Endling *Extinction is Forever

The forest is burning, your belly is full, and the world’s gone to hell.

Endling: Extinction is Forever throws you headfirst into the ash-choked aftermath of ecological collapse. You play as the last living fox on Earth, limping from a wall of fire straight into a human landfill. And if that premise didn’t punch you in the soul hard enough, moments later you give birth to four impossibly cute cubs who will rely on your every pawstep to survive.

From there, it’s a nightly ritual of risk and resolve. Each dusk is a ticking clock. You guide your shivering little furballs through polluted valleys, dodging gas-masked humans and scavenging for scraps. Every rustle might be food… or a trap. And daylight? That’s when death becomes more certain.

Endling’s side-scrolling world is hauntingly tactile, layers of garbage and snow and sorrow stack up around your tiny pack, while the scent trails of food or danger waft toward your twitching snout. One misstep, one wrong turn, and one of your cubs might not come back. I lost my favorite on night three. I still haven’t forgiven myself.

What’s stunning is how much Endling says without a single word. Its minimalist mechanics and muted world don’t need dialogue when every glance back at your struggling pups tells you everything. It’s not just a survival game. It’s an elegy.

And yet, it’s also a call to action. One you’ll hear loudest when your fox limps home, one cub lighter.