1. Until Dawn – Blackwood Mountain

If you’ve been looking for a chilling vacation spot, then I have just the place for you, Blackwood Mountain. Join a group of friends Josh, Sam, Chris, Ashley, Emily, Matt, Mike, and Jessica as they head up the mountain to party like they never have before. Explore the spacious estate which includes a family-owned lodge, a getaway guest cabin, a spooky hotel, menacing clifftops, an abandoned sanatorium, a labyrinth of mines that are just to die for, and more! During this interactive drama, you will come across masked psychos, flame throwers, mythological creatures, and bone-chilling decisions. You are only a cable car away from this indecisive yet exciting night. Just remember, you can’t leave once you get there… you must survive Until Dawn.

2. Five Nights At Freddy’s – Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza

Hungry for some pizza? Want a job for roughly four dollars an hour? You’re in luck! Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is hiring for a new security guard position for five nights a week with availability from 12:00 am to 6:00 am. This job includes monitoring the pizzeria through a camera system all while making sure the power does not go out. Did I mention that possessed animatronics will try to attack you? Keeping an eye out and closing doors is the best way to survive the night in this horrific pizzeria. Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Foxy, and Bonnie all haunt this demented pizzeria at their own possessed will. If you survive each night, at the beginning of the next shift, you will hear a pre-recorded message that gives you helpful information for the coming events. If all five nights are met with success, then you will be rewarded with your paycheck and you will be expected to do it all over again the following week. Would you be up for this job?

3. P.T. – Suburban House

Calling all house hunters in the area! A previously occupied suburban home is now up for sale. This wonderful abode comes with an L-shaped corridor, two rooms, one bathroom, and an unknown second floor. If you’re on the fence about buying the house feel free to come over for a visit. This first-person survival horror awaits you with bug-infested rooms, old writings on the wall, and a fridge filled with all sorts of surprises. Oh, just one more thing. Stay away from the sink, will ya?

4. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – The Baker Ranch

The Baker Family invites you to come vacation with us on our spacious property. Located in Dulvey, Louisiana, our ranch is surrounded by an exquisite swampland that has hidden salt mines. Trust us, every night is an adventure! We welcome solo travelers, groups of friends, solo travelers, couples that want a fun night out, and did I mention solo travelers? While vacationing on the ranch you are more than welcome to check out the different kinds of buildings that we have on our property. We have a wonderful greenhouse, a lively boathouse, a decommissioned guest house, and a testing area… I mean barn. My wife’s name is Marguerite, my son is Lucas, and I’m Jack. We’re all extremely excited to welcome you onto the ranch. After you arrive we will sit down for a special meal and get to know one another. I promise that the dinner will be to die for.

5. Outlast – Mount Massive Asylum

Attention all aspiring journalists! The story of a lifetime has just arrived! Rumor has it that illegal experiments are happening to the patients at Mount Massive Asylum. If you’ve been waiting for the opportunity to break into the journalism industry then this is the story for you. This asylum is a bit daunting as there are many confusing locations within its walls. These locations include a courtyard, hospital, sewers, prison blocks, and more. It is also believed to have an underground lab. While searching for evidence please make sure to be mindful of the patients wandering the halls of the asylum. These variants, or patients, so to say, seem to act a bit “different”. Don’t forget to bring your camcorder and extra batteries! Running out of battery power would be like losing a finger… or two!

6. Alien: Isolation – Sevastopol Station

The power is out, everyone is gone, and screams are coming from down the hall. There is no escape unless you count the vacuum of space as one. It’s rumored that some kind of monster is wreaking havoc around the station. It’s up to you to figure out what kind of monster is out there and to dispose of any threats to the station. Access to the station will start off limited, but feel free to make your way through the Lorenz SysTech Spire, SciMed Tower, and Solomons Habitation Tower. Please be mindful of the Working Joe androids, they may seem friendly at first, but their bright red eyes will say otherwise. Also, while exploring the station, feel free to help yourself to our motion tracker and flamethrowers. Just don’t lose them or it’s game over, man!

Limbs have been severed, risks have been taken, and enemy AI has been triggered. After taking a peak into each one of these different video games, the question still stands. Which horror video game would you rather try to survive? Would it be the freezing Blackwood Mountain from Until Dawn? Or the insane family from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard? I look forward to your choices!

Did I miss your favorite horror game? Let me know what it is and I might include it in the next one!

Valorant is quickly becoming the biggest thing in PC gaming. The new shooter from the developers of League of Legends combines elements of Counter-Strike and Overwatch into a compelling and addictive experience. There is every reason to believe that Valorant could be popular for years to come.

However, Valorant is not a perfect game. In fact, there are some early problems with Valorant which not only hinder the experience in its earliest days but ccould potentially ruin the game over the long-term if they’re not addressed.

Generic Characters

Valorant isn’t quite as dependant on its characters as a game like Overwatch. In fact, Riot has clearly gone out of their way to downplay the potential impact of the game’s playable characters. We’ll talk more about that later.

While that approach has its advantages, it does result in a few problems. Namely, characters in Valorant don’t really feel that distinctive. There’s really no reason to pick a character outside of their abilities, and because there are many characters that share limited abilities, there are times when many of them can feel relatively similar.

Basically, it just doesn’t currently seem like Riot is utilizing this element of the game to its full advantage. While some people will like that Valorant‘s characters aren’t as distinctive as those in other games, it feels like some of this title’s personality problems could be solved by more interesting characters.

Ability Balancing

At the moment, Valorant doesn’t really have a balancing problem. Some characters are certainly becoming favorites amongst the early players, but it doesn’t seem like one agent is going to run away with the game at this time.

While that’s good, it’s already clear that Valorant‘s character design causes some problems. Namely, the act of balancing these characters has resulted in many of them sharing the same basic abilities (such as smoke and defensive walls). The few characters that do posess more unique abilites (especially offensive abilities) are becoming quick favorites.

The act of balancing characters insuch a way that ensures they won’t affect the general blance and design is clearly limiting the design possibilities of those characters in the early stages. Riot will need to find ways to implement new abilities without drastically throwing off the existing balance.

Long Matches

The next few problems all kind of feed into each other, but they effet the game differently enough to  make them worthy of hilighting.

Valorant matches last until one team has one 13 rounds. How long it takes to get to that point varies between matches, but matches tend to last a little longer than you may be used to in a comeptitive shooter. In and of itself, that’s not necessairly an issue. Valorant matches are even generally shorter than those in Counter-Strike.

The problem is that there’s not really such a thing as a quick Valorant match. In a game like Fortnite, you can hop in and hop our fairly quickly if you just have a little time to play a game. With Valorant, you’ve sometimes got to be able to comit about 40 minutes to a match just in case you need it. That number doesn’t even account for long queue times.

That brings us to the next potential problem with Valorant…

Teammate Frustration

Anyone who has ever tried to play a competitive multiplayer game with teammates knows it can be a very rewarding experience. Unfortunately, it can just as easily be an unbelivably frustrating one.

Sadly, playing with frustrated teammates in Valorant really kills the experience. Because Valorant demands teamwork at nearly all times, just one frustrated teammate who isn’t contributing can ruin everything for everyone else and make it practically impossible to win a semi-competitive match.

Valorant is going to test the paticence of a lot of people who try to get into it. Of course, that brings us to the biggest early problem with Valorant.

A Steep Learning Curve

Valorant is not an easy game. The idea is that its emphasis on tactical action and near perfect aim will eventually pay–off and yield an incredibly rewarding experience. That is 100% true.

The problem is that it takes quite a bit of time to get there. When you hit a wall in Valorant (which most players will), you will need to really work to get past it. You’ll also ideally need to play with people who are also willing and able to work past that wall.

Simply put, there are going to be a lot of people that who won’t be able to work past that point. Once that happens, it stands to reason that said players may just give up on the game.

The only way Riot can avoid this would be to develop some kind of ranking system that accounts for these skill walls and smartly matches players based on them. That’s not impossible, but it will be incredibly challenging.

Pictured above: Cobalt WASD

I’m back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped under your radar. I’m not here to personally recommend any of these games- I’m just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd and haven’t received a lot of media attention. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Seven: The Days Long Gone

Fool’s Theory

$29.99

First up this week is Seven, an isometric stealth sandbox RPG that you’ve probably seen some banner ads for over the past few weeks. You play as Teriel, a master thief that finds himself on a one-way trip to the infamous island prison of Peh after a daring heist goes horribly wrong. Sneak, stab, and steal your way across an open world full of suspicious characters, rival factions, and monstrous fauna. One of the main highlights of Seven is its advanced movement and parkour system, with multi-tiered, vertical environments that you’d normally find in a third-person action game. Most of the reviews I’ve seen have been generally positive, with many of the complaints focused on bugs and a camera that occasionally gets confused by the game’s elaborate level designs. You can also find Seven on GOG and the Humble Store.

Warbanners

Crasleen Games

$19.99

Warbanners is a turn-based strategy RPG that harkens back to old hex-based war games like Fantasy General and Panzer General. Recruit and manage a company of mercenaries across a 42 mission story campaign. Hire support staff that work behind the scenes to keep your army in top shape and sow discord among the enemy. Use both mundane and magical means to manipulate the battlefield topography in your favor with trenches, barricades, bridges, and firestorms that burn enemy fortifications and forests.  

Dominions 5- Warriors of the Faith

Illwinter Game Design

$39.99

Dominions 5 is the latest entry in a long-running series of ridiculously deep fantasy 4X games that place you in control of a demigod with aspirations of world conquest. Decimate you rivals and claim godhood by amassing vast armies of loyal subjects, conquering new territories, and gathering a library of powerful spells and magical enchantments. The biggest new additions to the series are customizable blessings that you can bestow upon your followers and a complete overhaul of the combat system to make battles quicker and more streamlined. Whatever you do, don’t immediately write off Dominions 5 based on its looks. The Dominions games might have some fairly hideous graphics and presentation, but if you can look past that you’ll find a very deep and highly customizable franchise.

