Another year, another chance for me to scream that 3D platformers were never dead. While the big companies are jumping back in to release games that will define the next generation of the genre, I hope to highlight some of the many independent projects that continue to be the backbone of innovation and deeper appreciation of the classics. We already had a strong start this year with the release of Big Hops, our review of which you can check out here!
Here you’ll find upcoming 3D platformers that range from large, open-world adventures where you can express your innovative platforming prowess to tight, level-based titles that drive you towards mastery of each presented challenge. You can look forward to controlling cute little guys, abrasive brats, chill animals, contract killers, and even… entire buildings? That’s right, get ready for some indie magic!
Please note that this list is composed of games that cite 2026 as a release date goal on their Steam page (sorry Super Sami Roll 2, Blast Cats, and The Big Catch fans).
Demon Tides
One busy bee that he is, the developer Fabraz is releasing not one but two 3D platformers this year. The one coming later in the year, Bubsy 4D, does not quite fit the premise of this list, given the fact that it is published by Atari. Demon Tides, however, is fair game. Far more than that, even. A follow-up to one of my favorite indie platformers Demon Turf and its shorter, standalone expansion Demon Turf: Neon Splash, Demon Tides features an open-world that lets you tackle challenges your own way. I couldn’t be more excited for it after playing its demo last year.
Swim between levels featuring an amazing mix of vertical and horizontal platforming. Changing between Beebz’s many forms at the right times to retain momentum feels amazing, and you can always check out the ghosts of top players on the leaderboard to improve your technique. On top of an already impressive number of base moves you get access to from the very beginning, Demon Tides features a badge system to further personalize the experience. Play your way, customize your skills and looks, chill with your friends at Beebz’s base ship. This one is special.
You don’t have to wait long to see just how special it is, as Demon Tides launches on February 19.
Mr. Sleepy Man
Platformers always intersected with cartoons in some way. Be that via adaptation of platformer mascots into children’s animated shows or how, vice-versa, most video game adaptations of cartoons would usually end up as platformers. Well, at some point, we started getting more horror-adjacent cartoons, the likes of Courage the Cowardly Dog or Invader Zim. It feels like their influence only kept growing throughout the years, and with time, we saw a wide range of horror platformers, from the more silly titles like Corn Kidz 64 to the truly horrifying ones like Little Nightmares.
Mr. Sleepy Man slots into the former with its goofy vibe, grotesque, uncanny valley aesthetics, and bizarre creatures, set in a town where the color blue was replaced with purple, and, of course, a spooky clock tower looms above. Glide on your blanket, roll around, drive a car, and explore. Commit felonies such as theft and more theft. Get chased, get caught, apologize by bringing flowers, and then steal from them again. If I knew more about the structure of the whole game, I’d tell you. But I don’t! And that’s what makes me look forward to Mr. Sleepy Man the most.
Just a month away, Mr. Sleepy Man launches on March 10.
KilaFlow
Perhaps the single most energetic game on the list, KilaFlow is a platformer about speed, combos, and level-by-level mastery. More concisely, it’s about flow! The cat-like Kila, a mascot of the KilaFlow Antivirus, is tasked with saving data on a PC, traversing 7+ (oddly specific) worlds stylized into software. Absolutely amazing aesthetic here, reminiscent of a retro PC game you’d find in a gaming magazine for kids, calling back to a hopeful, retro-futuristic view of the PCs and the internet as this collection of living beings.
KilaFlow is level-based, each one being its own puzzle to master. It has that arcade spirit: learn each part individually and come back to execute the whole thing in one go. It is the one game on this list that I know I will want to keep coming back to, as it truly gives back tenfold for each minute you put into it. Animated to perfection, with an immaculate movement, flow, and forward momentum, it is an absolute no-brainer of a recommendation for any platformer enthusiast.
Though without a specific date yet, KilaFlow’s planned release date is listed as somewhere within the first quarter of 2026.
Gecko Gods
Onto something more relaxed, Gecko Gods follows a proud platformer tradition of animal-based shenanigans. Each animal presents its own opportunities and a well of ideas on how they could be controlled. Previously, we had the likes of Chameleon Twist or Super Sami Roll with their tongue grapple hook, as well as platformer legend Gex, who was also a gecko, who is largely known for his classic collectathons. Gecko Gods, however, takes on a different, slower, more puzzle-based approach.
If a more contemplative, cozy, exploratory platformer that still has the movement chops is what you’re looking for, this is the one item that will resonate with you most on this list. Gecko Gods forgoes the stamina bar you may have come to expect out of platformers with wall-climbing, immediately setting the curious blue lizard free to explore its beautifully shaded sandy islands. Take your time, smash some pots, sail between islands on your tiny boat, discover the secrets of an ancient civilization, and solve puzzles only a gecko could.
Gecko Gods is another title that is slated to release in the first quarter of 2026.
Building Relationships
It’s time to get weird with it. Building Relationships is, admittedly, not primarily a 3D platformer. Although the majority of the gameplay is indeed 3D platforming—exploring an island, wave-dashing, and rolling around—the main attraction would be the titular relationships. Which you commit to as the titular building. That’s right, you’re a controlling a whole house! Though clearly not yet a home, for it does not yet house a heart full of love…
Taking full advantage of the unconventional protagonist, it has you feel the edges impact the momentum of your rolls, but also allows for incredibly fast traversal thanks to that momentum building up as you launch yourself off a cliff. You can also fish. You fish cars, of course. It’s reminiscent of some silly titles that pop up occasionally, where you’d control something like an egg or a piece of toast through an obstacle course, but not nearly as hostile to the player, and with a unique idea for itself. Though obviously not as pure a platformer as others on this list, if you are looking for a more abstract idea of what the genre can be, this is the one to look out for.
