A Surreal Experience Awaits in Buitopia DVD
Buitopia DVD is officially heading to Steam on October 9, 2026, with creator Ben Wheele bringing his unusual take on interactive fiction to PC players.
Described as an “animated interactive-fiction” experience, Buitopia DVD takes inspiration from classic DVD menus and explores the strange things that might be hiding inside supposedly “dead” physical media. Players will navigate menus, make choices, solve puzzles, and uncover secrets along the way.
The game will be playable on PC as well as through a physical DVD. The Steam release will include controller support and Steam achievements, while the DVD files will be available as optional DLC. Players can even burn their own copy of the game if they want to experience it the old-fashioned way.
Buitopia is also a particularly personal project for Wheele. The YouTube animator, known for surreal short animations such as Henry Eats, originally started working on the game more than 20 years ago. He eventually abandoned it as DVDs began to fade from everyday use, but returned to finish the project years later.
Wheele says revisiting Buitopia felt like reuniting with an old friend, especially because of his fascination with the strange glitches, stutters, and imperfections found in old DVD menus. The physical experience of inserting a disc and hearing it spin also played a major role in inspiring the project.
With its surreal style and nostalgic approach to physical media, Buitopia DVD could offer something genuinely different when it arrives this October. Sometimes, old ideas just need the right moment to come back to life.