Dlala Studios' Murals is a Doom-inspired

Dlala Studios revealed Murals, a new action game for Windows PC set for release in 2027. The game was shown during a hands-off preview at the 2026 Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase, according to CEO and game director Aj Grand-Scutton.

Murals is an isometric, narrative-forward action game that deliberately bucks the trend of similar-looking roguelikes. Grand-Scutton was quick to clarify that it is not a roguelike and should not be considered a one-to-one Hades clone.

A dark twist on classic stories

In Murals, you play as The Hero, a stony character who lets his fists do the talking. He is accompanied by Loaf, a chatty anthropomorphic slice of bread. The game puts a dark, twisted spin on classic folklore like Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood. Each story is contained within a magical mural, which acts as a level selection screen.

An official prequel comic shows Rumpelstiltskin as a gigantic Shelob-like spider monstrosity. During a Gamescom demo, Dlala showed the fifth chapter, which is based on The Little Mermaid and features a beachy, aquatic realm. The game's painterly art style has a notable gimmick: all enemies are rendered in 3D, while friendly NPCs like Loaf are in 2D.

Combat built for speed and combos

Combat is fast-paced and dash-based. When you enter a combat chamber, walls trap you until you defeat all enemies. You can use a quick-slashing sword, a powerful hammer, or ranged attacks. The core design inspiration is Doom (2016).

The philosophy, as explained by Grand-Scutton, is that every enemy is really good at performing one specific attack. The challenge comes from the combinations of foes in each fight, not from memorizing complex movesets. For example, you might fight spider crabs only to be caught off guard by horseshoe crabs emerging from sand to lob projectiles.

Defeating enemies builds a killstreak for bonus XP and fills a limit break gauge. A full gauge lets you perform a massive area-of-effect attack called Canvas Clear. The game also features modifiers called Eeries.

You can equip up to nine Eeries permanently. Dlala thinks of them as roguelike abilities you keep for good. Grand-Scutton said the team isn't focused on meticulous balance, prioritizing player fun over fine-tuning. The studio even has an internal leaderboard for the highest killstreak scores, with Grand-Scutton admitting he's not close to the top.

The game is a departure for Dlala Studios, known for Disney Illusion Island and the 2020 beat-em-up revival of Battletoads. Murals is their mostly original IP, set to arrive on PC in 2027.