150+ game devs promote “Fake OS” Steam tag for InterfaceX26 Steam Sale & Showcase
More than 150 developers and publishers have come together to launch InterfaceX26 (link will work once the sale page is live), a week-long Steam sale and livestream running from April 27 to May 4. Publishers like Devolver Digital, tinyBuild, Fellow Traveller and No More Robots and features developers like Sam Barlow (Her Story, Immortality), Daniel Mullins (Inscryption, Pony Island) and Zach Barth (Zachtronics) have come together with the simple goal to make “Fake OS” an official Steam tag.
Fans can use the event’s custom-built web app that guides them through the tagging process.
If you’ve ever played a game where you’re digging through someone’s computer, exploring a lost phone, or navigating a glitchy operating system to uncover the truth, you’ve already played a “Fake OS” game. Titles like SIMULACRA, Hypnospace Outlaw, Her Story, The Operator, KinitoPET, Emily is Away, The Roottrees are Dead, or Home Safety Hotline have been around for a while, but the genre itself has never had a clear name.
InterfaceX26 is a coordinated push to change that.
Rather than waiting for a top-down solution, developers are taking a community-first approach, encouraging players to tag these games on Steam and help define the genre from the ground up, following in the footsteps of fellow devs who rallied for Valve to create a Dwarf Steam tag in 2024.
These devs are highlighting the genre by putting nearly 100 of their games on sale in a Steam festival, along similar lines to Valve’s recent themed sales events.
Check out the games that are part of the official Showcase:
Alawon: Life of a Game Composer (Muscle Cat)
Author Sim (EssyTheSlug)
Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division (Thomas Hsu)
Deep Fog Signals (Symmetry Break Studio)
Desktop Explorer (Recurring Dream)
Digital Processing (Ant Workshop)
Directory Dungeon (JuhrJuhr)
DOLOS: Your Best Future (Playing Paradigms)
Forbidden Solitaire (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment)
Heaven Does Not Respond (Rise Studios)
HOMEPAGE (Gestmorph Games)
I.T Never Ends (Dadbod Games)
Imprinted (Cobalt Lane)
Lost Wiki: Kozlovka (yattytheman)
lovebyte.exe (Nochi Studios)
mobOS (mob)
Murder Meet Cute (Kitico, LABORARE, Crybaby Studios)
MyDear.exe (Falling Leaves Studio, ClemiSoft)
New Folder (Evicted Games)
Plobania 47/B (Two Bites)
Short Short Fictions (room6,)
Shutter Story (Frostwood Interactive)
SPRKLS.exe (PesiiDom)
Super Real AI (Super Real AI)
SYNTAXIA (CANCAT Games)
The Games You Make (Jumpy Bit)
The Outer Frame (Sapucai Games)
Void Future: Hacking Protocol (RVL Interactive)
ZeroPrompt (ZeroBit)
Alongside the sale, the event includes a live showcase on May 2, featuring 32 new and updated games. The showcase will be hosted by GameSpot’s Kurt Indovina and Lucy James, with appearances from creators including Jesse Cox, Dodger, Nookrium, and Stormfall33.
Organizer Alexander Zacherl says, “Even as someone designing a Fake OS game for more than a year, it took me months to put together this list of games, with lots of support from the community. We still find new ones every week! We should really make it easier for the developers following after us. Let’s get this Steam tag off the ground together.”
Players can support the campaign by tagging games on Steam with “Fake OS,” making the genre easier to find for everyone.
Interview opportunities are available with the event organizers, including: Alexander Zacherl (Imprinted), Helen Carmichael (Forbidden Solitaire), Harvey Carman (Alawon: Composer Life Simulator) and Robin Kocaurek (The Games You Make). There are also potential interviews available with the developers participating in the event.