Ethan Crossfield 
Upcoming Steam game Kalit is shaping up as an unusually broad survival sandbox, combining rubber-hose cartoon animation with mining, crafting, farming, creature collecting, and base construction. Developed by two-person Italian studio Travi Team Games, the project is planned for 2027 without a confirmed launch date. A playable demo released in March 2026 gives players an early look at how its striking visual identity fits with a much more familiar open-world survival framework.
What happened
Kalit was first announced in June 2025 and is now positioned as Travi Team Games’ next project after Scroter and Unknown Tapes. Its most immediate hook is the contrast between presentation and mechanics. The game uses hand-drawn animation inspired by 1930s cartoons, with exaggerated rubber-hose movement that naturally recalls Cuphead. Instead of placing that style in a traditional side-scrolling action game, however, Travi Team has built a fully 3D world around it.
The core loop follows the familiar survival-sandbox formula. Players can cut down trees, mine ore, collect materials, make equipment, grow crops, and design a personal base while dealing with hunger and temperature. Kalit also adds a sanity meter, giving its survival systems another layer beyond the basic needs commonly associated with the genre.
Why it matters
Kalit’s creature system could be the feature that separates it from the many open-world crafting games competing for attention on Steam. Wildlife can be captured, taken into combat, assigned to resource-gathering roles, or used to defend and automate a base. Creatures can also evolve into stronger forms, tying collection directly to both character progression and production.
That structure resembles the broader appeal of games such as Palworld, where companions are more than combat partners. They are also part of the player’s industrial and defensive infrastructure. Kalit is expanding that formula with a substantial exploration promise: climbing, gliding, mine delving, quests for animated NPCs, automated defenses, mechs, and flying vehicles are all planned features.
The underwater content is particularly ambitious. Players are expected to explore shipwrecks, find aquatic creatures and unique resources, manage oxygen, and build bases beneath the surface. For a two-person studio, that feature list creates both a compelling point of difference and a significant development challenge.
What to watch next
The demo is the clearest way to judge Kalit before release, although it does not yet represent every feature promised for the finished game. Since its March 2026 debut, it has expanded to include an underwater area, an online creature card-battler minigame, and combat improvements. Controller support was also added, which makes the game more approachable on PC and could help if Travi Team eventually pursues a console version.
For now, Kalit is confirmed only for PC through Steam. The studio has not announced an exact 2027 release date or other platforms. The key questions are whether its many systems can work together cohesively, how much content the small team can deliver, and whether the cartoon presentation remains distinctive once players spend dozens of hours gathering resources and expanding a base.
Key takeaways for prospective players
- Kalit is planned for a 2027 PC release, but no specific launch date has been announced.
- The game combines 1930s-inspired hand-drawn animation with a 3D survival and crafting world.
- Captured creatures can fight, gather resources, defend bases, automate tasks, and evolve.
- The playable demo includes underwater exploration, combat updates, and an online creature card battler.
- Building, farming, mining, vehicles, mechs, and sanity management all sit alongside the creature system.
Expert View
Kalit has a strong pitch because its visual identity is immediately recognizable while its systems target several proven survival-game trends at once. That combination could make it stand out in Steam’s crowded sandbox market, but it also raises the bar for execution. The demo’s continued expansion is encouraging; the decisive test will be whether a two-person studio can turn this impressive feature list into a focused, stable game rather than an overloaded collection of promises.
