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Ashfield Hollow is putting its free Steam demo at the center of a Hardcore Survival Challenge during Steam Next Fest. Players must survive all 50 in-game days with the preset’s permadeath rule enabled, then submit a screenshot of their final scorecard by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 26, 2026. The four surviving players with the highest zombie-kill totals will each receive a $25 Steam Gift Card.
How to enter the Ashfield Hollow challenge
The event uses a specific sandbox configuration, so changing difficulty or other preset options can invalidate a run. To participate:
- Install the free Ashfield Hollow demo on Steam.
- Start a new game rather than continuing an existing save.
- Select the Hardcore Survival sandbox preset.
- Leave Permadeath enabled and make no changes to the preset settings.
- Survive all 50 in-game days without dying.
- Capture a screenshot of the completed run’s final scorecard.
- Submit that screenshot through the event form before the deadline.
The deadline is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 26, 2026, when Steam Next Fest ends. The published rules identify the four highest zombie-kill totals among players who complete the run as the winners; each receives one $25 Steam Gift Card.
What the demo includes
The demo is designed as a substantial preview rather than a short tutorial. Ashfield Hollow’s Steam description lists 50 in-game days and roughly 10 hours of play on default settings. Progress carries into the full game, allowing a successful demo run to remain useful when the full release becomes available. The materials do not give a release date for that full version, which is still in development.
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| Demo or event detail | Published specification |
|---|---|
| Access | Free demo on Steam |
| Challenge duration | 50 in-game days |
| Typical default-setting play time | Approximately 10 hours |
| Required event preset | Hardcore Survival |
| Death rule | Permadeath must remain enabled |
| Submission deadline | October 26, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time |
| Prizes | Four $25 Steam Gift Cards, ranked by zombie kills among qualifying runs |
| Controls and devices | Keyboard and mouse, controller, and Steam Deck |
What kind of game is Ashfield Hollow?
BitQuest Studio describes Ashfield Hollow as a 2D post-apocalyptic survival life-sim RPG. The story begins ten years after an outbreak: the player wakes in Camp Ashfield without a memory and must establish a life in a damaged world. Its systems combine real-time survival combat with activities normally associated with a life simulation.
Survival, combat and scavenging
Players fight infected enemies and hostile survivors while scavenging for supplies. Permadeath makes the challenge run especially consequential, because a fatal mistake ends that save instead of merely resetting a recent encounter.
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Farming and everyday skills
The core loop also includes farming, fishing, foraging, crafting and raising animals. These systems provide alternatives to constant combat and support the longer-term task of keeping a settlement functioning.
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Building and relationships
Base building lets players create a home at Camp Ashfield, while relationships with camp residents add a social layer to the survival routine. The developer’s framing is summed up by its tagline: “Survive. Rebuild. Belong.”
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Exploration areas
Listed destinations include forests, abandoned towns, ruined buildings and dangerous sewers. Those locations broaden the search for resources and expose the player to different risks beyond the camp.
Why the challenge changes the demo
On ordinary settings, players can experiment with farming, crafting or exploration at their own pace. The event’s fixed Hardcore Survival preset removes that flexibility: the run must begin from a new save, permadeath cannot be disabled, and the settings cannot be adjusted after selection. The scoring objective also rewards zombie kills, so competitors must balance safe progress against opportunities to engage infected enemies. A high kill count is useful only if the player survives all 50 days and produces an eligible scorecard.
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Platform support and progress carryover
The demo supports keyboard and mouse, controllers and Steam Deck. That gives participants several ways to play the same event, although the rules still require the same preset and survival result regardless of input method. The developer states that demo progress carries into the full game, but the full game’s availability remains a future development milestone rather than a confirmed launch date.
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Ashfield Hollow is still in development. Official materials direct interested players to its Steam presence, Discord community, trailer and press kit, but they do not announce a completed release schedule or provide independent performance benchmarks. The Steam Next Fest demo and this time-limited challenge are therefore the concrete ways to experience the project now.
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