Denshattack! Is One of 2026's Best Indies, Blending Tony Hawk with Trains

Denshattack!, the arcade action game from Spain-based developer Undercoders, launched July 15 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch 2 to a wave of critical acclaim. The concept, born from Studio Director David Jaumandreu playing with a Japanese model train like a fingerboard, asks a simple question: what if a 50-ton locomotive could drift, grind, kickflip, and chain tricks like a skateboard? The answer, it turns out, is one of the most exciting indie releases of the year, currently sitting at an 88 average on Metacritic with a "Very Positive" rating on Steam.

Reviewers at Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun both placed it among 2026's best games, praising its level design, escalating trick system, and sheer creative audacity. Set in a climate-ravaged, futuristic Japan where trains are king and daredevil conductors called Denshattackers form countercultural gangs, the game runs about nine to ten hours and pulls from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Jet Set Radio, and Crazy Taxi without simply copying any of them. Critics noted that Denshattack! captures what made those classics special, then rebuilds that energy entirely around the wild, joyous physics of a speeding train.

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