A flashlight becomes your primary tool for solving puzzles in a 3D space where the rules of geometry bend.
In the liminal spaces between dimensions, a small studio invites players to reconsider how light itself might be a tool for understanding reality. H2 Interactive and Writers Games have brought their puzzle platformer 'THANKS, LIGHT.' to Steam Next Fest this week with an expanded free demo, offering a glimpse of a game that uses a flashlight to toggle objects between 2D and 3D states — a mechanic that quietly asks us how much of what we perceive depends on the angle from which we look. The full release is set for PC and PS5 in September 2026, but for now, the festival offers a rare window into a game still being shaped by the people playing it.
- A flashlight that collapses and restores dimensions sounds like a gimmick — but in practice it reframes every object in the room as a question about perspective.
- The liminal space setting amplifies the tension: these are environments designed to feel wrong, and the puzzles exploit that unease with increasing geometric complexity.
- Chapter 3, never before available, raises the stakes with more sophisticated spatial challenges that demand players synthesize everything the earlier chapters taught them.
- Developer feedback loops are visibly at work — bug fixes, improved puzzle navigation, subtitle accessibility, and new music signal a team responding to real players, not just internal testing.
- Steam Next Fest runs June 16–23, giving the demo a narrow but high-visibility window to build momentum before September's full launch on PC and PS5.
H2 Interactive and developer Writers Games have brought 'THANKS, LIGHT.' to Steam Next Fest with a meaningfully expanded free demo — one that opens Chapter 3 to players for the first time and reflects genuine iteration based on earlier feedback.
The game's core mechanic is quietly radical: a flashlight lets you toggle objects between two-dimensional and three-dimensional states within a 3D puzzle environment. Set in liminal spaces — those uncanny, slightly-off-feeling in-between places — the game uses that unsettling aesthetic as scaffolding for increasingly complex spatial and physics-based challenges. It shares puzzle-platformer DNA with Portal, but bends it toward questions of light, shadow, and dimensional perception.
The new demo isn't a simple content drop. Chapter 3 introduces more sophisticated geometry puzzles that build on the first two chapters, while the developers have also patched bugs, refined how puzzles communicate their solutions, added subtitle options, and layered in new background music. These are the kinds of changes that signal a team paying close attention to how people actually play.
The demo is free during the festival window of June 16–23. A new 60-second trailer accompanies the release. The full game is slated for PC and PS5 in September 2026 — and this final public proving ground may well shape what that release ultimately becomes.
H2 Interactive is bringing its puzzle platformer 'THANKS, LIGHT.' to Steam Next Fest this week with a substantially expanded free demo that opens up the game's third chapter to players for the first time. The studio, working with developer Writers Games, announced the move on June 16th, positioning the demo as a chance for players to test-drive what the team has built before the full release arrives on PC and PlayStation 5 in September.
The game's central mechanic is deceptively elegant: a flashlight becomes your primary tool for solving puzzles in a 3D space where the rules of geometry bend. By aiming light at objects, you toggle them between two-dimensional and three-dimensional states, forcing you to think about how perspective and dimension interact. The setting is a liminal space—those uncanny, in-between places where reality feels slightly off—and the game leans into that unsettling aesthetic as you navigate through increasingly complex spatial puzzles and physics-based challenges.
What makes this Steam Next Fest update significant is that it's not simply a repackaging of existing content. Chapter 3 introduces new mysteries and more sophisticated geometry puzzles that build on what players encountered in the first two chapters. The developers have also listened to feedback from earlier demo players: they've patched bugs, refined how puzzles guide you through their solutions, added subtitle options for accessibility, and layered in new background music to deepen the audio experience. These aren't cosmetic touches—they're the kind of iterative improvements that suggest a team genuinely engaged with how people are actually playing their game.
Steam Next Fest runs from June 16th through June 23rd, and the updated demo is free to download and play during that window. The event itself is Valve's biannual showcase for upcoming indie and mid-tier games, a place where developers can gather feedback and build momentum ahead of launch. For 'THANKS, LIGHT.,' it's a final proving ground before September's full release.
The studio has also released a new 60-second trailer to accompany the demo expansion, offering a glimpse of the expanded gameplay and the game's distinctive visual language. If you've played Portal and found yourself craving something that takes that puzzle-platformer DNA in a different direction—something more concerned with light, shadow, and the spaces between dimensions—this is worth your time during the festival.
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What makes the light mechanic feel different from other puzzle games that play with perspective?
Most puzzle games ask you to move objects or yourself through space. This one asks you to change what space *is* by toggling dimension itself. A 2D object can't be climbed; a 3D one can. The flashlight is your only tool, so every puzzle becomes about understanding how light reveals or conceals possibility.
The liminal space setting—is that just aesthetic, or does it affect how the puzzles work?
It's both. Liminal spaces are inherently disorienting because they're designed to be passed through, not inhabited. The game uses that feeling. You're solving puzzles in places that feel wrong, which makes the spatial logic feel wrong too. It's unsettling in a way that serves the gameplay.
Why expand the demo specifically with Chapter 3 rather than just polishing what was already there?
Because the first two chapters teach you the language of the game. Chapter 3 assumes you understand that language and pushes it further. It's a way of saying: you've learned the basics, now see what we can actually do with this idea.
The developers took feedback and fixed navigation issues. What does that tell you about where the game was before?
That players were getting stuck not because the puzzles were hard, but because they couldn't tell what the puzzle was asking them to do. That's a solvable problem, and the team solved it. It's the difference between a challenging game and a frustrating one.
September feels soon. Are they ready?
The fact that they're still refining based on feedback suggests they're taking the time seriously. They're not just counting down to launch—they're using these final months to listen.