Retroware has announced that a free Steam demo for The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest, not to be confused with Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, will be available on June 19, 2026, giving players their first public hands-on look at the completely rebuilt version of the game. Finally, we’re going to be able to play the game in the comfort of our homes, and it’s about damned time.
For those who haven’t been following this one, The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest is a retro-inspired classic Castlevania titles and pulls heavily from Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest and Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, while also having a bit of fun with the whole vampire-hunting setup. Instead of arriving in Transylvania to save the day, Simon Quest finds out that his rival already beat him to it and killed Dracula. So, naturally, Simon decides to travel across Wallachia, gather Dracula’s body parts, resurrect the dark count, and beat him himself.
The demo includes the entire Bram region, along with the full intro cutscene that sets up the events unfolding in 15xx Transylvania. Players will be able to choose between Adventure Mode, which lets them explore the region, speak with villagers, and work their way toward Bram Mansion, or Action Mode, which skips the talking and sends players straight into the mansion.
According to Retroware, the demo will also include eight subweapons and utility items to collect, an alternate route through the region, a hidden minigame, and several secrets waiting to be found.
“The first region of the game, Bram, is playable in its entirety! Those who have been following The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest since the beginning are aware that there was a demo from 2021 of this region; however, this demo is from the completely rebuilt game, featuring smoother visuals, controls, and an overall more polished experience,” said the game’s developer, Programancer.
“This is the first publicly available demo I’ve released of The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest since it had its massive overhaul/rewrite. I’ve shown this off at conventions recently, but now people can finally have this version of TASQ to play at home! I hope people are able to see just how improved the game has been since its original ‘not-really-suitable-for-wide-release-because-it-was-just-a-joke’ inception, and I appreciate everybody’s patience as I craft this world!”
I played a demo of The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest during PAX East 2024, and I loved what I played. It felt like something Konami would have made back in the day, and coming from me, that’s saying something. The movement, the look, the music, and the whole setup nailed that classic Castlevania feel without feeling like a lazy copy.
That said, I do wonder if the game may have less of an impact now than it would have had if it had released sooner. Since then, several games have stepped in to scratch that Castlevania itch, and now there is even an official game, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, arriving in 2026. That puts The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest in a much different spot than it was in back when I first played it.
Either way, I’m still looking forward to the game, and I can’t wait to check out the new demo when it lands on Steam. Now, if we can only get a release date, that would make my day and no more terrible nights to be cursed.
The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest is coming to Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
