If the Latin American Games Showcase wanted a jolt of pure adrenaline, it found one in Bunraku. Revealed during the show’s June 4 broadcast, Colombian studio Efecto Studios’ new title is a fast, frantic 8-player platform brawler built around the centuries-old art of Japanese puppet theater — and it is playable right now in a free Steam playtest.
The conceit is wonderful: you are a ninja puppet performing for a live audience, and every clash plays out on a stage as much as a battlefield. Up to eight players pile into the Bunraku Theater’s arenas, online via peer-to-peer or locally on the couch, scrapping to become the ultimate battle puppeteer while the crowd reacts dynamically to every hit, parry and knockout.
Dash, parry, ninjutsu
Combat is built on a tight, expressive toolkit. Efecto leans on a signature slashing dash for closing distance, precision parries for turning an opponent’s aggression against them, and flashy ninjutsus for swinging a round. The studio — previously behind the tactical games Decoherence and Project Possession — is clearly chasing the same easy-to-learn, hard-to-master rhythm that keeps party fighters in rotation for years.
What’s in the playtest
The build available now is an appetizer rather than the full show. It offers three PvP and team-based modes, a single biome spread across twelve stages, and one playable Ninja Puppet to learn inside and out. It is enough to get a real read on the movement and the moment-to-moment fighting, which is exactly what Efecto needs feedback on ahead of a wider launch.
How to jump in
The free Bunraku playtest is live on Steam through June 14, so there is a tight window to try it during Summer Game Fest weekend. The full game is in development for Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5, though Efecto has not committed to a release date yet.
Between this and the rest of the showcase’s nine world premieres, the Latin American indie scene used its Summer Game Fest slot to make a loud case for itself — and Bunraku might be the most immediately playable reason to pay attention.
