There have been some middling Saw games in the past, but Saw: Genesis is a little more ambitious, making the most of Bloober Team's horror game pedigree. The game is a collaboration between Bloober Team's Broken Mirror Games subsidiary and Anshar Studios, with both teams offering some much-needed gameplay information at SGF 2026.
Players are divided into one Judge and three Accused, in an asymmetric setup similar to Evolve or Dead by Daylight. The Judge is this game's post-WW1 Jigsaw Killer and is apparently the predecessor to the franchise's iconic villain. Bloober Team said that Lionsgate has given the nod to the story and settings of this sort-of prequel, so Genesis is canon within Saw's ten-movie narrative universe. Judging from the prerecorded playthrough we saw, it definitely keeps pace with the body horror you'd expect from the series.
The Judge can set traps, use his own exclusive hidden corridors and elevators and generally mess with the Accused's heads. The Judge also starts the game with a level map and full knowledge of where the resources are. Alongside a noise-detection skill that lets the killer see where players are, even through walls, the Judge has his own minion, the Accomplice, who (while not a human player) can abduct downed players or shove them into trap rooms. Another weapon is hallucinogenic gas, which causes the Accused to see themselves under attack. Despite all that, the antagonist is also physically weak — vulnerable. If the Accused can corner the Judge with a weapon, many of which are hidden inside the level, the Judge is unlikely to survive.
Naturally, the Accused benefit by sheer numbers. During some prerecorded gameplay segments, the developers showed different strategies they can take, such as splitting the Judge's focus or making a high-risk, high-reward beeline for tasks and goals. This gives the Judge less time to set up traps.
As they work together to complete challenges, the Accused will have to sacrifice to escape traps or speed up tasks. I watch some wince-inducing barbed wire grabbing and hands being scalded on overheated levers. Player health works as a resource; something to be spent to avoid death, just so long as it doesn't kill you in the process.
Each round lasts 10-15 minutes and includes two different challenge rooms designed to test the Accused's cooperation skills. Again, you can choose to hurt yourself to speed up solutions and get the jump on the Judge, who will spend time setting traps as you solve the challenges. These rooms act as a structural bottleneck to levels: you'll have to beat them to progress to different parts of the map.
It might be wise not to rush, however. If you get caught in the trap, you have the same decision to make, in what the game calls "Rehabilitation" through sacrifice. Fellow Accused can help free you from traps, but you can also decide to sacrifice a body part, for example, a hand or an eye, to free yourself. The rest of the maze you'll subsequently have to explore with that limitation.
Each game can end in multiple ways: the Accused may die in traps, run out of time (and their grim headgear will explode), kill the Judge or simply manage to escape the level. As the game moves into alpha testing, the team seems very eager to adjust and finesse gameplay as players toy with the concept.
I'm intrigued to see how Bloober Team and Anshar Studios balance the two warring sides, including the challenge of everyone wanting to play as the mastermind sociopath.
Saw Genesis' playtest waitlist is open now and it will be coming to Steam Early Access soon.
