
- Coming soon
- Developer
- Aurora
- Platforms
- Windows
- Players
- Single-player
- Languages
- English, French, German, Japanese and 7 more
How to join the HOMEWARD:Ark playtest
- Open the game's Steam page with the Join playtest button. Sign in to Steam if it asks.
- Use the HOMEWARD:Ark playtest signup there. You're in straight away, with nothing to pay.
- The playtest shows up in your Steam library, ready to install and play.
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About HOMEWARD:Ark
Story Background
In 2048, the Consciousness Collapse swept across the world. 97% of humanity had their consciousness torn away while fully awake, reduced to wandering empty shells; cities were shredded by temporal chaos.
You awaken amid the wreckage, your memory a blank. You encounter these wandering husks—crystals growing savagely inside their bodies, splitting skin, blocking throats, robbing them of all speech except anguished moans. You are forced to fight, forced to end them with your own hands, just to find a place to stand. But in that very moment, you unexpectedly hear the whispers of the crystals and glimpse their residual memories. This rare gift of "consciousness perception" makes you the most valuable tool—and the most tempting prey in the darkness.
You arrive at a refuge called "The Ark," huddled there with the survivors. To find any hope for the future, you must venture again and again into the abandoned lands, searching for your past and the truth. You never know whether what awaits you next is death or salvation.
A strange woman's voice rings out in your mind. Unknown symbols and contradictory memories surface before your eyes. At the end of the corridor stands what seems to be a shadow identical to yourself... You vaguely realize that all of this may have happened before.
When memories can be rewritten and identities can be designed, is the trace of your existence—the things you feared, the things you loved—still real? Take up your weapon in the darkness, listen closely to those whispers, and then... survive.
About the Game
As one of humanity's few remaining survivors, you will set foot in silent airport terminals, sinister and horrifying hospitals... and many more abandoned places.
The infected may lurk in every dark corner. Traces of blood spread unchecked, and within those terrifying bodies, there seem to be lingering signs of lives once lived.
Each type of infected has its own behavior patterns. Learn to recognize them, study them, and purge them—only then can you survive one more day in this catastrophe.
Put on your headphones, listen to the whispers in your mind and the muttering in the darkness, and feel the true loneliness of the apocalypse and the unknown terror lurking in the distance!
From the game's Steam page.
