When Salt and Sanctuary released back in 2016, I considered it the perfect blend of Dark Souls‘ action and themes combined with 2D Metroidvania goodness. We won’t see a sequel from Ska Studios yet, although there’s an offering from developer Glass Heart Games and publisher Another Indie that comes close to scratching that itch. It’s none […]
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The Survivalists is an adventure sandbox offering from Team 17, the makers of The Escapists games. You can expect a bit of lighthearted humor and cartoony design, mixed with Minecraft mechanics (crafting and building) and a bit of Don’t Starve (survival on a deserted island). While enjoyable in short bursts, The Survivalists did present several […]
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Star Wars has more variance in quality than almost any other franchise around. Fans have long sought refuge from the mediocre follow-ups to the original trilogy through its largely impressive video game catalog. Among the entries in these hallowed halls was the X-Wing series that began in the early ’90s. Star Wars: Squadrons hopes to […]
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One week after the early access launch of Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian is releasing its first major patch–but more importantly, has shared some anecdotes on the choices players are making in the game. Notably, the studio has shared a player death heatmap to see where players have been dying the most. The map, below, shows which areas are […]
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The genre-mashing action strategy game Castlestorm II brings players back to the humorous fantasy kingdom where everyone is looking for an excuse to attack each other. This time around, the world is literally going to hell as the realms of the dead and the living start to merge, causing catastrophic shifts in the landscape. Still, […]
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EA normally releases new NHL games during the Stanley Cup playoffs when the sporting world is focused on hockey, but complications due to COVID-19 led to a delay for NHL 21. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup weeks ago, and as a result, ice hockey has escaped the wider public sports consciousness as other […]
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The original Spelunky was indie developer Derek Yu’s first crack at making a fully featured game. Seven years after its release, Spelunky is widely considered one of the legendary indie classics alongside other incredible games like Terraria and Stardew Valley. So when developer Mossmouth announced Spelunky 2 was in the works, it certainly had my […]
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Releasing out of Early Access can be tricky. Bartlow’s Dread Machine, a unique twin-stick shooter with a surprising amount of creativity and variety, has been putting out new sections of the game at quick intervals since its EA debut just two months ago. It finally has all of its main content in place and, while it’s […]
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I love to be surprised by indie games. Puzzle-platformers, in particular, are great for finding unique ideas and stories that create lasting impressions. Projection: First Light is a shorter game like most of its brethren, and there’s a certain amount of wonkiness to its mechanics. However, it’s got a lot of heart, a fantastic presentation, really […]
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Roguelikes and rogue-lites are a genre that you can find an abundance of on Steam. There are many examples of great games in this genre duo, but they come with their own design risks. Their random nature means that if a developer isn’t careful, it can ruin how the game works from the get-go. This […]
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Crusader Kings 3 is an intricate story-telling device weaving countless threads as long as you have the will to keep it spinning. here was a naked man in my court. On June 14, 1073 AD, my steward, vassal and knight, Earl Muiredach mac Carthach of Desmond arrived at the meeting of my small council dressed […]
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Pendragon is a fascinating but flawed experiment in procedural narrative. Legends are slippery things. One tells of Arthur, the once and future King of Britain who united the realm against the Saxon invaders. Where historical fact is elusive, literary fancy has imagined Arthur’s idyllic court of Camelot, its chambers populated with knights, wizards, and witches, […]
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Port Royale 4 is a trading/economic management game set in the Caribbean during the Age of Sail. It’s from developer Gaming Minds Studios and publisher Kalypso Media. Truth be told, my experience with the Port Royale franchise hasn’t been that extensive. I’ve only played the first couple of games in the series, and only in […]
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Some games have great premises. Cyber Hook is a first-person platformer that’s about grappling around cyberspace in order to get to the finish line in as little time as possible. When it focuses on this, it’s often enjoyable, if a little unambitious. Unfortunately, the game also wants to be akin to a first-person Super Meat Boy, but […]
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Sam Stone has had a rough go in regards to sequels. Although the first entries in the franchise are well-loved by fans, many were turned off by the cartoony direction of the second game and the military FPS-like focus that the third game offered. Serious Sam 4 successfully brings back much of what people wanted to […]
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