Claymatic Games has released Knuckle Creek, a slapstick comedy action brawler featuring clay-animated characters, chaotic arena combat and multiplayer battles for up to eight players. The indie PC game launched on Steam on October 29, 2026, combining traditional stop-motion techniques, scanned clay models and 3D animation to create its distinctive visual style.
Developed and published by the Sheffield-based studio behind Platypus Reclayed, Knuckle Creek is available for Windows PCs at a standard price of $5.99. The game supports both local and online multiplayer alongside a single-player campaign featuring more than 48 handcrafted stages.
Knuckle Creek’s visual presentation builds on Claymatic Games’ experience with physical clay animation. Rather than relying exclusively on conventional 3D character models, the studio combines scanned clay sculptures with traditional stop-motion and digital animation techniques.
Anthony Flack, lead games designer at Claymatic Games, explained in the game’s launch announcement that the studio wanted to build on the visual identity established by Platypus Reclayed while creating an accessible competitive multiplayer experience.
The result is a countryside-themed party brawler where players control clay-styled characters, use weapons and environmental hazards, and attempt to eliminate opponents in increasingly unpredictable matches.
Multiplayer supports between one and eight participants, with Last Player Standing and Team Battle modes available. Players can compete locally on the same system or through online matches, while computer-controlled opponents can fill empty positions or provide an entirely AI-controlled opposing team.
The battle system includes several unusual mechanics. Eliminated players can continue influencing matches by dropping items onto the battlefield, while the winner’s podium remains interactive, allowing opponents to interfere with the victory celebration.
Players can also customize their matches by adjusting starting health, weapons, available maps, time of day, environmental hazards, joker cards and level-voting settings. Steam Friends invitations and shareable invitation codes provide additional options for organizing multiplayer sessions.
Outside competitive multiplayer, Knuckle Creek includes a single-player campaign with more than 48 handcrafted challenges. These stages feature different characters and scenarios, including Hot Dog Man battling hungry crows, a vampire confronting pitchfork-wielding villagers, and boxer Apollo Crude fighting members of the Karate Club.
Single-player challenges feature Steam Friends leaderboards, allowing players to compete for faster completion times measured down to milliseconds. Progression also unlocks additional characters, cosmetic items, bombs and flags for use in multiplayer.
Character customization is another significant part of the game. Claymatic Games has included hundreds of cosmetic items, more than a dozen character voices and selectable emotes. Players can save customized character setups for future matches.
Knuckle Creek supports multiple controllers and keyboard input. Its Steam listing also advertises Remote Play Together, shared-screen multiplayer, online PvP and Steam Cloud functionality.
The game requires Windows 10 or later, 8GB of RAM, a processor supporting SSE2 instructions and a DirectX 10-compatible graphics card. It also requires approximately 7GB of available storage space.
Although Knuckle Creek does not currently offer a native Linux version, Linux and SteamOS users can run the Windows release through Proton. Its compatibility on individual devices may vary, and the Steam listing does not establish an official Steam Deck Verified rating.
Knuckle Creek joins a busy period for independent PC releases, following October’s Steam Next Fest showcase of popular indie game demos. Its combination of clay animation, customizable arena combat and eight-player multiplayer gives it a distinctive identity among recently released party games.
The game is available now on Steam, with a 10% introductory discount scheduled to run until November 12, 2026.
