Wizards In The Sewer brings hand-painted roguelite action to Steam in 2027

Solo developer Pat Naoum has unveiled Wizards In The Sewer, a first-person roguelite built entirely from real paint and paper and set for Steam on Windows in 2027. The game mixes elemental wands, procedural levels and online co-op, with playtesting open now.

Why it matters: - Wizards In The Sewer extends Pat Naoum's hand-painted approach from 2D into 3D, using real brushwork to shape both visuals and lighting. - The game aims to stand out in a crowded shooter market by replacing guns with elemental spell-mixing and adding a gardening loop that feeds future runs. - The Steam page and playtest signup are live now, giving players an early look before the 2027 launch.

What happened: - Pat Naoum announced Wizards In The Sewer as his second game after The Master's Pupil. - The game is coming to Steam for Windows in 2027. - Playtesting is open now. - Naoum grew up and lives in Eora/Sydney, Australia. - His background includes Visual Arts, Film, and founding a web design and development company before he returned to making games. - The announcement frames Wizards In The Sewer as a surreal roguelite painted with real paint and paper.

The details: - Wizards In The Sewer is a first-person shooter without guns. - Players mix and match elemental ammo into wands. - Fire and ice create steam. - Rubber adds bounce or bubbles for antigravity. - The game uses 12 base magic types that combine into thousands of possible outcomes. - Players move through procedurally generated sewers, subways, glitching forests and dystopian futures. - The game supports solo play and online co-op for up to four players. - When players die, they return to a backyard garden. - Seeds dropped by enemies can be planted to grow fruit and vegetables for power-ups in later runs. - Every enemy, object, plant and magic effect is painted with a real brush on real paper, then scanned at high resolution and wrapped onto 3D geometry. - The normal maps and lighting textures also come from the original paintings. - In-game lighting is designed to catch visible paint strokes. - The development process uses traditional painting only, with no iPads and no AI. - The game is described as an FPS magic-mixing roguelite with easy drop-in, drop-out co-op.

Between the lines: - Naoum is leaning hard into a distinctive artistic identity that helped The Master's Pupil gain awards, festival recognition and Steam traction. - The move from 2D to 3D suggests a larger technical ambition while keeping the same handmade visual signature. - The mix of combat, procedural exploration and gardening suggests a slower, more experimental take on the roguelite formula. - The emphasis on real paint and paper appears designed to make the game visually recognizable in screenshots, clips and social media. - Naoum's previous game's development videos drew over 24 million views, showing that process-driven art can be a major audience hook.

What's next: - Players can sign up for playtesting now. - Wizards In The Sewer is slated to launch on Steam for Windows in 2027. - Pat Naoum will likely keep building interest around the game's hand-painted production process as development continues.

The bottom line: - Wizards In The Sewer is a stylized roguelite built to compete on both mechanics and art, with real paint as its main differentiator.