Open-world games have taken us to sprawling American cities, tropical islands, fantasy kingdoms and enough post-apocalyptic wastelands to make you wonder why humanity bothers rebuilding anything.
Last Drop is taking us somewhere rather different.
Finnish indie studio Lohkare Games Oy has confirmed that its debut title will launch into Steam Early Access on 18 August 2026, bringing players to the fictional city of Nykylä and surrounding countryside in 1994 Finland.
Described by the developers as somewhere between Tarantino and Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, Last Drop combines a cinematic crime story with open-world exploration, old-school fist fights, questionable drinking habits and the everyday struggle of trying to keep enough money in your wallet to survive.
Steam currently lists the game as launching exclusively for PC, with a playable demo also available ahead of release.
Meet Seppo “Zeze” Sahtivaara
Players step into the increasingly battered shoes of Seppo “Zeze” Sahtivaara, a man who dreams of becoming a writer while trying to navigate a world where cash is scarce and disagreements have a habit of ending with someone getting punched.
Rather than filling its version of Finland with assault rifles and rocket launchers, Last Drop removes guns entirely.
Fights instead use a 1v1 combat system inspired by traditional fighting games, with timing, movement and character stats determining who eventually ends up staring at the pavement.
Even learning new techniques fits the 1990s setting.
Instead of spending skill points on an ability tree, Zeze can discover new fighting moves by watching VHS action movies hidden throughout the world.
That might be one of the most unnecessarily authentic progression systems we have heard in a while.
There is more to Finnish life than punching people
Thankfully, Zeze does not spend every waking moment settling arguments with his fists.
Players can drive battered 1990s cars along country roads, cycle between locations, take odd jobs to earn money, visit pubs, collect bottles, heat the sauna and explore forests, lakes and surrounding towns.
There is even a Drunkenness stat to manage alongside Health, Strength, Agility and Stamina.
The wider world operates on its own schedule, with shops opening and closing according to the time of day, while changing weather and a day-night cycle aim to make Nykylä feel like somewhere people actually live rather than a collection of quest markers waiting for the protagonist to arrive.
Players can apparently attempt to sell moonshine to locals too, although choosing the wrong customer may result in another opportunity to practise those VHS fighting techniques.
Reality is apparently stranger than fiction
One of Last Drop’s more interesting claims is that many of its strangest situations are inspired by genuine stories and places.
Lohkare Games says Nykylä and its surrounding areas draw heavily from the Finland its developers knew during the mid-1990s, while characters and encounters have been influenced by real people and events.
Studio founder Henri said the team deliberately wanted to avoid creating another generic open world, instead capturing the place and period where they grew up.
That gives Last Drop a potentially strong identity.
Open-world games often sell themselves on scale. Last Drop seems more interested in specificity: one country, one particular decade and the slightly absurd stories remembered by people who were actually there.
Early Access begins with only part of the story
The 18 August release will not contain the complete narrative.
Lohkare plans to launch Last Drop with the full explorable map and the first section of its story, then expand the game throughout Early Access with more quests, cutscenes, characters, vehicles and other activities.
The developer currently estimates that this process could take between one and two years, although community feedback may influence what gets added along the way.
The price is also expected to increase gradually as more content and features arrive.
That makes the Early Access label worth paying attention to here. Players will be able to explore Last Drop’s world from August, but anyone primarily interested in seeing Zeze’s entire story through to its conclusion may prefer to follow development for a while longer.
Our take on Last Drop
There are plenty of indie open-world games, but not many immediately make us think, “Grand Theft Auto if everyone had fewer guns, more saunas and learnt martial arts from VHS tapes.”
That alone gives Last Drop some personality.
More importantly, its Finnish setting appears to influence the actual design rather than simply providing an unusual backdrop. The cars, pubs, countryside, weather, drinking, local characters and even progression systems all seem tied into the particular version of 1990s Finland Lohkare Games wants to recreate.
Early Access does mean expectations need to be sensible. The full story will not be there on day one, and the studio is openly planning to spend considerable time expanding and refining the experience.
But as a debut project from a small independent Finnish team, Last Drop certainly does not look afraid of being specific, strange and deeply personal.
And frankly, we will take that over another enormous open world filled with radio towers any day.
Last Drop launches into Steam Early Access on 18 August 2026.
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