Indie Spotlight: First-Person Prison Stealth in PROCEDURE ZERO at Steam Next Fest and Browser Colony Strategy in AntConquest
Alongside the major blockbuster releases crowding the autumn calendar, independent developers continue to craft distinctive experiences built in close connection with their communities. Two creators recently reached out directly to our editorial team to introduce their projects: solo Polish developer Łukasz Twardowski, who is building the first-person prison stealth thriller PROCEDURE ZERO under the Delanivo Games banner, and indie creator Nonanona, the developer behind the free multiplayer browser strategy game AntConquest. While the two titles could hardly be more different in tone, both can be played for free right now.
PROCEDURE ZERO: Surviving Cell C-17 and Taking Over a Black-Site Prison
Our first stop takes us to Poland with PROCEDURE ZERO, a first-person stealth game written, designed, programmed, and published entirely solo by Łukasz Twardowski. The premise wastes no time raising the stakes. You play as a former financial auditor who uncovered a hidden second ledger exposing a major fraud and made the mistake of copying the files. Days later, without a trial or formal conviction, you wake up inside Cell C-17 of a secretive prison. Your file contains no name and no charges, only a single status stamp: "ZERO."
Inside this facility, whenever the lights go out in the cell block, a bunk is left empty by the time power returns, and nobody ever sees the missing inmate again. With someone already erasing your existence from the prison paperwork, survival depends on careful observation and mastering the underground prison economy. Much like other atmospheric indie standouts featured this week such as the updated Detective Mode demo for Hope in the City, the game rewards patience and environmental awareness over brute force.
On the ground, the core gameplay loop revolves around hands-on stealth and improvisation:
- Guard Patrols and Distractions: Players study guard routines, switch on a radio or set fire to cardboard boxes in a storeroom to draw sentries away from their posts, knock them out with a baton, and drag them by the legs to lock them inside empty booths or utility rooms.
- The Cigarette and Coin Economy: Behind bars, cigarettes and coins buy information, favors, and access codes such as the keypad combination to the isolation cells. Honoring a deal turns fellow inmates into allies, whereas barging into another prisoner's cell uninvited triggers bare-knuckle fistfights.
- Sector-by-Sector Prison Takeover: In the full version of the game, each completed mission allows you to rally inmates and take control of new prison sectors on the map as you gather evidence to uncover who is orchestrating the disappearances.
Participating in Steam Next Fest from October 19 to October 26, 2026 alongside fellow indie contenders like the survival third-person shooter ANOMALITH, PROCEDURE ZERO currently offers a free 25-minute demo covering its first two missions, from Block C to a pitch-black power outage in Sector A where shining your flashlight beam into a guard's eyes immediately gives you away. The full release is scheduled for November 12, 2026 on PC via Steam, featuring text localization in 23 languages and full voice acting in 6 languages. Players can download the free demo right now on the official PROCEDURE ZERO Steam page and explore additional materials via the Delanivo Games press kit.
Check Procedure Zero deals on Allkeyshop→
AntConquest: Multiplayer Ant Colony Warfare and Alliance Diplomacy in Your Browser
Shifting from claustrophobic corridors to subterranean strategy, our second spotlight focuses on AntConquest, created by independent developer Nonanona. Designed in the classic tradition of browser-based alliance and ant colony management games, this multiplayer strategy title runs directly inside any web browser on PC, smartphone, or tablet with zero downloads required.
Players start from a single Queen and build a thriving underground empire capable of holding its own against hundreds of rival colonies:
- Resource Harvesting and Territory Hunting: Worker ants automatically gather food and building materials while you upgrade nursery chambers to speed up troop production. Expanding your hunting grounds requires sending armies out on expeditions or raiding rival players to capture their territory.
- Specialized Ant Units and Research: Upgrading the Military Barracks and Training Room unlocks specialized castes, from high-damage Shooters and Ravagers for offensive raids to heavily armored Guardians for colony defense, backed by research trees in genetics, acid, and poison as well as a built-in battle simulator.
- Alliances, Espionage, and Mini-Games: Every newcomer receives a seven-day beginner protection shield to establish their colony before stepping into full-scale diplomacy, trade, scouting, and coordinated alliance warfare, complemented by built-in side modes including a 30-wave Tower Defense challenge and 1v1 player duels.
Currently in open beta with more than 1,250 registered players and nearly 50 active alliances, AntConquest operates on a strict no pay-to-win philosophy where the in-game shop only offers profile cosmetics such as frames, titles, and badges rather than combat power. Available in English, French, and Arabic with an automatically translated live chat so international players can coordinate seamlessly, the beta can be played for free via the official AntConquest website or through the AntConquest page on itch.io.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