Cattails

Falcon Development

$14.99

Cattails is an adorable sandbox RPG with light survival elements where you play as a feral cat. As far as I can tell, it’s essentially what you’d get if someone made a cat sim version of Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. Join (or fight against) one of three colonies of cats, each with a unique cast of characters to interact with. Fight off rival clans and claim new territory for your colony. Personalize your own den, find a mate, and raise a family of kittens that you can train to help out with daily tasks like hunting. Cattails is also on the Humble Store.   

Cobalt WASD

Oxeye Game Studio

$6.99

Finally we come to Cobalt WASD, a competitive 2D bomb defusal shooter. Two teams of four players take turns planting or defusing bombs over a series of rounds. Between rounds, players can spend money they earned in the previous round buying an arsenal of crazy weapons and gadgets, like stealth suits, time-slowing grenades, and teleporters. Cobalt WASD has mostly positive reviews on Steam thus far, but sadly it seems to be suffering from the usual problems many indie games have finding a player base. According to Steamcharts, the game peaked at 17 players today, and no one is currently playing, so make sure you can find a group to regularly play with before buying a copy. Cobalt WASD is also available on the Humble Store.        

Which of these games caught your attention?       

The official pricing has been published on Microsoft’s website and is half the price of Game Pass for Xbox consoles ($9.99 per mo.). We expect the beta launch to happen later today.

Game Pass provides unlimited access to a library of games which during the beta period for PC will consist of titles like Forza Horizon 4, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and Sea of Thieves (although, 100 titles have been promised).

Microsoft boasted at least 75 content partners including Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver, Paradox, Sega, and Xbox Game Studios would be providing titles for Xbox Game Pass PC.

E3 2019 officially starts on June 11, but press conferences begin today, June 9 at 4 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Pacific) from the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Game Pass PC Beta Titles

ARK: Survival Evolved
Forza Horizon 4
Gears 5 (Coming Soon)
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Hello Neighbor
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Sea of Thieves
State of Decay 2
We Happy Few

Of course, the free base game does not include any expansions or game packs like the popular City Living, Parenthood, and Cats and Dogs. The Sims 4 is also part of EA’s Origin Access subscription program that provides early access to new games and expansions.

Fans of The Sims‘ previous releases may opt to purchase the Digital Deluxe edition for $49.99 that includes The Sims 4 Up All Night Digital Content, The Sims 4 Life of the Party Digital Content, The Sims 4 Awesome Animal Hats Digital Content, and The Sims 4 Digital Soundtrack.

The Sims 4 requires a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core 4000+ or equivalent processor with at least 2GB RAM/14GB storage and another 1GB for custom content and saved games. However, for optimal playing Origin suggests 4GB RAM/18GB storage along with an Intel core i5, AMD Athlon X4 processor and NVIDIA GTX 650 or better video card.

Required Windows operating systems include Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10, but 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 is recommended.

On Mac, users need to running OSX 10.7.5 (Lion) but 10.9 or later is recommended.

Whether one’s never played Magic the Gathering before or is used to playing IRL, MTG Arena is a free-to-play PC only game designed to help beginners become seasoned veterans — and most importantly, have fun while doing so.

5 MTG Arena Tips For Beginners

Once downloading MTG Arena, newbies will complete a tutorial on the mechanics of gameplay, followed by being awarded several mono-colored decks. Complete the daily tasks and quests to win in-game gold currency and continue to receive pre-constructed decks. Completing daily’s is instrumental towards building a strong library of cards and in-game gold.

Open 3 Free Ravnica Booster Packs

Now that you’re all set up, claim three free Ravnica booster packs by going to the Store tab and entering the code “PlayRavnica.”

Save Wildcards And Gold

Opening booster packs from one of the 5 Magic the Gathering sets offered in MTG Arena provides a wide range of common, uncommon, rare, and ultra-rare cards to a player’s library. It also provides wildcards, which allows a player to unlock a card not in their library.

Save these wildcards initially and continue to unlock packs through daily’s while using the in-game gold to purchase booster packs from specific sets. Visit the site Mythic Spoiler to discover what cards are in the sets offered in MTG Arena. This will help players choose which booster packs are ideal for them.

Using Wildcards And Importing Decks

Once the beginning player has collected all the pre-made decks from quests, visit MTG Arena Pro or Aether Hub to learn what decks other players are using. Once finding a deck which fits your style of play, click on “Export.” This will copy the cards in that person’s deck. Open MTG Arena and go to the Deck tab. Click on Import and the copied deck will immediately show up in your collection.

Cards you don’t own will be highlighted in red. This is where the wildcards come into play, allowing the player to unlock cards. If you don’t have enough wildcards to complete the identical deck, go back to the Deck tab, single click on the new deck and then on the Copy button. This will create a copy of the imported deck, allowing the player to remove cards they don’t own and supplement in ones they do, without messing up the originally copied deck.

Playing Competitive And Drafts Or Purchasing Booster Packs

Most MTG Arena players are divided on this issue. Using in-game currency or purchased gems to play competitive rounds and drafts is fun, but if using a newbie deck the rewards are small and counterproductive.

If a new players goal is to create one or two super op decks, then using the gold towards purchasing booster packs is the wiser option. Each time a booster pack is opened, the player is closer to receiving more wildcards while adding new cards to their library. Wildcards unlock specific cards needed while a large library gives beginners the chance to experiment and create decks on their own.

Best Option For Purchasing Gems In MTG Arena

Like any FTP game, MTG Arena gems can be purchased and used towards playing in drafts, unlocking booster packs, or playing in the competitive rounds. Spending real money falls completely on the individual but is certainly not necessary. Beginners are offered a one-time deal for $5, providing booster packs and over 2000 gems. This is a great deal and well worth the money, however, those who wish to remain FTP don’t need to purchase this bundle to compete or play.

Have Fun

Magic the Gathering is an extremely fun, competitive, and tactical style card game (with a dash of luck too). The idea is to not get bogged down by rank, wins, or losses — but to enjoy every moment playing. Play the way you want and even choose who you want to play against with Direct Challenge. Above all, enjoy not having thousands of cards scattered around the home while spending hundreds of dollars with MTG Arena.

Pictured above: Nine Parchments

I’m back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped past your radar. I’m not personally recommending any of these games- I’m just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd and haven’t received a lot of media attention. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

SpellForce 3

Grimlore Games, THQ Nordic

$49.99

The acclaimed SpellForce series of RTS/RPG hybrids returns with a new installment. Set before the original game, the world is in chaos following the Crown’s victory over the mage rebellion that led to the aptly-named Mage Wars. The charismatic leader of the Purity of Light, named Rondar Lacaine, has triggered a chain of events that could plunge the realm into even more anarchy as he launches a crusade to rid the world of all mages. Build your party of heroes across a fully-voiced, 30+ hour campaign that blends elements of RPG-style character progression with base construction, army building, and massive battles. I played the beta and felt that the game had potential, but it was extremely buggy, and from what I’ve read, that hasn’t changed much in the full release. In fact, I encountered a game-breaking bug that made me unable to progress in a campaign mission due to a strangely specific scripting error, and I wasn’t the only person this happened to. SpellForce 3 is also available on GOG and the Humble Store, though you may want to wait until a few patches have been released.

Shadowhand

Grey Alien Games

$14.99

Shadowhand is a turn-based RPG that uses a solitaire-style card battle system. Set in 18th Century England, you play as Lady Cornelia Darkmoor, a young aristocrat that spends her nights terrorizing the populace as the infamous highwaywoman, Shadowhand. After fleeing a crime scene one night, Cornelia accidentally stumbles upon a massive conspiracy that can threaten both of her personas and the people she holds dear. Customize your character across 150 levels by acquiring new weapons, gear, and cards. You can also find Shadowhand on the Humble Store and GOG.    

Nine Parchments

Frozenbyte

$19.99

Nine Parchments is the latest fantastical adventure from the developers of the Trine series. Built with co-op in mind, players control a band of runaway apprentices that hope to accelerate their arcane training by hunting down the legendary Nine Parchments. Taking a few cues from Magicka, this top-down spell-slinger features friendly fire and chaotic magical attacks that are just as likely to wipe out friend and foe alike. Customize your apprentice with new gear, spells, and skills as you level up, and unlock new characters throughout your quest. You can also buy Nine Parchments on GOG, the Humble Store, and the Switch, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming soon.

Reigns: Her Majesty

Nerial, Synaptic Insight Technology Systems

$2.99

Reigns: Her Majesty is the standalone follow-up to last year’s bizarre hybrid of Tinder and a choose your own adventure game. As with the original, your goal is to survive as long as possible as the ruler of a kingdom full of people that want to kill you. Swipe left or right when presented with a decision and hope it doesn’t lead to you dying a hilariously tragic death somewhere down the road. As the name implies, this time around you get to play as a queen, but this gender swap isn’t the only new addition to the series. Her Majesty has also reworked the inventory system, and added new Royal Challenges that allow you to unlock new cards by hitting specific goals. While the game works just fine on PC, I’d actually recommend grabbing it on iOS instead, due to the simple control scheme and gameplay structure that allows you to play in short, bite-sized chunks.     

Opus Magnum

Zachtronics

$19.99

Finally we come to Opus Magnum, the latest brain-melting, open-ended puzzle game from the developers of SpaceChem and SHENZHEN I/O. Design, build, and program elaborate machines to craft potions, poisons, weapons, and precious metals as an acclaimed alchemist. Like with Zachtronics’ previous games, none of the puzzles in Opus Magnum have a set solution, giving players the freedom to construct machines as simple or complex as they’d like to complete each task. Make your own puzzles with the game’s built-in editor, and distribute them across the globe via the Steam Workshop. When alchemy becomes too stressful for you, try taking a break to play a few rounds of Sigmar’s Garden, a solitaire-style minigame. Also available on the Humble Store.

Which of these games grabbed your attention?          

