Raw Fury Brings Weird, Wonderful Ambition to Gamescom 2025

I always keep an eye on Raw Fury at events like Gamescom-not because they always drop megatons, but because their catalog straddles that line between genuinely creative and completely unhinged. This year, they showed up with a duo that demands attention: Deep Dish Dungeon from Behold Studio, and Esoteric Ebb, a bonkers CRPG by Christoffer Bodegård. Both look ambitious in ways that should perk up not just indie aficionados, but anyone tired of assembly-line genre fare.

• Deep Dish Dungeon is pushing cozy resource-management into the depths of cooperative dungeon crawling.
• Esoteric Ebb doubles down on narrative weirdness and tabletop-inspired chaos-think “Disco Elysium goes arcanepunk.”
• Both promise gameplay variety and emergent moments, rather than on-rails experiences.
• Raw Fury is betting big on unique player agency and world-building, not tired gameplay loops.

Breaking Down Deep Dish Dungeon: Cozy Survival Meets Classic Crawler

Let’s be real: The phrase “dungeon crawler” doesn’t usually elicit excitement in 2025. Between copycat roguelikes and soulless lootfests, the genre’s long been in a rut. That’s why Deep Dish Dungeon stands out. Developed by Behold Studio (yup, the Knights of Pen & Paper and Chroma Squad folks), this one is less about endless grind and more about exploring, experimenting, and-oddly enough—eating well in the depths. The camp system where you forage, craft, and cook isn’t just frosting, it’s essential. Recipes matter, stat boosts are meaningful, and prepping for each run looks genuinely strategic.

There’s real promise in the co-op for up to four players. We’re not talking button-mashing mayhem: the vibe seems closer to a group of friends in a tabletop session, mulling over limited resources and debating whether to open the next cryptic door. It’s a different flavor than, say, Diablo IV’s ceaseless stat chase. If Behold Studio nails the balance between risk, discovery, and downtime at camp, I can see this hitting the sweet spot for folks burned out on “live service” expectations.

That said, past games from Behold have thrived on creative premise more than moment-to-moment mechanical polish. So I’m curious—can Deep Dish Dungeon offer enough meaningful variety in its puzzles, dungeon layouts, and camp upgrades to avoid early burnout? And will the cooking/resource angle actually tie into exploration, or end up as busywork? It’s a risk, but it definitely beats more re-skinned monsters and tired skill trees.

Esoteric Ebb: Arcanepunk Mayhem for Disco Elysium Diehards

Then there’s Esoteric Ebb, which is making no attempt to hide its TTRPG — particularly Disco Elysium — inspiration. Isometric perspective, dialogue trees with teeth, dice-rolling that’s as likely to trip you up as power you up, and a city on the brink of something weird. Playing as an aspiring “World’s Worst Cleric” in the arcanepunk city of Norvik doesn’t sound like your usual cut-and-paste RPG plot, and honestly, that’s refreshing.

You’re not just hacking away at combat encounters; in classic tabletop fashion, failure is as important (and often more entertaining) than success. The game leans hard into narrative consequence, absurd quests, and allowing you to warp reality for storytelling shenanigans. That approach could result in some wild emergent situations—imagine controlling minds or fumbling your way through the repercussions of a blown dice roll, all within a storyline that doesn’t care whether you save the day or make everything more complicated.

But that strength could also be a trap. Narrative-rich, choice-driven CRPGs live or die by sharp writing; if the humor or quest design goes off the rails, the whole thing falls apart (“wacky for wacky’s sake” is gaming’s most exhausting trend right now). And with a single developer at the helm, the scope might sprawl beyond what’s reasonable. Still, as someone who’s seen too many me-too RPGs eschew consequence for safe power fantasies, I’m rooting for Esoteric Ebb to lean into its messy, improvisational roots.

Why This Dual Reveal Matters for Indie Fans (and the Jaded)

What ties these two games together isn’t just Raw Fury’s knack for spotting oddball gems. Both are trying to put player agency, creativity, and actual surprise back into well-worn genres. Deep Dish Dungeon’s focus on camp management and group problem-solving could make it a new contender in the “couch gaming” space, something we don’t get enough of. Esoteric Ebb, meanwhile, is angling at that rare blend of unpredictability and world-building that usually only tabletop can manage—if the ambition pays off.

Of course, the devil’s in the details, which we won’t really know until these games are in player hands. But Gamescom 2025 just became a lot more interesting if you’re looking for games that care more about the kind of stories you make, not just the ones you’re handed.

TL;DR

Raw Fury’s Gamescom lineup doesn’t play it safe: Deep Dish Dungeon invites co-op creativity over grind, and Esoteric Ebb brings tabletop-style consequences to a weird, branching CRPG. If you want something new from your indies, both should be firmly on your radar—assuming they can make their big ambitions work once the marketing dust settles.