Building Relationships is set to debut at an unspecified time in 2026.
Super Meat Boy 3D
Easily the biggest name on the list, Meat Boy is an oft-forgotten indie game royalty, and one of the two games that I think of when I see the name of one of the kickstarters of the indie revolution: Edmund McMillen. Though neither he nor the co-creators of the originals, Jonathan McEntee or Tommy Refenes, are developing the game, it was Refenes, along with the publisher Headup, who approached the developer Sluggerfly (who previously worked on 3D platformers Hell Pie and Ben and Ed) with the idea for moving Meat Boy into the third dimension.
The result? All that you’d expect out of Super Meat Boy, and a game that is looking like a return to form for our little friend. Insane numbers of buzz-saws? Check. Instant-deaths that send you back to the level? Check. Timers to beat? Check. It is the exact structure you came to expect out of the original, with the necessary changes to the movement that make the move into a brand new world feel appropriate. A blast from the past? Looking hopeful!
Super Meat Boy 3D is slated for release at some point in 2026.
500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ
We had our clean platformers, we had our abstract platformers, but now it’s time to ask: what if Mario had a gun? 500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ is decidedly a game for the platformer sickos, built on the years of dedicated work that fans of Mario 64 put into mastering and evolving that game. All the moves you came to learn from the iconic beginning of the 3D platforming masterclass, now with a sniper rifle! All wrapped up in a delightful, dark Y2K aesthetic, with even its Steam page trailer using Windows Movie Maker.
Perhaps you are unaware of just how far people took Mario 64. If so, I can’t imagine a better introduction to the craziness that ensued this past decade and a half than 500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ. Remember the 1-Up Mushrooms that chased you around? What if they were deadly and you had to complete a level with one following you the entire time? Remember the lovely triple jump, now a staple of so many platformers? What if you could use a gun to boost yourself even higher? Helmed by Bryce Bucher, creator of several unforgettable games, such as GameObserver’s 58th best indie game of all time, Fatum Betula, I’m sure the mind-bending first level I got to play in the demo is just the tip of the sicko iceberg.
500 CALIBER CONTRACTZ is set to release some time in 2026.
Kero Quest 64
From one Mario 64-inspired title to another, Kero Quest 64 is a game from superfans of the classics for all fans of platformers. What makes Kero Quest 64 special is that it comes from a group of names you’d recognize if you were around for that Mario 64 romhack boom. You can absolutely feel that in every aspect of the game, starting with its movement options and the control scheme. Yet, as a fellow superfan, I know exactly why this is its own game and just what kind of amazing opportunities all of the changes made here provide.
The polish on display here is what sets it apart. Kero Quest 64 is a game created by veterans, and it shows. The way its levels flow with the platforming challenge and exploration, and how they open up more of its varied collectibles you grab, it all feels like such a smart way to move forward from Mario 64 specifically. It takes those design philosophies in a completely different direction than the mainline Mario games followed, opening up a sort of alternate dimension in which we got multiple 3D Mario games in that console generation. I realize, however, that I am presenting it as more of a thought experiment than a tangible game, so let me finish with this: the levels are awe-inspiring, the game feels top-notch, and it is one of the games I’m looking forward to most this year.
Kero Quest 64’s currently listed release date is 2026.
STUNTBOOST
First-person platformers are a criminally underrepresented subgenre. Unfortunately, this list is no different, with too many titles vying for attention as is. Despite that, I’m glad I get to sneak STUNTBOOST in here—a game where you control a fingerboard through homemade obstacle courses in a chase for the fastest times. If you’re looking for hype moments, this is the game that will have you yelling victory cries after hitting a perfect line and cutting your record down by two seconds.
With these kinds of speedrun games, my attention was always split between racers and platformers. So why not a bit of both? Skateboards are an excellent fit by allowing you the freedom to hop all the while gaining insane speeds via ramps, speedup spots, and slopes. The fantasy of creating a massive obstacle course in your room adds another layer of cool on top. The speedometer counts mm/s or cm/s. How cute is that? Find skips, gain speed, execute. STUNTBOOST has the potential to become the single biggest timesink of this entire list.
STUNTBOOST is a yet another title without a specified release date, slated for some time in 2026.
MOTORSLICE
Ending on a great note, here we have slower, though no less exciting MOTORSLICE: a self-proclaimed answer to a lack of 3D Prince of Persia games in the past sixteen years. The Prince is an icon of both 2D and 3D platformers, introducing heft to both combat and movement, captivating players for decades. MOTORSLICE examines what it is that made the franchise so special and reinterprets it. The protagonist P (not the lying one) fights construction equipment robots and parkours around a post-apocalyptic megastructure—all in a day’s work for the Slicer and her trusty chainsaw.
More than just Prince of Persia, MOTORSLICE also cites Mirror’s Edge and Shadow of the Colossus as major inspirations. You can see it in the fresh take on a Prince of Persia movement and the truly gigantic foes as seen in the game’s trailers. It allows for a greater sense of on-ground momentum as opposed to only letting the player loose during its platforming sections, which meshes perfectly with the exploratory nature of its megastructure. As happy as I was to see The Prince back with the stellar Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, I do miss his 3D outings dearly, so I am rooting for MOTORSLICE every step of the way.
Like the last few entries, MOTORSLICE lists no specific date past a 2026 release window.
Which entry are you looking forward to the most? What games do you think are missing? What future platformers are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to wishlist the games on the list!