Pictured above: Battle Chef Brigade

I’m back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped under your radar. I’m not here to personally recommend any of these games- I’m just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd and haven’t received a lot of media attention. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Outcast- Second Contact

Appeal

$34.99

The grandfather of 3D open world adventure games returns in one of the most unexpected remakes of the last few years. The original Outcast was released in 1999, and despite its critical acclaim, only ever managed to gain a small cult following. The sequel was cancelled when the developers went bankrupt, but they managed to reacquire the IP several years back, resulting in the Outcast 1.1 HD remaster. Second Contact is a complete remake of the original game, with modern graphics, updated mechanics, and new content. Humanity has made contact with alien life, but this meeting has resulted in a cataclysm that could threaten Earth. You are Cutter Slade, a Navy SEAL sent to the planet Adelpha to prevent the coming apocalypse before it destroys both worlds. Explore a vast, open world with six continents populated by extraterrestrial life and advanced civilizations. Tackle missions with a mix of direct assaults, stealth, and your upgradable arsenal of weapons and gadgets. Second Contact is also on the Humble Store, PS4, and Xbox One.   

Titan Quest: Ragnarök

Pieces Interactive, THQ Nordic

$19.99

Another unexpected new release is Ragnarök, an expansion to Iron Lore’s cult classic ARPG, Titan Quest. This expansion adds a fifth act that takes you throughout northern Europe, and features a ton of new enemies, bosses, and items inspired by Celtic and Norse mythology. Other new additions include an increased level cap and a 10th Mastery, the Runemaster. This warrior class fights with both traditional weapons and magical runes. There’s some quality of life additions as well, including new shaders, improved UI, and expanded modding tools. This expansion requires the Anniversary Edition of Titan Quest, and can be found on GOG and the Humble Store.

Dreamstones

Windybeard

$11.99

You’ve heard of match-3 RPGs, but what about a block-breaking RPG? Dreamstones takes the block-breaking arcade gameplay you’d expect from an Arkanoid or Breakout clone, but adds some RPG elements and a kingdom management metagame. Use skills and items to help you destroy blocks and fight monsters. Rebuild your kingdom between battles by constructing buildings that offer various buffs and services. Dreamstones features over 200 levels across five unique worlds.    

Battle Chef Brigade

Trinket Studios

$19.99

Battle Chef Brigade is another new game that blends genres in unique ways, in this case a 2D brawler and match-3 puzzler. The Battle Chef Brigade is an elite force that both protects and feeds the realm of Victusia by slaying monsters and turning them into delicious and exotic dishes. You play as Thrash and Mina, two chef trainees looking to fight and cook their way into the Brigade by impressing a panel of picky judges. Kill monsters and harvest them for ingredients in a brawler combat system, then combine those ingredients into dishes in a match-3 minigame. Compete in daily challenges for leaderboard fame and play the Puzzle Rush and Break the Dishes modes for a bit of extra cash. Battle Chef Brigade is also on the Humble Store, GOG, Switch, and PS4.

Tower 57

Pixwerk

$11.99

Lastly we come to Tower 57, a retro-inspired shooter that is finally out after a lengthy development cycle. Choose from one of six unique characters and shoot your way through the titular Tower 57 and its many traps, guards, and bosses. Amass an arsenal of upgradable weapons and bionic body parts to give yourself a fighting chance. While Tower 57 can be played solo, the game was built with co-op in mind, so make sure you bring a partner. Also available on GOG and the Humble Store, with a PS4 version coming sometime in the future.

Which of these games caught your attention?           

Pictured above: Battlerite

I'm back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not here to personally recommend any of these games- I'm just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd and haven't received a lot of media attention. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Hand of Fate 2

Defiant Development

$29.99

The unique card-driven/board game roguelite Hand of Fate returns with a vastly improved sequel. The core premise of Hand of Fate 2 remains the same, but features tons of new quests, challenges, items, and mechanics. Develop your character in a board game controlled by the mysterious Dealer by collecting cards that represent weapons, gear, and abilities. Recruit new allies that can aid you in battle or manipulate the board game's rules. Combat is where Hand of Fate 2 has changed the most, abandoning the rather weak Arkham-style system of the original in favor of more traditional hack and slash action combat. You can also find Hand of Fate 2 on GOG, Xbox One, and PS4.     

Space Pirates And Zombies 2

MinMax Games Ltd.

$19.99

Space Pirates And Zombies is another cult hit indie title that had a sequel release this week, although its technically been out for over a year now via Early Access. Much like the original, SPAZ 2 allows you to explore a vast galaxy full of AI factions and rival captains that you can turn into enemies or allies. The events of the original game have decimated the galaxy's infrastructure, so resource management and scavenging play a larger role in the sequel. Much like Hand of Fate 2, SPAZ 2 has made rather drastic changes to the game's combat system, and has swapped the original's top-down view to a third-person perspective. Space Pirates And Zombies 2 is also available on GOG.     

Battlerite

Stunlock Studios

Free-to-play

Battlerite is the latest game from the developers of Bloodline Champions, and just exited Early Access several days ago. Much like its predecessor, Battlerite distills the MOBA genre down to its most exciting part: The team fights. Matches are played in large arenas without minions, towers, or farming, and rounds usually take about two minutes. Besides some pre-game tweaking that allows you to customize your champion by choosing five cards, Battlerite is wholly focused on character knowledge, positioning, and team composition, with nearly every ability being a skill shot that needs to be aimed. As a free-to-play MOBA-style game, Battlerite is monetized via loot chests that contain vanity items and champions, along with a weekly hero rotation. Alternatively, you can spend $30 to unlock all current and future champions.

Mutant Football League

Digital Dreams Entertainment LLC

$24.99

The classic Sega Genesis arcade football game Mutant League Football has been resurrected with modern mechanics and graphics with a spiritual successor made by the original's lead designer. In Mutant Football League, choose one of 18 teams made up of killer robots, alien monsters, and mutant freaks ready to (literally) smash the competition. Recruit All-Star players to give your team an edge on the trap-laden gridiron, and play dirty tricks like shotguns or chainsaws at the right moment to turn the game in your favor.  

Spintires: MudRunner

Saber Interactive

$29.99

Remember Spintires? It was an Early Access driving sim about using enormous all-terrain vehicles to navigate the muddiest "roads" you've ever seen. It gathered a sizeable following, but unfortunately development was permanently suspended after the one-man dev team was screwed over by a shady publisher. Luckily, Saber Interactive kept the rights to the IP and made a new deal with Focus Home Interactive. MudRunner is the ultimate version of Spintires, and features improved graphics and physics, new vehicles and environments, and full Steam Workshop support. You can also find MudRunners on the Humble Store, PS4, and Xbox One, though I hear that the console versions aren't particularly good.           

Heliborne

JetCat Games

$19.99

MudRunner isn't the only new release that recreates heavy equipment in near fetishistic detail. Heliborne is a helicopter combat game that lets players fly 40 of the most famous gunships from the 1950s to modern day. Relive historic battles from Vietnam, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and other conflicts in single player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer for up to 16 players. You can also find Heliborne on the Humble Store.

Card Quest

WinterSpring Games

$9.99

Finally we come to Card Quest, a card-driven, dungeon-crawling RPG roguelite. Choose one of four classes, each of which has three specializations, and delve into dungeons to battle monsters, defeat bosses, and earn loot. Combat comes in the form of a card game, with the various items and abilities you earn by questing and leveling up forming your customizable deck. Rid a cursed city of an undead plague or explore a dwarven mountain stronghold, each of which has 12 potential areas to visit during a run.

Which of these games caught your attention?            

Pictured above: AER Memories of Old

I'm back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not here to personally recommend any of these games- I'm just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd, most of which haven't received any real media attention. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

The Mummy Demastered

WayForward

$19.99

We have officially entered the Bizarro Dimension with this release. The Mummy Demastered is a retro-inspired Metroidvania "demake" based on the recent Mummy movie, and was developed by the guys behind the excellent Shantae series. We've heard of movies spawning terrible licensed games before, but this is a rare reversal where an awful movie lead to a pretty solid game. Navigate jungles, tombs, and the streets of London as an operative for the secretive Prodigium group. Fight through Ahmanet's legions with a variety of weapons and gadgets, and discover hidden areas to unlock ancient relics and abilities. You can also find The Mummy Demastered on the Switch, Xbox One, and PS4.           

High Hell

Terri Vellmann, Doseone

$9.99

The developers of Heavy Bullets and Enter the Gungeon have teamed up to spawn High Hell, a fast and nonsensical arcade FPS. Blast your way through a maze-like office building full of syndicate thugs with the help of your trusting shotgun and powerful, well-toned legs. Burn stacks of ill-gotten cash, destroy drug labs, and rescue sacrificial lambs on your quest to destroy the criminal underworld. High Hell can apparently be finished in around 90 minutes, but the game is loaded with secrets and designed to be played multiple times as you compete with your friends to get the fastest speedrun. High Hell is also on the Humble Store.      

Bionic Battle Mutants

Monkeynetics

$9.99

Bionic Battle Mutants is a turn-based tactics game inspired by classics like X-COM and Jagged Alliance. Build a team of criminals-turned-gladiators on the prison planet Cerberus 7. Improve your gladiators between matches by crafting weapons, upgrades, and bionic limbs. Win your matches by either slaughtering the opposition, or scoring objectives. Bionic Battle Mutants features both a 21-mission single player campaign and competitive online matches against other players.

AER Memories of Old

Forgotten Key

$14.99

AER is a relaxing, minimalist exploration game that lets you freely transform into a bird and soar amongst the clouds. Embark on a pilgrimage to the Land of the Gods as Auk, one of the few remaining shapeshifters in the world. Travel to vibrant floating islands and explore massive temples full of puzzles and mysterious to solve. AER Memories of Old is also available on the Humble Store, GOG, PS4, and Xbox One.      

Debris

Moonray Studios

$19.99

Leave the open skies behind and dive into the terrifying depths of the Arctic Ocean in Debris. You are part of a film crew sent to make a documentary about meteoric debris found in the ocean that imitates a mysterious power that could put an end to Earth's energy problems forever. A disaster during filming leaves your crew scattered and stranded in the deep, and to make matters worse, you are being hunted by creatures of unknown origin. Explore a hauntingly beautiful bioluminescent ocean in a game world that promises to be the size of Manhattan. You can also find Debris on the Humble Store.        

