Shape of Dreams

While Hollow Knight: Silksong was still making waves, and on the same day as the release of Borderlands 4, Shape of Dreams by Lizard Smoothie and Neowiz took gamers by surprise on Steam. What lies behind this surprise hit?

Shape of Dreams, developed by Lizard Smoothie and published by Neowiz, is performing surprisingly well in a challenging market environment. At a time when Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hell is Us, Cronos: A New Dawn, Daemon X Machina, and Borderlands 4 have also been released. This 1 to4 player co-op roguelite action game sold over 100,000 copies in its first 24 hours and reached 30,000 concurrent players on Steam. The following weekend, this figure rose to 45,773. This momentum continued, and within the first week, sales surpassed 300,000. This is the most successful launch to date for South Korean publisher Neowiz, based on Steam CCUs. Founded in 1997, the company publishes games on PC, consoles and mobile. However, it achieved greater prominence with Lies of P (2023), which has now sold over three million copies. As of March 2024, it had over 7 million players worldwide, including those who played the game via services such as Xbox Game Pass, which made the title available at launch until March 2025.

Other titles in the Neowiz portfolio include Brave Nine, Bless Online, DJMAX Respect and Cats & Soup. In October last year, Neowiz announced a partnership with Zakazine, a studio composed of alumni from CD Projekt Red and 11 bit studios. In February 2025, Neowiz partnered with Wolfeye Studios (creators of Weird West) to bring their upcoming retro sci-fi first-person action RPG to audiences around the world. In May, the publisher signed a publishing deal with the Chinese indie game developer Shadowlight for the global rights to their debut title, Kill the Shadow. This narrative-driven, suspenseful adventure game centres on a detective with time-rewinding abilities and features aesthetics that blend high-definition 3D environments with 2D pixel characters.

Lizard Smoothie is developing Shape of Dreams. The team was founded in January 2023 by two South Korean university students who are passionate about MOBAs and indie games. Shape of Dreams is their debut game, with development beginning in January 2023. Lizard Smoothie Co., Ltd., however, was not established until August 2024, by which time the project had already won several Awards from organizations like GIGDC, IndieGo, BIC, and more. The game's prologue was released in November 2024. Eunsop Shim, co-founder and CEO, Lizard Smoothie, said: "We were empowered by our relationship with Neowiz, who helped us earn over 1 million downloads for the prologue and demo version of the game and earn a spot in the top 10 trending titles during Steam Next Fest." The studio currently employs four people.

Shape of Dreams is a hybrid of a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), comparable to League of Legends, and a roguelite with fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat gameplay, similar to that in Hades, Ember Knights or Ravenswatch, which can be played with up to four players in co-op mode. From the outset, players can choose between classic MOBA controls and WASD + mouse controls. However, the game can also be played solo for a 'greater skill-based challenge', as emphasised by the developers. Co-op gameplay is designed to feature MOBA team play and synergistic elements. The combat itself is fast-paced and challenging. It feels powerful, with screen shake and slow-motion effects, and is easy to control even when a lot is happening on the screen. Each run consists of a network of short levels, rooms and arenas to complete, where enemies, upgrades, shops and so on await. It's just a shame that the rooms/arenas often tend to be a little too small. Of course, characters also collect XP across runs. Enemy hunters spawn regularly on the maps, forcing players to advance quickly.

There are eight distinct playable characters, widely different from each other. Each character has a main attack and four slots for additional abilities/skills (Memories), which can be upgraded and modified by inserting crystals (Essences) into their three slots of these abilities. This allows players to customise the effects of these abilities, for instance by increasing area damage, adding status effects such as fire, frost or lightning, introducing different projectile types, or adding healing to certain attacks. The variety of skills and classes is impressive, and the Essences socketed into the skills can create powerful synergies. It's also possible to play a support role (co-op), which is rare in games like this.

The variety of builds and support options, including healing, battle cries and shields, is particularly beneficial in cooperative multiplayer mode. It can be difficult to keep track of everything amid the barrage of effects, but this can be reduced in the menu. The multiplayer experience is excellent, partly because Memories and Essences can be shared at the end of a level/arena, so it does not disrupt the flow of the game if a player takes longer to make their choices. In addition, the team can vote on which path to take through the dream. All players receive all the resources collected. Overall, the co-op implementation is exemplary.

The game features a Traveler Mastery System that rewards progression and a Constellation System that enables strategic development. Players can collect and combine over 150 Memories and Essences to customise their characters and abilities. However, the meta progression seems slow at first, because the game shows players everything that can be unlocked right away, making it clear that progression is step by step. Although the UI resembles that of Gacha games, the game has nothing to do with such mechanics. Nevertheless, a certain amount of grinding is required - and, of course, RNG also plays a role. The replayability is particularly good here. Every procedurally generated run requires new tactics, and no single 'best build' dominates. There are four difficulty levels, eight worlds, intense boss battles and Lucid Dream modifiers, as well as the aforementioned variety of builds. It is this variety that sets the game apart.

"We're deeply thankful to players worldwide for embracing the kind of roguelike Action experience we’ve always dreamed of making. With Neowiz as our partner, we’ll continue working hard to repay all the love and support we've received." - Eunsop Shim, co-founder and CEO, Lizard Smoothie.

"Through the different online and in-person events, we've seen Shape of Dream's genre-building gameplay continue to resonate with Western and Eastern audiences alike. The possibilities are endless in Shape of Dreams, and we firmly believe in Lizard Smoothie's ability to develop a high-quality title that keeps audiences engaged and coming back for another run." - Seungchul Kim, co-CEO, Neowiz in August 2025

Shape of Dreams was released for PC on 11 September 2025. It is priced at €24.50.

Conclusion

Shape of Dreams is a surprisingly strong roguelite action game with MOBA elements. It stands out for its immense variety of builds and engaging gameplay.