A robot dog trying to get back to its humans sounds like a good reason to dismantle a few hostile machines. Dog in the Machine, the turn-based tactical roguelite from Studio Chahut and Goblinz Publishing, launched today, September 29, 2026, on Steam for Windows and macOS.
The setting is Automatown, a dystopian mechanical city where robot pets have been deemed useless following the exile of their human companions. You control an AutoDog attempting to escape, teaching it increasingly elaborate tricks to fight through the machines standing between it and a reunion. The developers have also released a new launch trailer alongside the game.
Combat takes place on compact grids with interactive scenery and collision-based chain reactions. Conveyor belts, traps, and reactive enemies all contribute to how an encounter unfolds. The tactical appeal here is figuring out how those pieces interact: positioning and environmental effects give you ways to extend an attack beyond its initial target.
To help work through those possibilities, Dog in the Machine includes a real-time action preview. You can inspect how a planned sequence will play out, cancel it, and adjust your instructions before committing. With several battlefield elements potentially affecting one another, that gives you room to experiment without executing a move just to discover what it does.
Your AutoDog learns a new ability, called a Trick, after each battle. Two Tricks can then be merged into a more complex one, either following a blueprint or experimenting with your own combinations. Encounters between fights provide further opportunities to buy, exchange, upgrade, or steal abilities for your Trick Library, gradually shaping the options available during combat.
There are eight dog breeds, procedurally generated levels, and multiple difficulty settings. Permanent upgrades and additional features unlock between runs, adding longer-term progression alongside the abilities assembled during each escape attempt.
Dog in the Machine is currently available with a 20% launch discount on Steam, running until October 13.
