Platformer heads, this one’s for you. Feather’s Edge, the kinetic metroidvania from South African studio Clockwork Acorn, now has a free demo on Steam. Early impressions are glowing, and the game has already made a lot of noise for a title without a release date.
Short left: the quick version
- The free Feather’s Edge demo has been on Steam since 2 October 2026, for Windows, macOS and Linux.
- You play Upu, a hoopoe bird warrior climbing the collapsing Tower of Time.
- The game is backed by Outersloth, the indie fund from the makers of Among Us. A full release date and price are still to be announced.
Stop 01
Movement is the weapon
Most action games hand you a jump button and an attack button. Feather’s Edge folds them into one. You aim, leap and slice in a single motion, so getting around the level and cutting through enemies are the same skill.
Clockwork Acorn sums it up neatly: “Combat isn’t a separate system, it’s built into how you move.” Fights are short, sharp and built to be finished in seconds, which makes every clean run feel earned.
The setting does a lot of work too. Upu is climbing the Tower of Time, whose shattered summit is drifting apart. You push through ancient jungles, lava flows and freezing winds, and keep returning to time rifts, small replayable battles that sharpen your skills and unlock the way up.
Stop 02
What you get in the demo
The demo is a cut-down slice of the full game, with a smaller selection of environments, powers, enemies and bosses. That’s still plenty to get a feel for the dash-and-slash flow.
NAG got hands-on with the build and came away impressed. Its writer compared the handcrafted, maze-like levels to Hollow Knight. They described portals that lead to small puzzle rooms, where clearing every enemy earns currency to unlock more of the tower. They also flagged a boss that splits in two every time you cut it, and a game that keeps shifting between platformer, puzzler, metroidvania and bullet hell.
Good news for budget rigs: the minimum spec on Steam is an Intel Core i3 with 4 GB of RAM and integrated graphics, and the game also runs on Apple M1 Macs and Linux.
Stop 03
From a game jam to Outersloth
Feather’s Edge has been a few years in the making. The core dash-and-slash idea started as a game jam prototype in January 2024. A public build followed on itch.io that December, under the name Upupa Bird Ninja.
In March 2025, Outersloth came on board with funding. The team grew to nine people and showed an alpha at Playtopia, the Cape Town indie festival where the game picked up recognition in both 2024 and 2025. Early in 2026 it took its new name. It had its world premiere at Indie Live Expo in April and then reached 10,000 Steam wishlists in 72 hours.
Feather’s Edge at a glance
- Developer: Clockwork Acorn (South Africa)
- Publishers: Clockwork Acorn and Outersloth
- Platforms: Steam on Windows, macOS and Linux
- Demo: Free on Steam now
- Release date and price: To be announced
- Languages: English, plus French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and Simplified Chinese
Clockwork Acorn hasn’t put a date on the full release yet. For now, the demo is the best way to find out whether Upu’s climb is for you, and wishlisting the game is the best way to back a South African studio while you wait.
Ready to take flight?
The Feather’s Edge demo is free on Steam right now.
Sources: Steam, the Clockwork Acorn press kit, NAG, Games Industry Africa, Games Industry Africa (wishlists), Gamestic. Details checked on 12 October 2026.
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