Skate Story

In Skate Story, players take on the role of a demon in the Underworld, made out of glass and pain. The Devil gives them a skateboard and makes a simple deal: skate to the moon and eat it, and they shall be freed. Sam Eng, the solo developer, has poured his heart and soul into this game, which served as his confidant, journal, and dreamspace. Players ollie, kickflip and grind their way through the ash and smoke of the Emptylands, inspired by New York City. There are nine surreal and street-inspired layers of the Underworld to explore, with treacherous paths, freeform skate spots, and skate-based boss fights.

Players skate to destroy demons, experience weird narrative-filled quests such as helping a forgetful frog, and save other tortured souls while improving their skating skills. They will also discover the Devil's greatest weaknesses: humility, perseverance and, yes, tricks on a skateboard. There are over 70 tricks to master, such as the Ollie, Kickflip, Varial Heelflip, Powerslide and 360 Pop Shuvit. There are also skate trials to complete in order to level up, learn new tricks and acquire new gear, such as decks and wheels.

Skate Story blends fluid, trick-based skating with exploration, trials, quests and boss fights. Its standout feature is the exceptional 'game feel' while skating, thanks to its weighty and intuitive controls — not to mention the deep-hanging, sleek camera. This is enhanced by stylish effects such as slow motion, camera shake, and satisfying board stomps, all powered by gorgeous, stylised visuals with prismatic shattering effects — though there can sometimes be a little too much visual jitter. However, forgiving checkpoints and combo mechanics make the game accessible, and success still hinges on timing and linking tricks, especially in boss fights. The game is not an arcade-style skating game, a skate simulation for professionals or a game for chasing high scores. It's something in between.

The whole experience is accompanied by a psychedelic soundtrack created by New York-based artist Blood Cultures and featuring additional tracks by John Fio.

Blood Cultures (soundtrack) on collaborating with Sam Eng on Skate Story (Steam): "When I was working on the soundtrack, Sam gave me some insane instructions. He was like, 'I dunno, maybe make it sound industrial… it's the underworld, you know?' Industrial? So I decided to apply to a job at the local train depot. I was worried they wouldn’t like the bag I keep over my head, but I figured everyone would be wearing masks anyway! They were actually really nice, but they kept insisting I take off my jacket. I’m not doing that! So I didn’t get the job. The foreman said “don’t trip on the way out!” I should have heeded the warning because I tripped on several metal beams. What a tumble! It sounded glorious! Then I realized… I should sample New York itself! So then I went around the city, with my little pocket field recorder and a variety of little objects: spoons, chopsticks, my grandmother’s father’s watch, and started recording myself hitting objects! I eventually realized that inanimate objects work pretty good, and I was able to get some really nice samples from that. I recorded so many sounds of the city. I sampled obscure pillars under the bridge, to classic sounds like the rare subway screech at the last stop."

The game is the work of American solo indie developer Sam Eng, who released Zarvot for Switch in 2018. The game's publisher is Devolver Digital, an American company that specialises in indie video games. The company has been particularly active this year, releasing Look Outside in March, The Talos Principle: Reawakened and Gorn 2 in April, Shotgun Cop Man in May, Tron: Catalyst in June, Mycopunk in July, Stick it to the Stickman in August, Baby Steps in September and Ball X Pit in October. The latter was a major success for the publisher, achieving over 35,000 concurrent users on Steam - the fourth-highest number for Devolver Digital. Heart Machine's Possessor(s) and Forestrike were released in November. Quarantine Zone: The Last Checkpoint, from Brigada Games, is scheduled for release on 12 January 2026. Other games announced for release in 2026 include the maze-building roguelite Minos, the boomer shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, and the narrative exploration game Virtue and a Sledgehammer.

Skate Story was released on 8 December 2025 for €19.99 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Switch 2.

Conclusion

Skate Story is a surprisingly smooth-playing, unique, psychedelic skateboarding game through an imaginary hell.

Features

• Exceptionally good skating feel
• Unique visual style
• Energizing soundtrack