Golden Krone Hotel

Vulgat

$9.99

Finally we come to Golden Krone Hotel, this week's obligatory roguelike release. You play as Sorina Arobase, a famous human war hero and monster hunter seeking vengeance against the vampire prince Fane. Navigate the procedurally-generated hallways of the Golden Krone Hotel and slay supernatural enemies. Also, you're actually a vampire in disguise. Cast spells and fight from a distance as a human, then transform into your vampire form to become a melee bruiser. Manipulate sunlight to your advantage to defeat your bloodthirsty foes, and destroy man-made lights so you can skulk around in the shadows. You can also buy Golden Krone Hotel on the Humble Store.

Which of these games caught your attention?  

Pictured above: ELEX

I'm back with another batch of recent indie and AA releases that may have slipped under your radar. As always, I'm not here to personally recommend any of these games- I'm just highlighting some new releases that stood out from the crowd. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Grim Dawn- Ashes of Malmouth

Crate Entertainment

$17.99

One new release I actually can recommend is the Ashes of Malmouth expansion for Grim Dawn. This massive expansion adds a ton of new content to an already excellent action RPG, including two new classes, 14 new Constellations, an increased level cap, and two story chapters set in the fallen city of Malmouth. Ashes of Malmouth also includes a wide variety of quality of life improvements, such as an Illusionist that can change your gear appearance, an expanded item stash, and several ways to respec your character. Grim Dawn and its expansion are available on GOG and the Humble Store too, but the base game is currently 66% off on Steam until November 1st.    

Dungeons 3

Realmforge Studios

$39.99

The Dungeons series returns for its third installment, and its apparently a fairly major improvement. The Dungeon series takes the dungeon building and management aspects of Dungeon Keeper, but gives you more control over your units like in an RTS. Build an elaborate dungeon to attract all manner of evil creatures before launching raids on the overworld, bringing corruption and ruin to the peaceful kingdoms of the surface-dwellers. One of the biggest new additions to Dungeons 3 is the inclusion of randomly generated level layouts to ensure that each session is unique. You can also find Dungeons 3 on GOG, the Humble Store, PS4, and Xbox One.     

ELEX

Piranha Bytes

$49.99

The developers of the cult classic Gothic series are taking their first steps into a new science fantasy universe with ELEX. In the post-apocalyptic world of Magalan, a war is being waged over a new resource that gives people immense magical abilities, but slowly drains them of their emotions. Explore a massive open world completely devoid of loading screens, with a jetpack that can be used to reach the game's many vertical locations. ELEX promises to deliver deep, interconnected quests and difficult choices as you either cling to your humanity, or allow your new powers to consume you. You can also find ELEX on GOG, the Humble Store, PS4, and Xbox One.       

Freaky Awesome

Mandragora

$9.99

Team up with three friends and explore a procedurally generated factory full of deranged mutants in the action roguelite Freaky Awesome. Consume mutagens to regain health and mutate yourself into various freaky creatures with unique special abilities and attacks. Luckily, the co-op in Freaky Awesome is both local and online, giving it an edge over many similar indie titles.

Brawlhalla

Blue Mountain Games

Free-to-Play

The highly anticipated Smash Bros.-style multiplayer brawler, Brawlhalla, has left early access. Choose from over 30 unique fighters and battle up to eight players online or locally in this platform fighter that emphasizes slamming your opposition off the map. Levels are dotted with various items and gadgets that can be used to turn the tide of battle in your favor. The game has been in beta for a long time now, and already has a fully featured ranking system and leaderboards based on player feedback. Brawlhalla's business model is free-to-play with a weekly rotation of six characters. You earn in-game currency that can be used to buy new characters, or you can spend $19.99 on the All Legends Pack to gain immediate access to every character, both current and future. Brawlhalla is currently only available on PC, but it's supposed to make its way over to PS4 eventually as well.   

Overgrowth

Wolfire Games

$29.99

After nearly a decade in development, the anthropomorphic animal fighter Overgrowth has finally hit version 1.0. This open sandbox game seeks to replicate stylized martial arts brawls through the use of free-flowing combat and a physics system that sits somewhere between "hilarious" and "wonky." People seem a bit divided over just how well the final product turned out, with many recent user reviews saying that Overgrowth still feels very unpolished and has a mediocre story. The game is also available on the Humble Store.

Holy Potatoes! What the Hell?!

Daylight Studios

$7.99

The Holy Potatoes series of quirky management games is back for a third installment. In What the Hell?!, you participate in a bizarre cooking show in Hell as you try to absolve yourself of sin and ascend to Heaven. Create your kitchen staff from a collection of fellow sinners and build delicious dishes to appease the Gods. Compete against rival teams in cook-offs to prove that you are the best chef in all of Hell. In a refreshing change of pace, What the Hell?! actually has a demo, so why not give it a try?

Bomber Crew

Runner Duck

$14.99

Finally we come to Bomber Crew, a strategy sim that can best be described as "FTL with WWII bombers." Recruit your crew and engage in daring bombing missions over German airspace. Swap your crew between stations and desperately try to keep your bomber in the air as you encounter enemy resistance from fighters and AA installations. Bomber Crew has mostly positive reviews thus far, but the one frequent complaint I keep seeing is the lack of a tactical pause feature, which makes the game a bit too hectic for some people's tastes.                  

Which of these new games caught your attention?      

Pictured above: Heat Signature

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. As always, I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some recent titles that haven't received a lot of press and look like they might be worth checking out. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

A Hat in Time

Gears for Breakfast

$29.99

Originally slated for a 2013 release after a surprisingly successful Kickstarter, the "cute-as-heck" 3D platformer A Hat in Time is finally available on PC. You play as a space-faring little girl that has been left stranded on a nearby planet after a catastrophe leaves her ship out of fuel. The ensuing adventure takes a lot of cues from classic 3D platformer collect-a-thons from the N64 and GameCube, and features five massive worlds to explore. Despite the numerous delays, A Hat in Time seems to have been well-worth the wait, and has received positive reviews from critics and gamers alike. You can also find A Hat in Time on GOG and the Humble Store, with Xbox One and PS4 versions coming later this year.    

Battle Chasers: Nightwar

Airship Syndicate

$29.99

Battle Chasers is another anticipated title that was successfully Kickstarted some time back. Like A Hat in Time, Battle Chasers takes its inspirations from classic console games, but in this case old-school JRPGs. The game is actually based on a comic from the '90s, and features a gorgeous hand-drawn art style. Build your party based on characters from the comic series and delve into dungeons full of traps, monsters, and bosses. Opinions are a bit mixed regarding some of the game's mechanics, however, with late-game grinding being a frequent complaint. Battle Chasers is also on GOG, the Humble Store, PS4, Xbox One, and the Switch.

Hob

Runic Games

$19.99

Runic Games is back with a new game called Hob, and it's quite the departure from their previous titles. Instead of being a loot-driven action RPG like the Torchlight series, Hob is a narrative-focused action-adventure full of exploration, puzzles, and dangerous bosses. Use your character's mechanical glove to fight enemies and traverse the environment on your quest to repair a broken world. You can also find Hob on the Humble Store, GOG, and PS4.

Ruiner

Reikon Games

$19.99

Ruiner is a challenging top-down cyberpunk shooter that had the misfortune of coming out right before Cuphead. Cleanse the corruption destroying the metropolis of Rengkok with an arsenal of futuristic weapons, cybernetic enhancements, quick reflexes, and bone-shattering violence. Just don't expect an easy time, as Ruiner is a game that prides itself on not holding your hand. You can also find Ruiner on GOG, the Humble Store, PS4, and Xbox One.     

JYDGE

10tons Ltd.

$14.99

Speaking of challenging futuristic shooters, JYDGE is the latest title from the developers of Crimsonland and Neon Chrome. Clean up the mean streets of Edenbyrg as a JYDGE, a cyberware-enhanced super-cop ready to dispense justice from the barrel of your heavily modified Gavel assault rifle. Customize your JYDGE with a variety of cybernetic enhancements and weapon mods that cater to your preferred play style. Tackle missions alone or with fellow JYDGEs in local co-op.   

Road Redemption

Pixel Dash Studios, EQgames

$19.99

After a successful Kickstarter and years in Early Access, the spiritual successor to Road Rash is finally done. In Road Redemption, players fight and drive their way across a post-apocalyptic world ruled by cartels and motorcycle gangs. Engage in brutal races and high-speed vehicular combat with guns, melee weapons, grabs, and kicks. Complete missions to gain loot and experience to upgrade your character and bike throughout the game's single player campaign. Road Redemption features online and local multiplayer as well, both competitive and cooperatively. Console owners will have to wait until next year to get their hands on the game.

Ogre

Auroch Digital

$24.99

Ogre is the official digital adaptation of the classic Steve Jackson wargame. In the near future, armies clash in an endless world war. The battlefields of tomorrow are dominated by the Ogres, massive AI-controlled mobile fortresses that pack the firepower of an entire tank battalion. More than just a mere digital adaptation, Ogre comes packed with new single player campaigns, scenarios, skirmish modes, and online multiplayer. It's also available on the Humble Store.

Winged Sakura: Endless Dream

Winged Sakura Games

$19.99

The latest Winged Sakura game looks like it can adequately be described as "Dungeon of the Endless with waifus." You'll directly control one of four playable characters on a mission to escort Mimi to each random-generated floor's exit. Much like Dungeon of the Endless, you'll also have to deploy towers to survive against waves of enemies. The waifu part comes in the form of Sakuras, cute anime girls you'll collect and level up during your adventure. You can bring six of them into each battle and assign them support roles to enhance yourself and your towers. Owners of the previous Winged Sakura games gain access to some extra waifus as a loyalty bonus.    

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates

Coin Operated Games

$29.99

Empyre is a strategy RPG set in an alternate 1911 Manhattan with neo-Victorian aesthetics and steampunk technology. In 1899, the world's oceans began to rise unexpectedly, leaving many coastal cities flooded. Most people fled, but some remained behind and formed independent city-states in the last patches of dry land. The Manhattan city-states are on the verge of collapse as supplies of fresh water begin to dwindle, and everyone is looking for a savior to deliver them from the coming crisis. Gather a party of adventurers and explore the drowned ruins of New York as one of four character classes. The handful of reviews I can find give Empyre a cautious recommendation, stating that its full of interesting ideas and great world-building, but with uninteresting combat and poorly implemented mechanics holding it back from greatness. 

