Ace Team, the developer behind Zeno Clash and Rock of Ages, is working on another surreal, mind-bending game full of bizarre critters. The Eternal Cylinder is an open-world survival affair where you've got to look after a herd of cute alien beasties called trebhums as they evolve into better cute alien beasties.

I thought I was getting tired of open-world survival games, but apparently not. This looks wild. Ace Team are no strangers to making weird worlds, of course, but in Zeno Clash you could only punch your way through it. In Eternal Cylinder, you'll be raising new life. Isn't that nicer?

The way your trebhums evolve seems to be very specific, like becoming a cube so they can fit through a tiny square door. Swimming and flying abilities can also be learned, letting them get to even more new places. So mutations are connected to puzzles and progression.

As someone who is getting a bit sick of having to craft hammers and arrows and build shacks, making survival all about evolution is very appealing. And just look at them!

(Image credit: Good Shepherd Entertainment)

Unfortunately, there are things that want to eat them (in fairness, they do look tasty), as well as the titular cylinder, a huge rolling pin that rolls through the procedurally generated world crushing everything in its path. It sounds a bit silly, but frankly it looks terrifying.

The Eternal Cylinder is due out next year on the Epic Games Store.