Survival Town-Builder 'Romestead' Releases Playable Demo Ahead of Steam Next Fest

Rebuild Ancient Rome, earn the favor of the Roman pantheon of gods and defend your village in an upcoming new survival game published by Valheim and Minecraft veterans

Watch the Indie Fan Fest trailer here.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 19th February 2026 — Indie publisher Three Friends and developer Beartwigs are excited to reveal that a public demo of their upcoming survival townbuilder Romestead is now available ahead of its participation in this year’s Steam Next Fest!

Romestead is an action-adventure survival game that invites players to build and expand their home, alone or with friends, as they seek to rebuild Rome and conquer the legendary foes that inhabit these ancient lands. Beartwigs have made it their mission to cut out the tedium of the survival crafting genre and offer players a wide range of biomes filled to the brim with adventures and dangers, focusing on fun and wonder over inventory management and extensive resource farming.

Key gameplay features of Romestead include:

• Extensive Town Building that enables players to live out their dreams of being a great Roman leader and expanding the settlement
  

• Worship System thanks to which worthy rulers can venerate the many gods of the Roman pantheon, acquiring unique and special technologies, buildings, and upgrades.
  
  
• Dungeon Crawling & Boss Fights that will challenge even the most mighty of warriors and require careful preparation and masterful execution.
  

• Co-op Multiplayer Experience that rewards cooperation and coordination, cuts down the tedium and crystalises the fun

The public demo, available for all players to experience on Steam until March 2nd, will offer players a 360-degree look at what Romestead will have to offer once it releases into Early Access later this year. The demo will feature:

• Co-op support for up to 8 players to rebuild Rome together
• Two full biomes with more than 15 dungeons to explore and conquer
• Three boss fights that require thorough preparation and will test players’ skills
• Worship System through which players can earn boons and upgrades from seven gods

”Romestead gives me the same feeling I had in the early days of Valheim and Deep Rock Galactic,” says Albert Säfström, Co-Founder and Producer at Three Friends. “But closed playtests only tell you so much. The demo is out, and now players get to judge for themselves.”

Romestead is currently in development for PC with a release date yet to be announced. Players can wishlist the game now on Steam to be notified when the game enters its Early Access release. Assets for this announcement can be found here.