Heat Signature

Suspicious Developments

$14.99

Finally we come to Heat Signature, the latest game from the developer of Gunpoint. Use your tiny spaceship to sneak up to larger vessels to engage in a bit of space thievery. Use a mix of stealth, gadgets, and weapons to complete your mission and escape with the loot. All the missions and ships are randomly generated, with a handful of key heists you'll unlock as the game progresses. The environments are also fully destructible, allowing you to take out a roomful of enemies with a well-placed explosive charge on the ship's hull. Heat Signature is also available on the Humble Store.

That's all for now. Which of these games caught your attention?     

Pictured above: Aarklash Legacy

If you haven't noticed yet, GOG has been running a sale for around a week now. There's over 200 games being sold at ridiculously cheap prices, with the most extreme deals reaching a staggering 95% off. Needless to say, there's a lot of games worth checking out here. I could ramble all day listing great indie games at historically low prices, but I'll keep it down to 10 for brevity's sake. Here's 10 games you should consider buying before the sale ends tomorrow:

Bionic Dues

Arcen Games

$0.99 (90% off)

Anyone who reads my sales articles knows that my fanboyism for Arcen Games is near fetishistic, and I always highlight at least one of their titles when they are discounted. This tiny indie studio produces some awesome, quirky games that rarely ever live up to their full potential, but always offer an extremely unique experience you can't really get anywhere else. One of my personal favorites is Bionic Dues, a mecha roguelike that sadly never achieved the same success as some of Arcen's other games. You have somewhere between 30 and 50 days to liberate a city that has been overrun by robotic death machines before your higher-ups turn to their last resort: Nuclear annihilation. Each mission consumes one day, and successfully completing your objective can weaken the robotic forces in one way or another. However, the robots strengthen in other ways after each level, regardless of your success or failure.

The campaign features around 120 missions, and you don't have enough time to complete them all before facing a gigantic final assault by the robot forces. Some missions might delay the assault, but you can never prevent it from happening. It's definitely not a game for everyone, but I urge anyone mildly interested in the concept to at least give it a try. Arcen's other games are on sale too, so if roguelikes aren't your thing then you should consider The Last Federation or AI War.           

Ziggurat

Milkstone Studios

$4.49 (70%)

Ziggurat wasn't the first game to merge roguelike procedural generation and progression with FPS gameplay, but I personally feel that it was the first that really felt good to play. It's a fairly solid and mechanically sound old-school-inspired arena shooter that uses procedural generation and randomized loot to spice things up. It avoids many of the pitfalls of this subgenre of roguelites by giving the player several guns at the beginning of a run, so it doesn't suffer as much from the early game repetition other titles in the genre have. Unfortunately, while early game variety is pretty nice, you'll eventually find that there isn't a whole lot of content overall; you'll probably only complete a handful of runs before moving on to another game. It's still fun enough to blaze through on a lazy weekend though, and the current sale price is just right.

Apotheon

Alientrap Games

$3.79 (75% off)

Apotheon isn't Alientrap's first game, but it was the one that gained them some fleeting mainstream attention. This 2D action puzzle-platformer is set in Ancient Greece and features a gorgeous art direction inspired by pottery and paintings from the time. The combat is fast and skillful, with a really nice variety of both traditional Bronze Age weapons and mythological abilities bestowed upon you by the Gods of Olympus. The controls are a bit janky at times, particularly during the game's platforming segments, but they aren't so bad that they prevented me from finishing the game. There's some light Metroidvania elements too, as you'll occasionally backtrack to reach new areas after completing certain tasks. While Apotheon is the better of the two games, you can grab Alientrap's previous title, Capsized, for only $1. Cryptark, which is their latest game, is also on sale for 50% off.

Aarklash Legacy

Cyanide Studios

$1.99 (90% off)

Aarklash Legacy is a great party-based RPG set in the beloved (but defunct) Confrontation miniature game universe. You control a group of mercenaries that have been wrongly accused of treason, and are now on the run from the Lion of Alahan's forces. While the story and voice acting aren't incredible, the combat and interesting character designs make Aarklash Legacy a worthy addition to your CRPG library. Combat is real-time with an active pause system, and in many ways it almost feels like a single player MOBA where you control multiple champions at once. Micromanaging the positioning of your party is a huge part of the game, and even many of the healing abilities need to be aimed. While the skill trees and character customization aren't quite as deep as some other isometric RPGs, you still do get to make some pretty meaningful choices when leveling up your characters, including mutually-exclusive skills that can alter the way the character plays.

Age of Wonders 3

Triumph Studios

$7.49 (75% off)

In some ways, Age of Wonders 3 is a downgrade from its classic predecessors. The empire management isn't as complex as other 4X games, but at the same time the fun tactical combat, charming unit designs, and interesting approach to factions make it a game I still managed to put hundreds of hours into. My favorite aspect is how you can customize your faction. When building your leader, you choose their race, class, and three schools of magic or technology. While the core aspects of empire management are always the same, the combination of these choices alters your play style in more subtle ways. Races have their own set of units and preferences, your class gives you access to unique units and upgrades, and finally the schools of magic determine what your tech trees and spell books look like. There's some minor RPG elements to Age of Wonders 3 as well, including stat and ability customization for your heroes, items, and dungeons you can raid for loot and resources. The entire Age of Wonders franchise is on sale right now, and you honestly can't go wrong regardless of which game you pick.

Lichdom: Battlemage

Xaviant Games

$1.99 (95% off)

I have to be honest here, Lichdom isn't exactly a great game. It's a fantastic IDEA for a game, but its execution is pretty flawed. The concept of Lichdom is that it's a first-person RPG about being a ridiculously overpowered mage. There are no mana bars, cooldowns, or other limits to your face-freezing, flesh-sizzling magic. In theory, at least. In reality, Lichdom is more of a fantasy FPS where you shoot lightning bolts and fireballs from your fingers, and it's a damn pretty one too. The biggest problems with the game come down to boring level design, a loot-based spell crafting system that isn't as deep or interesting as it could have been, and a general lack of meaningful character progression. Like I said, it's by no means a bad game, it just didn't live up to its potential. Despite my complaints though, at 95% off you can still have a decent amount of fun blowing people up with fireballs in gorgeous HD graphics powered by CryEngine.  

Door Kickers

KillHouse Games

$3.99 (80% off)

As far as game titles go, Door Kickers is pretty lame and comes off as a bad meme. Luckily, the actual gameplay of Door Kickers is pretty freaking awesome. If you are disappointed that the Rainbox Six franchise abandoned the planning phase ages ago, then Door Kickers is the top-down strategy game you need in your life, because that essentially what this game is. Control a squad of SWAT operators through dozens of deadly scenarios featuring hostages, suicide bombers, and other terrorists that have barricaded themselves inside of buildings and won't go down without a fight. Once you breached your way through all the premade scenarios you can dive into the random level generators, or even make your own missions with the game's built-in editor.

Xenonauts

Goldhawk Interactive

$6.29 (75% off)

While I do really enjoy the modern XCOM titles, gamers looking for an experience closer to the original UFO Defense need to check out Xenonauts. You play as the commander of the Xenonauts, a multinational coalition formed to repel alien invaders. It really does look and feel like what you'd expect from a straight modernization of the original X-Com, and features many of the fan-favorite mechanics that Firaxis removed. In some ways, Xenonauts manages to surpass its larger budget contemporary, particularly in regards to the UFO interception mini-game, better base construction, and a deeper inventory system for your troops. It's not quite perfect, and still lacks polish and balance in a few areas, but for the most part Xenonauts is closer to what I wanted from a modern interpretation of X-Com, even if the real reboot still turned out pretty good.   

Stories: The Path of Destinies

Spearhead Games

$3.79 (75% off)

Stories is an action roguelite with some genuinely innovative ideas. It blends a pretty basic (though generally fun and well-designed) action combat system with a choose-your-own-adventure narrative that can lead to many possible outcomes. As with all roguelites, its designed to be replayed many times, but the choice-driven approach to the narrative makes it very unique in an otherwise saturated genre because of the sheer number of bizarre and tongue-in-cheek ways you can mess up. And you will mess up a lot, as the entire narrative is based around learning from your mistakes and trying something different next time…and that next time will undoubtedly also end in failure.

Rebel Galaxy

Double Damage Games

$4.99 (75% off)

Finally we come to Rebel Galaxy, a space RPG that shouldn't be confused with Rogue Galaxy from the PS2. Rebel Galaxy allows you to live out your Firefly fantasies by traveling across dangerous border systems on the edge of civilized space as you trade, mine space debris, hunt pirates, and navigate your way through the power politics of the galaxy's rival factions. The core gameplay loop of entering a new system to grind for resources so you can upgrade your ship does get repetitive after a while, but the game's fun ship-to-ship combat and excellent soundtrack will keep you busy for at least a few dozen hours. If the customization was deeper and the late-game gear was more interesting then Rebel Galaxy could have turned out to be something really special, but as it stands its merely a pretty solid space RPG.

You still have around 20 hours to snap up any deals that catch your attention. Make sure you browse the sale's page though, because there are tons of other good games being sold at bargain bin prices right now.

Pictured above: 3030 Deathwar Redux

I'm back with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some recent titles that haven't received a lot of press. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Tooth and Tail

Pocketwatch Games

$19.99

Tooth and Tail is a streamlined RTS by the developers of Monaco that hopes to deliver a deep strategy experience without focusing on the high APM and micromanagement requirements that make more traditional games in the genre so daunting. The world of Tooth and Tail is what you'd get if Redwall was set during the October Revolution, and features an art style reminiscent of WWI imagery and early Soviet propaganda posters. Years of famine have forced once-civilized animals to resort to a carnivorous diet, and now four factions are embattled in a civil war to determine who has to be the food. Tooth and Tail features both a campaign mode and competitive multiplayer, with matches designed to last around 5-to-10 minutes. You can find the game on the Humble Store, GOG, and PS4.

Hiveswap

What Pumpkin Games

$7.99

Hiveswap is an episodic adventure series inspired by the old LucasArts classics. The series is set in the Homestuck universe, long before the webcomic actually starts, and will be compatible with a companion series called Hauntswitch. You play as Joey Claire, a teenage girl that has been abducted from her home in 1994 and dropped on an alien world in the far future. Explore the game's hand-animated environments and solve item-based logic puzzles, albeit without the moon logic of most '90s adventure games. Be aware that this is only the first act in a four-part series, with no confirmed release date for the other episodes yet. Hiveswap is also available on the Humble Store.

