Dinoblade is out: the greatsword-wielding Spinosaurus soulslike that started as a viral clip

A dinosaur swinging a greatsword with its mouth should not be one of the most-wishlisted indie games of the year. Yet here we are. Dinoblade launched on Steam July 23, and it arrived with more than 600,000 wishlists and one of the stranger origin stories in recent indie memory.

Developed by a single person under the banner of Team Spino LLC and co-published by Boltray Games, Dinoblade is an action RPG that has spent the last few years being described, accurately, as “Dark Souls with dinosaurs.” You play a young Spinosaurus wielding a colossal Great Sword, and you fight your way through a prehistoric world that a cataclysm has turned savage.

The trailer answers the only question that matters here, which is whether the combat looks as good as the premise sounds. It does.

From a 30-second clip to 600,000 wishlists

The best part of Dinoblade’s story is that it wasn’t supposed to be a game at all. Back in August 2022, a professional game animator named Jean Nguyen posted a short clip of a Spinosaurus performing a fluid greatsword combo. It was a portfolio piece. It went viral instead, and the internet more or less demanded that it become a real thing.

Four years later it is a real thing, built largely by that one person. By launch week the wishlist count had climbed past 600,000, roughly ten times the rough benchmark analysts use for an indie that’s well positioned to sell. That is a staggering figure for a solo project, and it’s the kind of pre-launch audience most studios never see.

Dark Souls with dinosaurs

Underneath the meme, this is a real soulslike. Combat is built around timing your dodges, rolls, and parries, chaining combos, and learning enemy patterns rather than mashing through them. Each biome, from dry canyons to mist-shrouded jungle, is ruled by a ferocious Alpha, an apex-predator boss guarding the path forward. Beat it or get eaten.

Progression is the RPG half. Victories unlock new skills and abilities, there are legendary weapons hidden across the world, and clearing the final boss opens a Boss Rush mode for players who want the fights back to back. It’s a familiar structure, but the fantasy of playing the apex predator instead of the plucky underdog is a genuinely fresh spin on it.

How it landed

The early signs are strong. The long-running demo sits at Overwhelmingly Positive, with 97 percent of several thousand reviews positive, and the full release has opened to a Very Positive rating on Steam. For a soulslike, where combat feel is the whole game, that demo consensus is the signal that matters most.

Dinoblade is out now on PC via Steam at 17.99 dollars, a 10 percent launch discount off the 19.99 dollar list price, running through the end of the month. It’s Windows only for now, with no console versions announced.

The honest caveat is the one that trails every hyped launch. A brilliant demo and a wall of wishlists prove the concept lands in short bursts. Whether the pacing, difficulty curve, and variety hold up across a full campaign is something only the finished game and the next few weeks of player reviews can settle. Early reception is a promise, not a verdict.

Still, a solo developer turning a viral animation into one of 2026’s most anticipated indies, and landing it well, is exactly the kind of story worth watching. If you want more of the year’s standouts, our best indie games of 2026 so far is the place to start, and if it’s the tough combat you’re here for, games like Dead Cells has plenty to chew on while you carve through the Cretaceous.