Event: CRITICAL REFLEX TIME 2026
Date: Tuesday, October 20
Time: 10:30am PT · 1:30pm ET · 6:30pm BST
Where: YouTube
Timing: Right after the ID@Xbox Showcase
Publisher: CRITICAL REFLEX
Featuring: Over a dozen titles
📺 CRITICAL REFLEX TIME returns on Tuesday, October 20 at 10:30am PT / 1:30pm ET / 6:30pm BST, streaming on YouTube right after the ID@Xbox Showcase. Expect big announcements, new trailers, demos and surprises from more than a dozen games.
🧠 Genre Is a Prison and They Ate the WardenCRITICAL REFLEX is the indie publisher behind some of the strangest, most talked-about games of the last few years, including the award-winning Mouthwashing, paranoia-inducing No, I’m not a Human, Buckshot Roulette and Lunacid.
After last year’s first show went down well, CRITICAL REFLEX TIME is back for a second round, bursting at the seams with news from across its genre-bending line-up, including some of its biggest fan favourites.
Mark your calendar. Prepare your eyeballs.
The publisher is promising an eerie new broadcast with big game announcements, brand-new trailers, demos and “other juicy surprises.” It’s also confirmed a handful of the games that will be there, from co-op corporate horror to a narrative mystery about cleaning people’s ears.
Confirmed for the Show
🔧 Pipes.exe
First-person co-op horror for up to four low-level QA employees surviving bizarre testing environments, and the brutal realities of corporate life.
👂 Tiny Chills
A narrative mystery where you clean people’s ears in a quiet town plagued by disappearances, and things that should never be found beneath human skin.
🌙 Being and Becoming
A surreal Metroidvania set in a dying kingdom held together by the collective dream of thousands of would-be martyrs.
📼 Drowned Lake
Found-footage horror investigating the disappearance of an amateur documentarian.
All four are already on Steam, so you can wishlist them before the show: Pipes.exe from Moving Pieces Interactive, Tiny Chills – Not From Ear from Ducktopus Games, Being and Becoming from Ichthys (which already has a free demo), and Drowned Lake from Monumental Collab.
What Else to Expect
🎭 “That’s Only What We’re Willing to Tell You…”
Beyond the confirmed line-up, CRITICAL REFLEX is teasing:
• News from some of its biggest hits
• A few much-anticipated surprises for console players
• And “a seat at the table for something deeply unsettling”
Make of that last one what you will.
When and Where to Watch
Time Zone
CRITICAL REFLEX TIME · Tuesday, October 20
Pacific (PT)
10:30am
Eastern (ET)
1:30pm
UK (BST)
6:30pm
The show streams on the CRITICAL REFLEX YouTube channel, immediately after the ID@Xbox Showcase, so you can make an afternoon of it. If indie horror is more your thing, the publisher’s horror-focused label, CR Channel, also has its own Discord.
📅 Tuesday, October 20 · 10:30am PT · YouTubeCRITICAL REFLEX TIME returns on October 20, right after the ID@Xbox Showcase, with over a dozen games, big announcements, trailers and demos. Keep the afternoon free, and don’t get too comfortable.
Hi there! I’m Marie, also known as CtrlQueen. I’m passionate about keeping up with the latest in gaming news and sharing my insights. RPGs steal my heart with their rich narratives and immersive worlds, but I also love unwinding with fun, casual games. Whether you’re here for deep dives into game mechanics or just to chat about your favorite casual game, you’ve found the right place! Let’s game and explore together.