3030 Deathwar Redux

Bird in Sky

$14.99

Speaking of adventure games, 3030 Deathwar Redux is a strange mix of a Space Quest-style narrative point 'n click with an open-universe space combat RPG. It's actually an extensively reworked version of a game from 2007, and features tons of extra content, enhanced graphics, and a major gameplay overhaul. 3030 Deathwar has comedic story-focused sequences where you solve puzzles and interact with characters like you'd expect from an adventure game, but you also have the freedom to explore the galaxy and carve your own path. Become a mercenary, haul cargo, mine asteroids, or engage in a life of piracy to afford new upgrades for your vessel.

Warbands: Bushido

Red Unit Studios

$7.99

Warbands: Bushido is a digital miniature skirmish game that recently exited Early Access. Collect units and cards to construct your army, then challenge other players online in skirmishes on grid-based boards designed to look like tabletops, complete with animated dice rolls and paintable miniatures. Warbands features some single player scenarios, but according to many user reviews they are poorly designed, meaning that you should only consider the game if you want multiplayer. It has received mixed reception since leaving Early Access, but as a miniature gamer myself I think I'll keep an eye on it.

Samurai Riot

Wako Factory

$14.99

Samurai Riot is a 2D brawler designed primarily with co-op in mind. Choose between two warriors, Sukane or Tsurumaru, in a branching story with eight possible endings. Players will need to choose between difficult moral choices that affect the outcome of their story, and should they disagree on a choice, they'll need to resolve their differences via a duel. Other features include upgradable character traits, new moves to learn, and co-op team attacks for taking down tougher enemies.

Oriental Empires

Shining Pixel Studios

$29.99

Oriental Empires is a 4X strategy game where players get to shape the history of ancient China. Starting with a single tribe, players will advance through the ages by expanding their territory, researching new technology, building armies, and eventually unifying all the warring nations into the first Chinese empire. The game features 24 playable factions, covering the beginning of Chinese history through the Seven Kingdoms era. The management aspect of Oriental Empires is fantastic from what I've heard, and includes tons of authentic Chinese units, technologies, and edicts based on historical events. The combat is consistently brought up as the most lackluster element of Oriental Empires, however, because you don't directly control your forces and must rely on AI with questionable tactical prowess. Also available on the Humble Store.

A Robot Named Fight!

Matt Bitner Games

$9.99

The new Metroid might only be available on the 3DS, but PC gamers have what looks to be a solid alternative with A Robot Named Fight! Explore procedurally-generated levels and collect randomized power-ups and item sets in this 2D Metroidvania roguelite where no play-through is ever the same. A Robot Named Fight! also features co-op, though its only available as local multiplayer.

Red Obsidian Remnant

Red Obsidian Studio

$8.99

Finally we come to Red Obsidian Remnant, our last roguelite title this week. This cute dungeon crawler combines the procedurally-generated items, levels, and enemies that you'd expect from a roguelike, but features a fairly deep action combat system. Air juggling, swapping weapons mid-combo, blocks, parries, and cancels all play a big role in Red Obsidian's brawler-inspired combat. The biggest downside seems to be the poor English translation, which remains an issue even after almost a year in Early Access. Online multiplayer is on the way too, though there is no set release date yet.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with more indie release highlights.      

Pictured above: Absolver

I'm back with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some recent titles that haven't been receiving a whole lot of press. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

20XX
Batterystable Games
$14.99

Mighty No. 9 might not have been the Mega Man successor that everyone hoped it would be, but luckily we have 20XX, which just recently released from Early Access. 20XX is everything you'd expect to see in a modern Mega Man-style action platformer, but with roguelite elements. Levels shift as you play and there is an element of randomness to the special abilities and bosses you'll encounter, with more options getting unlocked the more you play. There is a permadeath element like all games in the genre, though there is a more lenient difficulty setting that gives you three lives. Also available on the Humble Store.

Darkwood
Acid Wizard Studio
$14.99

Another anticipated indie title that recently exited Early Access is Darkwood. This atmospheric, top-down survival horror game places a big emphasis on scavenging for materials during the day and finding a place to hunker down and defend yourself at night. You can improve your character by injecting the essence of Darkwood's flora and fauna into your bloodstream, but be weary of unintended side effects. The world also changes as you play, adding an extra layer of eeriness to your exploration. Darkwood is available on the Humble Store and GOG.

Sky Rogue
Fractal Phase
$19.99

Our next roguelite this week is Sky Rogue, an arcadey aerial combat game. Each in-game day gives you a new randomly generated level and objective, and you only have one chance to complete it. As with many roguelites, you'll earn experience, new playable fighters, and new weapons as you progress. Enemies aren't just limited to waves of fighters and enemy aces, as Sky Rogue takes a page from Ace Combat's playbook and features massive super weapons too. Sky Rogue is also available on the Humble Store.

Absolver
Sloclap
$29.99

Absolver is a fairly unique melee-focused MMORPG dripping with martial arts combat and mechanics. The player interaction in Absolver is especially interesting, and goes beyond the usual making friends or rivals aspect that you'd expect in any multiplayer game. Players can become mentors or students to other players, thus allowing each other to use different move sets they might not have learned yet. The user reviews are pretty mixed so far, though leaning a bit more towards the positive end of the spectrum. The biggest issues with Absolver seem to be the lack of adequate servers for gamers outside of North America and Western Europe, making the game largely unplayable to anyone living outside of those regions. You can also find Absolver on the Humble Store, GOG, and the PS4, though apparently the console version is pretty buggy.

Nidhogg 2
Messhof
$14.99

Speaking of melee-focused multiplayer games, the sequel to 2014's hit 1v1 sword dueling game has arrived. Nidhogg 2 abandons the original's more minimalistic aesthetic for some fairly detailed pixel art, though your mileage may vary when it comes to which style you prefer. The sequel's biggest new features include additional weapons, a revamped combat system, new maps, and modifiers that can be used to spice up your duels. Be aware that some Nidhogg fans aren't too thrilled about the new direction, citing simplified combat and questionable weapon balance for the new gear as problems they have with the sequel. Nidhogg 2 is also on the Humble Store and the PS4.

Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder
ACE Team
$14.99

The surreal, historical tower defense/giant rock bowling series returns with Rock of Ages 2. Besides the usual features that you'd expect from a sequel, Rock of Ages 2 runs on UE4 this time around, ensuring that the destruction physics have never been better. The multiplayer has also been greatly expanded upon, including 2v2 team battles with intersecting tracks. You can also grab Rock of Ages 2 on the Humble Store, Xbox One, and PS4.

X-Morph: Defense
EXOR Studios
$19.99

X-Morph: Defense is another interesting tower defense/action hybrid that recently came out on Steam. You play as an X-Morph, a highly advanced alien species that has invaded Earth to strip mine it. Defend against humanity's counterattacks by building mazes of towers and jumping into one of several alien fighters to take a more direct approach to planetary conquest. These aerial dogfights are also how you will deal with the massive boss mecha that the humans will throw at you as they get increasingly desperate. Each mission is designed to be played co-op as well, though the multiplayer is split screen only. Also on PS4 and Xbox One.

Distrust
Cheerdealers
$11.99

Distrust is a top-down survival game inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing. You control a group of explorers stranded in an arctic base following a deadly helicopter crash. If the frigid weather and dwindling food and resources weren't enough, bizarre entities stalk the night, feeding on the life energy of sleeping survivors. As your characters become increasingly hungry and sleep-deprived, they begin to hallucinate until they can no longer tell what is reality. You can also find Distrust on the Humble Store.

Project Remedium
Atomic Jelly
$14.99

Finally we come to Project Remedium, a story-driven FPS where you control a heavily armed nanobot injected into a young child's bloodstream to save them from a mysterious illness. Fight your way through their heavily infected body to cure and repair the six major organs that are currently under siege. You'll find other nanobots to aid you during your journey, and can craft upgrades to your weapons and abilities to increase your antibiotic capabilities.   

That's all for now. I'll return soon with more overlooked release highlights.   
 

Pictured above: Phantom Trigger

I'm back with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some titles that stood out among Steam's weekly releases. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Sudden Strike 4
Kite Games
$49.99

It's not quite indie, but obscure enough that some people may have missed it. The Sudden Strike series finally returns after a seven year hiatus, though the reception so far has been pretty mixed. Fight through over 20 famous WWII battles as the Allies, Germany, or the USSR using an arsenal of historical units. The most notable new mechanic is the Commander system, which allows you to play as one of nine historic figures that have their own play style and unique abilities. Unfortunately, long-time Sudden Strike fans seem divided over this new installment, mostly due to its more simplified mechanics, poor unit pathfinding, and high price point for the amount of content at launch. Sudden Strike 4 is also on GOG, Humble Store, and the PS4. 

Time Recoil
10tons Ltd
$13.99

The developers of Crimsonland and Neon Chrome are back with another top-down shooter that features an interesting take on bullet time. Instead of just having a "press X to bullet time" button, in Time Recoil you must score kills to activate your slow motion powers. Subsequent kills extend your slow motion murder spree, and unlock the use of special powers, like a dash move that allows you to phase through walls. Time Recoil can also be found on the Humble Store.

Cat Quest
The Gentlebros
$12.99

RPG fans looking for a cute and casual way to entertain yourself over a weekend might want to check out Cat Quest. This open world action RPG is set in a whimsical fantasy realm full of cat people and feline puns. Set out on a quest to rescue your kidnapped sister from a dark lord threatening this peaceful kingdom. Combat is in real time and consists of hacking, slashing, dodge rolling, and the odd magic spell or two. Character customization mostly comes in the form of gear sets that amplify particular combat styles. You can also find Cat Quest on iOS.

Graceful Explosion Machine
Vertex Pop
$12.99

Graceful Explosion Machine is a colorful 2D shooter that originally made its debut a few months back on the Switch, to positive critical reception. You pilot the GEM, the most advanced and ridiculously overpowered fighter in the galaxy as you wage a one-ship war against an alien armada. Combo together your ship's four distinct weapons to maximize your score in each of the game's 30 levels. Also available on PS4.

