Fine Work: Act I News

[p]Steam Next Fest returns June 9, 2025, bringing opportunities for upcoming games to connect with players. Steam Next Fest is a multi-day celebration where fans can try demos, chat with developers, watch livestreams, and learn about upcoming games on Steam. [/p][p][/p][p]We’re thrilled to announce that we’re dropping a major update to the Fine Work demo. As a game can only participate in Steam Next Fest once, we’ve been all “häns” on deck to bring you this latest build. This will be our final major demo update before launching Act I this summer! Thank you to the community for the feedback over the past year, we could not have done it without your thoughtful feedback, bug reports, and “WHO IS THAT?!😍”s!
[/p][p]NEW DEMO BUILD FEATURES[/p]

• [p]New Dialogue, Backgrounds, and Character Art[/p]
• [p]Upgraded UI[/p]
• [p]A Big Upgrade to Save/Load[/p]
• [p]A Brand New Character [/p]
• [p]New 3D Art and Beatmaps in the Rhythm Levels[/p]

[p]
Watch the devs & community play the demo on our Steam store page, download & play the demo yourself, and join our Discord to stay in the loop for the final updates before release! [/p][p][/p]

A great story-driven game needs a fully realized world. Plus, what’s the point of romancing outlandish QTs if they don’t have a compelling backstory? It all starts with a solid setting.

The story of Fine Work takes place in the city of Gleamhold, in a region of space bordering two great domains (Montemanor and Fluem, for the curious). Over the course of Fine Work, you’ll play as a sendshaper, an artisan that can receive memories, and shape them into artifacts. Throughout the game, you’ll meet some of the cutest (and strangest) beings Gleamhold has to offer, and craft lasting connections as you work with their memories to meet their needs.



The world of Fine Work is very different from our own. In this world, people like you and I (warmly referred to as muck) live forever. While there aren’t very many muck in the universe of Fine Work, the worlds that muck inhabit and travel to are numerous and varied. This universe is often referred to as The Ether. In addition to muck, stranger beings, known as Grands, pursue mysterious plans, seek inscrutable pleasures, and are generally not to be trusted. Forerunners, ineffable deities, serve as pillars of The Ether: too massive and abstract to be perceived, their idle dreams spin off worlds that muck can inhabit and explore.



The problem all beings face, from muck to forerunner: forever gets boring. Our worldbuilding and lore is very interested in the consequences of “deep time”: what happens to a mind facing eternity? What strange patterns emerge when habits, grudges, and desires are pursued and looped indefinitely? To stay vivid is to grow, to change, to be renewed against the desert of deep time. To mesh is to die in truth: to become frozen, blended with the surroundings, inert and automatic. To this end, muck swap memories to stay vivid: a fresh memory, given to another, is called a send. Sendings are the primary currency in the world of Fine Work. People go to great lengths to acquire fresh send, including stealing memories from sleeping Forerunners…




Much more to come, so stay tuned, friends :3 And, as the customary farewell of Fine Work goes:

“Stay vivid!”

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There are many ways to help support the project for free (or after pledging already), including:

• Joining the Discord!
• Wishlisting Fine Work!
• Sharing Fine Work with pals!
• Playing (and/or) Streaming Our Demo!

Fine Work will be showcased in the Indie Assemble Steam event from May 5-11, 2025!

Indie Assemble features over 1,000 games by 600+ development studios (from 63 different countries)! You can check out this event - and all the cool indie titles involved - RIGHT NOW!

Indie Assemble 2025

Thank you to Giorgio for including us in this fun event! Go check out some cool games!

Stay Vivid~!

Are you attending Dreamhack Dallas 2025? So are we!
Come visit the Fine Work booth in the Indie Playground!! Play the demo, meet some of our team, & grab a QT sticker!

Didn't buy a ticket yet?
We’ve got you covered ✨Use our special code, FINEWORK, for a 15% discount on 1-day and 3-day DreamHack tickets.

Be sure to drop into our DISCORD and let us know that you're coming!!

Can’t wait to see you there!

Stay Vivid!

Peek into the Fine Work demo with friends of the studio, including @AustinRyder & @WMGSO