Skin Deep is set to launch on Steam on April 30 after nearly seven years in development. Created by Blendo Games and published by Annapurna Interactive, the game is a first-person sci-fi shooter with a quirky twist.
Set on a futuristic cargo starship, players take on the role of a cryogenically frozen security officer who thaws into action when space pirates attack. The game blends shooting, sneaking, and sabotage with an unusual "stink system" and a sneeze mechanic that can alert enemies. Players even have to save cats—some dressed in tiny cowboy outfits.
"If you're crawling through a dusty vent your little sneezy air level will increase, then you'll do a big sneeze noise," developer Brendon Chung told Engadget in 2021. "And there's a bag of pepper that we have. If you shoot it, a big cloud of pepper flies out. You can pick up a pepper bag and throw it at someone and they'll start sneezing."
Chung, known for award-winning games like Quadrilateral Cowboy and Thirty Flights of Loving, is using a modified version of id Software’s Doom 3 engine, idTech4, for Skin Deep. "I've played like a bazillion FPS games because I just really enjoy them," he said, "but I feel like there's so much that can be explored and that I wish these games would explore."