Phantom Trigger
Bread Team
$14.99

Phantom Trigger is the latest indie game to be picked up and published by tinyBuild. It has drawn a lot of comparisons to Hyper Light Drifter for being a stylish top-down brawler with pixel art graphics, though based on the Steam reviews the public reaction has been a bit more mixed. The combo-driven combat system places a heavy emphasis on stuns, freezes, interrupts, and traps, all of which can be cast mid-combo to avoid enemy counterattacks. You can also find Phantom Trigger on GOG, the Humble Store, and the Switch.

Evil Genome
Crystal Depths Studio
$14.99

Another recent stylish brawler to find its way onto Steam is Evil Genome. It bills itself as a Metroidvania loaded with gear and special abilities to discover, but based on the reviews I've seen, Evil Genome is much more linear than most games in the genre. The Steam reviews are a bit mixed as well, with commonly cited issues being bugs and poor translation, but Evil Genome still looks promising enough to keep an eye on.

Peregrin
Domino Digital Limited
$14.99

Peregrin is a narrative puzzle adventure published by Green Man Gaming's new publishing arm. You play as Abi, a scavenger living in the wastelands of a ruined civilization. She embarks on a journey to find a better life in the unknown world beyond the wastes. She has the unique gift to temporarily possess the bodies of the creatures around her, and will need to use their abilities to solve environmental puzzles and sneak past the deadly lost technology that remains scattered around the world. You can also find Peregrin on the Humble Store and Green Man Gaming.

Lost Technology
Studio 4D
$2.99

Finally we come to Lost Technology, a strategy game that is essentially a mod of a mod that got expanded into its own game with the help of the original mod's creator. Players choose from around a dozen factions vying for control in a fantasy world experiencing a resurgence in technological development. The overworld map where you develop your kingdom, negotiate with other races, and move your troops is turn-based, but battles play out in real time. There are also story events, though only three of the factions are currently translated. You can still play as the others, but they don't have story events just yet due to the limited time and budget of the game's small Japanese dev team. Even though the game is technically still unfinished, it's hard to argue with a $3 price tag.

That's all for now. I'll return soon with more overlooked indie game release highlights.                   
 

Pictured above: Super Cloudbuilt

I'm back with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some titles that stood out among Steam's weekly releases. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.

Pyre

Supergiant Games

$19.99

First up we have Pyre, a game that probably doesn't need much in the way of introduction. The latest title by the developers of Transistor and Bastion may retain Supergiant's signature aesthetic and focus on music and storytelling, but takes a fairly radical departure in the gameplay department. This time around combat comes in the form of a sports RPG, where teams of three have to grab a ball and score on the opponent's goal, the titular "pyres." Another interesting departure from previous Supergiant games is the addition of a pseudo-open world with a branching storyline that contains no real failure states. Pyre is also available on PS4.     

Slime Rancher

Monomi Park

$19.99

The hugely popular and adorable Slime Rancher recently released from Early Access. You play as Beatrix LeBeau, a young rancher that has decided to travel to the distant fringes of the galaxy and make her living as a slime wrangler. In practical terms, Slime Rancher is a first-person sandbox where players capture slimes with their handy vacpack, place them in pins, care for them, and sell the fruits of their labor for profit. The challenge comes from learning the various properties of the different slime species, and figuring out the best ways to contain and care for them. Slime Rancher is also on GOG, the Humble Store, and Xbox One.

Sundered

Thunder Lotus Games

$19.99

Sundered is a 2D metroidvania featuring gorgeous (and terrifying) hand-drawn graphics from the creators of Jotun. Explore a ruined world of shifting caverns and cosmic horrors where you must choose to embrace or resist the whispering temptations of ancient eldritch artifacts. Sundered promises multiple endings to discover based on how much of your sanity you sacrifice to harness the dark powers of its world. You can also buy Sundered on GOG, the Humble Store, and PS4.

The Shrouded Isle

Kitfox Games

$9.99

The Shrouded Isle is another recent title about ancient powers better left forgotten. This story-driven light management game places you in control of a village of fanatical cultists that worship a slumbering Lovecraftian god. According to your village's prophecies, the god will soon reawaken and lead humanity into a new era. Survive for the next three years as the high priest of your religion by making allies, rooting out heretics, and offering sacrifices to your god to maintain his favor. Also available on the Humble Store.

Solstice Chronicles: MIA

Ironward

$19.99

Solstice Chronicles is a top-down tactical shooter where you play as a corporate marine stranded on a dead Martian colony. The mutagenic virus that decimated Earth has spread throughout Tharsis, and you must find a way to stop it from reaching the last bastions of humanity. Accompanying you is an advanced AI-controlled drone full of useful features, and is the source of the game's interesting risk-reward mechanics. The drone can be used to unleash tons of powerful abilities against the mutant hordes in Tharsis, but using your drone too much raises the alert level and attracts more enemies to your location. You can also bring along a co-op partner, but the multiplayer is local only.    

Immortal Planet

teedoubleuGAMES

$14.99

Immortal Planet is the latest in a long line of challenging action RPGs that contain self-proclaimed "Souls-like" mechanics, such as methodical combat and losing experience upon death. Each level in the game's unforgiving world contains shortcuts back and forth to the central hub where you can cash in your experience for new abilities and gear. You can also buy Immortal Planet on GOG.

Redeemer

Sobaka Studio

$14.99

Redeemer is a brutal new brawler that allows you to murder your enemies with everything from your fists to their own severed limbs. You play as Vasily, a former operative for the world's biggest cybernetics manufacturer that narrowly escaped after the company decided that they no longer needed him. After 20 years they have finally managed to track Vasily down, giving him a final chance to atone for his dark past. In addition to your standard combo-based brawling, you can also tackle missions with a stealthy approach…or just disarm a guard and go on a shooting spree with their assault rifle. You can also grab Redeemer on the Humble Store, and the developers worked out a deal with Devolver Digital so that owners of Mother Russia Bleeds can get the game for 10% off.

Aztez

Team Colorblind

$19.99

Finally we come to Aztez, a black and white Aztec-inspired brawler with…turn-based strategy elements? Move and deploy your Aztec warriors across a map of the empire in the turn-based strategy metagame, then engage in frantic and brutal 2D brawler sequences to resolve combat. Face off against historic figures and mythological monsters to change the course of history. The campaign features random events and items to ensure that each play through is slightly different. You can also find Aztez on the Humble Store.

Still craving new games? Why not check out one of these other recent titles as well:

• Fidel Dungeon Rescue, a puzzle-driven dungeon crawler where you play as a dog trying to navigate each level in the most efficient way possible.            
• Galaxy of Pen & Paper, the sci-fi follow-up to Knights of Pen and Paper.
• Tragedy of Prince Rupert, a surreal 2D shooter inspired by the 1958 movie The Fabulous World of Jules Verne.
• Super Cloudbuilt , a speedrunning-focused parkour shooter

That's all for this week. I'll return soon with more indie release highlights.   

Pictured above: Dungeon Defenders II

If you somehow have spare money to blow after the Steam sale, why not consider trying one of these recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar?

Darkest Dungeon: The Crimson Court
Red Hook Studios
$9.99

The highly anticipated DLC to Darkest Dungeon has finally arrived. This expansion adds new narration and cut scenes focusing on the early days of The Ancestor, all presented in the game's signature grim and macabre aesthetic. A new dungeon has been unlocked in the form of The Courtyard, and its crawling with new monsters and bosses to defeat. You won't have to explore this new dungeon alone, however, as Crimson Court also introduces a new character class and upgrades to improve your hamlet. The new DLC is also on GOG and the Humble Store, while the PS4 and Vita versions will be out at the end of August.

Dungeon Defenders II
Trendy Entertainment
Free to Play

After a lengthy stay in Early Access and a major overhaul, Dungeon Defenders II is complete. While it was originally going to focus on a competitive MOBA-style mode, fan feedback forced Trendy to push the sequel to this beloved tower defense game closer towards the original's direction. Join up to three friends and defend the Eternia Crystals from waves of foul monsters. Gain loot and experience after each battle to upgrade your character and take on even greater challenges. The base game is free to play, with various DLC packs that give you access to more levels, exclusive items, and premium currency to spend on characters and upgrades.

Serious Sam's Bogus Detour
Crackshell
$14.99

Several years back, Croteam held a contest to find indie developers willing to make quality spin-offs of the Serious Sam franchise. Three devs were chosen, and the first two games, The Random Encounter and Double D, were released ages ago. The third title disappeared, and remained dormant until it suddenly reappeared during the Devolver Digital E3 Conference with a release date. Serious Sam's Bogus Detour is a top-down, multiplayer-focused, twin-stick shooter interpretation of Croteam's classic series. Team up with three friends to tackle the campaign mode, or battle it out in competitive and survival modes that support 12 players. Also on GOG and the Humble Store.

Nex Machina
Housemarque
$19.99

Nex Machina is the latest arcade shooter by Housemarque, the developer best known for Resogun, which was the only thing worth playing on the PS4 at launch. This twin-stick shooter takes much of its inspiration from arcade classics like Smash TV, and pits the player against waves of robotic foes in destructible, voxel-based environments. Unfortunately, the co-op mode is local only, though the game is full of online challenges and leaderboards to display your gaming prowess to others. You can also find Nex Machina on PS4, GOG, and the Humble Store.

Ticket to Earth
Robot Circus
$14.99

Ticket to Earth is a unique new take on the match-3 RPG formula. In this strategy RPG, the grid-based boards that you fight on double as the match-3 board. This means that you collect power by moving your character around the map to match gems before unleashing devastating special attacks. This is just the first part of four episodes, but the entire experience is covered by the $15 price tag. Ticket to Earth was originally released on mobile, so you can find a copy there as well.

Cryptark
Alientrap
$14.99

Finally we come to Cryptark, the newest title by the developers of Apotheon and Capsized. This 2D roguelite places you in the boots of a privateer that accepts contracts to board derelict alien space-hulks in search of valuable artifacts. Just because the ships are abandoned that doesn't mean they are safe, however, as dormant security turrets and drones guard the empty hallways from intruders. As with most roguelites, the starships in Cryptark are all procedurally generated, and the penalties for failure are severe. You can also find Cryptark on the Humble Store and PS4.

That's all for this time. Which of these new games captured your attention?

Expeditions: Conquistador
Logic Artists
$4.99

Expeditions: Conquistador was one of the first games I ever reviewed, on a site that no longer exists. This strategy RPG places you in command of a group of Spanish explorers searching for fame and fortune in the jungles of the New World. Gameplay is split between diplomatic negotiations with the natives, random events, exploration, and turn-based combat. The core mechanics in each segment are pretty basic, but they all come together to form a solid adventure in a criminally underutilized setting. I hear that Logic Artists have improved the formula significantly in their Viking-themed follow-up, but that title is still way too recent to be heavily discounted.              
 

Crimsonland
10tons Ltd
$4.19

Do you want to slaughter hordes of monsters with a staggering variety of weapons, but only have a few minutes to spare? If so, you can't go wrong with Crimsonland. This is the 2014 remake of a classic shooter from 2003, and a lot has been added over the years. Pick one of five survival modes and annihilate enemies for as long as you can with dozens of grossly overpowered weapons and power-ups. There is nothing deep or sophisticated about Crimsonland, it's just mindless, gory fun. It's not as good as Nation Red in terms of bloody carnage, but it's still a satisfying way to kill some time.

Infested Planet
Rocket Bear Games
$4.94

Speaking of alien genocide, Infested Planet is everything the Starship Troopers video games should have been. You lead a small squad of space mercenaries against a never-ending horde of alien bugs. The ground is so thick with aliens that each rocket can turn a dozen of them into red mist without even putting a dent in the chitinous swarm. Your kill count after any given mission can easily reach the tens of thousands. To make any progress you'll need to carefully micromanage your squad, positioning each soldier just right to ensure the maximum number of kills with each shot as you slowly grind your way towards the hives. The game may seem pretty easy at first, but later missions introduce alien hives with increasingly tough mutations designed to counter your favorite tactics.

Contrast
Compulsion Games
$3.39

I'll be upfront about this one: Contrast is a very flawed game. The controls aren't very tight, and some segments can get frustrating because of the clunky camera and character movement. The game was also very buggy when I first played it back in 2013, with one puzzle becoming unsolvable because the box I needed to move decided to do its best UFO impression. With all that said, I still enjoyed Contrast enough to cautiously recommend it, especially at the current sale price. If you can get past its flaws, you'll find a gorgeous platformer with a fantastic soundtrack, some genuinely cool puzzles, an interesting world, and a touching story that deals with some pretty mature themes as seen through the eyes of a child.

Tales of Maj'Eyal
Netcore Games
$2.37

Tales of Maj'Eyal is one of the best modern roguelikes on the market. I use the term "modern" loosely, as Maj'Eyal is just the latest iteration of a series that has been around for nearly two decades and can trace its roots back to Angband. ToME is the quintessential roguelike, an unforgiving adventure with a ludicrous amount of depth. You can easily lose a hundred hours to ToME and barely scratch the surface. It's not a game for the faint of heart, but luckily you can test the game for free on the official website.

AI War: Fleet Command
Arcen Games
$0.99

I'm nothing if not a raging fanboy of Arcen Games, so it was just a matter of time before one of their titles made it onto this list. AI War is Arcen's most popular and well-known game, and for good reason. This unique strategy game has been steadily improved and expanded upon for six years, and all the DLC is ridiculously cheap right now as well. The basic premise of AI War is that humanity lost the war with the machines. All that remains is a tiny, insignificant resistance that would easily be slaughtered should the AI learn of its existence. What follows is a guerilla campaign where you must silently take out the AI's subcommanders, steal and sabotage enemy technology, and build your forces without attracting the AI's attention. The game has a fairly steep learning curve, but if you can get past its quirks you'll discover an infinitely replayable and satisfying strategy game unlike any other on the market.   

Reus
Abbey Games
$1.99

If a tense and deadly space war isn't your thing, then why not travel to the chill and colorful world of Reus? This god game gives you an empty world and four gods with unique abilities so you can shape it to your heart's content. Each god represents a different ecosystem with its own flora and fauna. The goal is to give humanity the resources they need to build thriving villages by placing plants, minerals, and animals in the most optimum arrangement to generate bonuses. Beware, however, as a village that becomes too prosperous can also become selfish, greedy, and warlike. The core mechanics are easy enough to grasp, but the interactions between the various resources and ecosystems can get surprisingly complex as you progress to later tech levels.

Super Mutant Alien Assault
Cybernate
$3.29

That word salad of a title belongs to a game that pitches itself as "The Citizen Kane of Super Crate Box Clones." While that's a fairly accurate description, I feel that the developers of Super Mutant Alien Assault are selling themselves a bit short. It's functionally similar to SCB in the sense that you pick up crazy weapons and kill hordes of enemies in enclosed, arena-like levels, but SMAA does quite a bit to differentiate itself. Levels alternate between objectives like "kill all enemies" and "bring X number of objects to device Y," with crazy boss fights at the end of each level set. If you loved the core concept of Super Crate Box but wanted to see it expanded further, then Super Mutant Alien Assault is worth adding to your collection.

The Swapper
Facepalm Games
$2.84

I'll admit that I never actually finished The Swapper. The biggest "problem" with this atmospheric and clever sci-fi puzzle platformer is that I'm far too inept to properly play it. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate it, and I highly recommend The Swapper to anyone who isn't as incompetent as I am when it comes to using their brain. The puzzles are all based around cloning yourself to be in multiple places at once, with strict rules on how you can move and place your clones. Best enjoyed with headphones and in the dark so you can really soak in the game's lonely and mysterious world.

Intrusion 2
Aleksey Abramenko
$2.99

Finally we come to Intrusion 2, a side-scrolling shooter made by a Russian dude with way too much spare time on his hands. Intrusion 2 isn't the most polished, precise, or advanced side scroller out there, but it is a game that oozes charm from every orifice. The physics are as janky and hilarious as they are impressive for a game in this genre, and you'll often get stuck because the giant mecha worm you just killed fell on you, but the game is just so damn fun that you don't care about its flaws. It looks and plays like something dreamed up by a hyperactive child after binge-watching a GI Joe marathon, and that's all part of what makes Intrusion 2 so memorable.

So what are you waiting for? Get on Steam and help Gaben buy his 73rd solid gold yacht by spending lots of money on games you'll probably never play.

Pictured above: Formicide

I'm back with another batch of recent indie releases that may have slipped under your radar. I'm not personally endorsing any of these games, just highlighting some games that stood out amongst Steam's weekly batch of releases. Make sure you read user reviews and search YouTube to find more information on each game.
 

Gorescript
Sergiu Bucur
$9.99

First this week is Gorescript, an FPS inspired by classics from the '90s. Splatter the blood of your voxel enemies across 18 levels with an arsenal of six weapons. The game features five difficult settings, including an optional permadeath mode for extra challenge. Find secrets to upgrade your weapons and compete with other players on the global leaderboard.
 

Pathfinder Adventures
Obsidian Entertainment
$24.99

Pathfinder Adventures is a digital adaptation of Paizo's Pathfinder card game, and plays exactly like fans of the physical version would expect. Explore the Pathfinder universe as the franchise's iconic characters in this card-driven battle game that emulates a mini RPG adventure. The PC version apparently has some issues to hammer out, but it still might be worth looking into if you like the card game, and Pathfinder in general. There is also a "free-to-play" version on mobile, assuming you are willing to grind countless hours to make any progress.
 

Air Missions: HIND
3Division
$16.99

Jump into the cockpit of Russia's infamous "flying tank" in Air Missions: HIND. Load your gunship full of real-world autocannons, rockets, and bombs as you destroy air and ground targets across a 15 mission campaign. The game also features co-op and competitive multiplayer, as well as full Steam Workshop support so the community can make new missions and modes. Grab the $20 Deluxe Edition and get access to the HAVOC, HIP, and HOKUM helicopters. Also on Xbox One.
 

Witchinour
Sofuto Geimu
$4.99

Witchinour is a top-down bullet hell with roguelite elements and a retro-inspired aesthetic. Explore a randomly generated dungeon as Nour, a novice witch looking for her lost spell book. Clear each floor as quickly as possible to avoid raising your alert level. If your alert level gets too high then subsequent floors will become more difficult as you face greater numbers of fiercer enemies.   
 

Flood of Light
Irisloft
$3.99

In Flood of Light you play as a mysterious girl in a city submerged by torrential rain. Use your light to solve puzzles based around illuminating the city. Gain access to new light powers that will help you solve more advanced puzzles and lower the water level so you can reach deeper levels of the city. Find all of the game's hidden wicks to reveal the mysteries surrounding the flooded city and the unending rain. 
 

Art of Gravity
Hamster On Coke Games
$.99

Art of Gravity is the latest minimalistic, physics-based puzzle game by Hamster On Coke, which is possibly one of the better indie studio names I've encountered. The puzzles in Art of Gravity are, surprisingly enough, based on using gravity to manipulate objects. Drop spheres to destroy abstract voxel figures that, based on the trailer, explode in a fairly satisfying fashion.
 

Zafehouse Diaries 2
Screwfly Studios
$6.99

The sleeper hit zombie survival game from 2012 has finally received a sequel with Zafehouse Diaries 2. As with the original, this procedurally generated, text-based management game is told through the diary of a survivor during a zombie apocalypse. Manage the needs of your small group of survivors, each of which have their own personalities and skills. Complete the game's premade scenarios, or survive as long as possible in the sandbox mode.            
 

Formicide
Rock Wall Games, LLC
Free

Finally we come to Formicide, a 2D class-based multiplayer game that promotes itself as "Worms meets Team Fortress 2." Pick from eight playable classes and face off in objective-focused battles. Capture power-ups to give your team the upper hand by unleashing special attacks. Many of the weapons and abilities are based around terrain creation and deformation, hence the comparisons to Worms. Matches are designed to be five to ten minutes in length, with an emphasis on easy-to-learn mechanics with a high skill ceiling.
 

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with more new release highlights.