Mike Klubnika, the mostly solo developer behind the viral death-game hit Buckshot Roulette, has announced his next project: Machine Party, a multiplayer horror game where the party never ends because everyone keeps dying.
What Machine Party looks like after a nightmare
The official Steam description lays it out plainly: "Machine Party is a collection of violent party games where failure is lethal. Gather your friends and endure high stakes situations to prove your life is worth more than theirs. Survival is unlikely."
Here's the thing: that premise is not a gimmick. Klubnika built his entire reputation on taking a familiar social format, in Buckshot Roulette's case a drinking game, and replacing the low stakes with a loaded shotgun. Machine Party applies the same logic to the party game genre. Competitive pea-eating. Speed cigarette smoking. Mini-games where losing means a revolver blast to the face rather than losing a few coins or getting sent back three spaces on a board.
The aesthetic matches the energy perfectly. Machine Party carries the same low-poly, grungecore visual style that made Buckshot Roulette feel genuinely unsettling rather than just edgy. This is not a game trying to shock you with gore for its own sake. The visual language is deliberate, and Klubnika clearly knows exactly what he is building.
From one-on-one dread to four-player carnage
Buckshot Roulette's multiplayer update proved that Klubnika's formula scales beyond a two-player table. Machine Party takes that a step further, supporting 2 to 4 players and promising "multiple devious ways of screwing your friends over."
What most players miss in party games is how much the real tension comes from social pressure, not the mechanics themselves. Klubnika seems to understand this. The mini-game format means you are never more than a few seconds away from watching someone you know get a revolver pressed to their head because they ate their peas too slowly.
Whether there is a full Machine Party-style game board connecting the mini-games is not confirmed. The Steam page describes it as a collection of violent party games rather than a structured board experience, suggesting Machine Party leans more into rapid-fire chaos than a longer session format.
danger
Machine Party is currently listed as a Steam exclusive with a Q3 2026 release window. No console versions have been announced.
The solo dev who carved out the most specific niche in indie games
Klubnika is doing something genuinely rare here. He is not chasing a trend or expanding into a bigger team to scale up. He is doubling down on a very specific creative identity: party games where the social contract is also a death sentence.
Buckshot Roulette launched in 2023 and became one of the most talked-about indie releases of that year, turning a $3 game into a cultural moment. Machine Party suggests Klubnika is not interested in replicating that exact formula but in applying its core tension to a completely different structure. That is a more interesting creative bet than a direct sequel would have been.
The key here is that the horror party game space is genuinely wide open. There is no direct competition sitting in this lane. Twisted Metal did to Machine Kart what Machine Party wants to do to Machine Party, and that comparison holds up as a shorthand, but Klubnika's version feels more personal and more specific than that framing suggests.
Machine Party is targeting a Q3 2026 launch on Steam. For more on what is coming to PC this year, check out the latest gaming news and keep an eye on Klubnika's Steam page for further details on the mini-game lineup and any updates on a potential board mode.
If the Buckshot Roulette formula is anything to go by, you will want to wishlist this one before the hype cycle catches up. Browse latest reviews to stay across the best indie releases landing in the meantime. Make sure to check out more:
