Wellspring Studios

Wave-survival shooter · PC · In development

Survive the neon night.

A neon wave-survival shooter where the music drives the carnage. Hold the line against the horde, turn every kill into a spectacle, and spend what you earn on guns that get wilder with every upgrade.

Join the Discord Follow @Wellspring4444

Every kill a spectacle

Zombies here are bodies, not glass. Where you hit them, and with what, decides what happens. Small rounds chip and punch through, shotguns blow them open, a blade cuts clean, and on the ground a good kick still works. Buildings come apart in showers of colour. Brutal, neon, and over the top.

Every wave a song

A trance soundtrack runs through every fight. Waves build with the music, the drop brings the horde, and the breakdown gives you a breath. Shoot on the beat and kills hit even harder. Shoot off it and you're still deadly. No rhythm pressure, just carnage you can feel.

Every upgrade a new toy

Kills earn NEON. Spend it on upgrades you feel the moment you buy them: burst fire, piercing rounds, burning stakes, thermal sights and more. Pick a path, the Gun, the Blade or the Signal, and grow from survivor to walking power fantasy.

All work

Form: Wave-survival FPS
Kills: Location-based, spectacular
Music: Trance that sets the pace
Upgrades: NEON · Gun, Blade, Signal
Worlds: Neon city, storybook, and more
Specials: Krampusnacht · Surf contest
Platform: PC · Single-player

A zombie bursts into a cloud of pink shards between glowing white pillars while the screen announces GRAVITY FAILS, THE DROP and LEGENDARY SKYSHOT; the pistol's muzzle flash lights the wet floor orange. — The drop brings the horde, and a kill bursts into pink light.

Low-poly, hot-magenta zombies in work clothes and caps crowd the camera with their mouths open; a small "ON BEAT x1.25" marker sits on the nearest one. — Far too close. Where you hit them decides what you see.

Looking up at a flying neon bus against a nebula sky as a huge fireball erupts beneath it; on-screen text reads TRIPLE KILL and THE DOWNBEAT x2.00. — Rush hour: the horde arrives by flying bus, and a triple kill lights up the sky.

Worlds

Worlds to fight through

A huge black stepped ziggurat over a neon street as magenta zombies approach

THE NEON CITY

The Neon City

Circuit towers, rain, and speakers that pulse with the music.

A snowy storybook clearing under a lilac storm with gingerbread houses and candy-cane poles

THE STORYBOOK

The Storybook

A gingerbread village where the fairytale has teeth.

A deep-blue underwater ruin of stone walls and broken columns

THE DEEP

The Deep

Something ancient waits below.

First-person view from the bow of a wooden boat on choppy violet water as a pack of magenta zombies crowds the bow, with a bright magenta neon horizon to the left and a dark blue nebula dome to the right. — Uninvited passengers: the horde crowds the bow on the neon river crossing.

...and beyond.

Plus specials: a Krampusnacht holiday nightmare, and a surf contest on a sky-high beach where the judges are seagulls and the skeleton always gives you a 3.

Choose a path

The frequency is reading you.

It wants to know how you move. This decides the run.

THE BLADE

martial · close · precise

“It finds elegance in timing. Steel, and the reach to use it. Nothing to reload. Everything to lose.”

Starts with a tanto. Steel, and the reach to use it. Nothing to reload. A blade cuts clean, and a good kick still works when they're on the ground. The ladder climbs to the katana's sheathed draw and a great shuriken that comes back to your hand.

THE GUN

firearms · ranged · reliable

“Echoes of the world you came from. They weren't made here — but they're learning the song.”

Starts with a 9mm. Small rounds chip and punch through. Spend NEON and it changes in your hands: burst fire, piercing rounds, burning stakes, thermal sights. The rack runs to iron-sight rifles, a stake gun that pins bodies to walls, and a rail rifle.

THE SIGNAL

synthtech · granted

“Not found. Given. Power straight off the frequency, and it will want something back.”

Starts with the Signal Bolt and the Neon Pulse. Its weapons are shapes of light, not magazines. The ladder ends at Thundershock: one bolt, and the street conducts.

Kills earn NEON. Spend it and the weapon changes the moment you buy the upgrade.

The world

Neon with a sense of humour

The fights are brutal; the world is ridiculous. A Conductor narrates your rampage, Nyx keeps you alive over the radio, and somewhere out there a zombie surfer named Chad is waiting to tell you that surf was gnarly, bro.

Nyx, arms folded and unimpressed, and Trent the Hauler on the title stage.

THE HAULER

Trent

A research technician and former session musician, pulled through the collider on run day. He doesn't know how to fight; the dimension teaches his hands anyway. Deadpan, out of his depth, and getting good at this faster than anyone is comfortable with.

“It's a paperweight that can hit a target from across the street.”

NYX

the voice on the frequency

The only human he can reach. Grounded, practical, lightly teasing. She keeps him talking, keeps him moving, and doesn't let him freeze.

“It fits your hands. That's the part I don't like.”

THE CONDUCTOR

the voice of the dimension

A cosmic DJ who treats the end of the world as a performance, and the Hauler as the only audience that showed up. He leans out of the sky to set the terms.

“The dead are not the point. The song is.”

OLD MAN REYES

the driver who got here first

He has been inside for twenty years, and he has opinions about it.

“I've been driving this world for twenty years. Two of them well.”

CHAD

zombie surfer

Somewhere out there, waiting to tell you the surf was gnarly.

“Surf was gnarly, bro.”

Screenshots

First-person view of a rain-soaked neon city street: magenta zombies walk across a mirror-wet floor ruled with cyan grid lines, a striped yellow sun glows behind a black tower, and the player holds a pistol. — Wave three, downpour: the horde crosses a mirror-wet grid while the sun behind the skyline pulses like an equalizer.

Nyx, arms folded and unimpressed, and Trent the Hauler on the title stage.

Two colossal glowing white hands frame a blue and pink nebula above a silhouetted synthwave skyline, with black cones and glowing pink steps below; a small subtitle reads "TRENT: Good." — Between worlds, the Conductor leans out of the sky to set his terms.

Three cards under the heading THE FREQUENCY IS READING YOU: THE BLADE (martial, close, precise) in magenta, THE GUN (firearms, ranged, reliable) in amber, and THE SIGNAL (synthtech, rhythm, granted) in cyan. — The frequency is reading you. Choose the Blade, the Gun or the Signal: this decides the run.

A huge black stepped ziggurat looms over a neon street under a nebula sky as magenta zombies approach; the HUD reads PERFECT +50% and a radio caption shows Trent's line about his pistol. — Under the ziggurat, Trent rates his starter pistol: "It's a paperweight that can hit a target from across the street."

Pink-lit storm clouds tower over a skyline of violet neon buildings and speaker stacks on a wet grid street; the player holds the Signal Bolt, a faceted, cyan-tinted energy pistol. — The weather keeps time: storm clouds build over the neon city as wave two brings showers.

Blocky enemies charge through a heap of pale fallen bricks on a neon street under a starry sky; the HUD line reads WAVE 27 · THE CONDUCTOR'S TERMS · STAY ON THE BEAT. — The Conductor's Terms: a special wave, fought through fallen tower bricks.

Trent, seen in third person in a black-and-white suit, dances on the reflective neon street beside a LEVEL COMPLETE panel for THE STREET, Act 1, waves 1–25, with score, kills and headshots. — Level complete: the Hauler breaks into his victory dance while the score counts up.

The view from a car's passenger seat down a road through a forest of pastel pink, mint and white cones under neon gantry arches; a radio caption shows Reyes's line. — Out of the city with Old Man Reyes: "I've been driving this world for twenty years. Two of them well."

A snowy storybook clearing under a lilac storm sky: gingerbread-textured houses with snow on their roofs, pink-and-white candy-cane poles and violet firs, as a blocky pink creature takes an on-beat hit in a spray of pink. — The Storybook: a Hansel-and-Gretel clearing in a blizzard, and something pink that has to go.

Snow lies across the storybook ground as blocky white, pink and yellow creatures close in, with candy-cane poles, gingerbread houses and a frosted white fir behind them. — Snow settles as the waves go on, and the storybook's horde keeps coming.

A deep-blue underwater ruin of stone walls and broken columns with a fireball and a burst of bubbles at the centre; on-screen text reads GRAVITY FAILS, THE DROP, MASSACRE and ON THE ONE. — The Deep: the drop hits among the sunken columns.

Fact sheet

Title: Synth Hauler
Developer: Wellspring Studios
Genre: Wave-survival FPS
Players: Single-player
Platform: PC (Windows)
Engine: Unreal Engine 5
Paths: The Gun · The Blade · The Signal
Controls: Keyboard and mouse · Xbox controller
Status: In development
Languages: English
Community: Discord · X @Wellspring4444

Press

Writing about Synth Hauler?

Community: Join the Discord · Follow @Wellspring4444

In development. Features and details may change.

Old Man Reyes uses the "Free Nomad" character by Paul N. The storybook meadow uses "Stylized Landscape and Grass" by dm-mayu. Both are licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Unreal® Engine is a trademark or registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere.