Panache Digital Games is making 1666: Amsterdam, a third person action-adventure for PC, and the studio is publishing it too. The game is upcoming, due in 2026. The pitch is a witch hunting demons through the Dutch Golden Age. That is a good pitch, and it is worth 7 out of 10.
Trailer, via Panache Digital Games.
Noa the Collector
You play Noa, a witch known as the Collector. She uses witchcraft to investigate demonic entities that hide themselves as humans. The story unfolds in the Dutch Golden Age of 1666, at the turn of the millennium in 1999, and in the present day.
That is three eras, one protagonist, and a lot of ground to cover. It is also the most interesting thing about 1666: Amsterdam, and the thing most likely to break it.
Investigate by Day, Face Your Demons at Night
Panache is selling a loop, not a story. The summary is blunt about it: investigate by day, face your demons at night. The game is dark, story-led, and open world, played in third person.
The pieces line up. Daytime investigation gives the witchcraft a job to do. Nighttime combat gives the demons a reason to hide. The split is the engine the whole game runs on.
Three Eras, One Witch
The era-hopping is where the ambition shows. The source splits the story across 1666, 1999 and the present day, and the point of that split is the demons themselves. They hide behind human faces, and they have had centuries to practice.
The Dutch Golden Age is the anchor, and it is the right one. Noa’s witchcraft sits naturally in a period of trade, wealth and quiet cruelty.
1999 and the present day are not decoration. They are where the same hunt repeats, three hundred and thirty-three years apart, and where the faces the demons wear get better. That is a structure with a reason behind it.
What Panache Is Building
1666: Amsterdam is an adventure game with fantasy and historical themes. It is open world, played in third person, and built for a single player. Panache is both the developer and the publisher.
- Developed and published by Panache Digital Games
- PC only, via Microsoft Windows
- Third person, single player
- Adventure, with fantasy and historical themes
- Open world
That is a lean feature set. No multiplayer, no console versions, no second platform to hide behind.
Single Player, PC Only
The scope is the risk. An open world with three eras and a day-night split is a lot of systems for one studio to build at once. Panache is doing all of it alone, as both developer and publisher, with no console money behind it.
That is either confidence or a budget constraint, and the feature list leans toward the first.
The Demons Behind Human Faces
The best idea here is the one the game keeps repeating. Demons hide behind human faces. Noa’s job is to uncover them. That is a hook that works in 1666 and works in 1999 and works now, which is why the story is split the way it is.
It is also a hook that needs writing, not just combat. A witch who investigates is only as good as the people she investigates. The three eras give her three casts of suspects, and that is the real promise of the structure.
What 1666: Amsterdam Has to Prove
The 7 out of 10 is this paper’s score for what Panache has described, not a critical score for a finished game. No reviews exist yet, because the game is not out. What Panache has described is a strong premise and a thin set of facts. One platform, one player, three eras, and a day-night loop.
The era-hopping is the part worth watching. A story that repeats its hunt across three centuries is either a game with a theme or a game with a gimmick, and the described structure argues for the theme. The witchcraft, the demons and the Dutch Golden Age all fit together, and 1999 and the present day fit with them, because the demons are the thread that runs through all three.
That is a promise with good taste. It scores 7 out of 10.
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