- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: The next freebie game has now arrived - it's the excellent action-focused roguelike Enter the Gungeon!
As announced a little while back, the Epic Games Store will be giving away a new game every two weeks for the entirely of 2019. The offer this time around, as you might imagine from the title alone, is the excellent management/strategy game Kingdom: New Lands.
In terms of pure gameplay, Kingdom: New Lands is all about establishing and then keeping your kingdom safe. You'll need to hire a whole bunch of workers and soldiers, construct layered defenses, and once night comes, do whatever you can to survive the onslaught of enemies that will be trying to steal everything you have that is or isn't nailed down.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair now has a free demo available on PC.
[Update]: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair has now been pinned for an October 8th release date!
While Yooka-Laylee unfortunately didn't manage to reach the same levels of excellence as Banjo-Kazooie, it was still a pretty fun game and one that only got better with each subsequent update. With that in mind, I am very glad to say that the team behind it is now once again making a Yooka-Laylee platformer, though with a bit of a twist!
Instead of Yooka-Laylee 2, Playtonic has now announced a seemingly Donkey Kong inspired 2D platformer called Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair! Here's a brief trailer showcasing just what it's all about:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: Celeste's free Chapter 9 update has now arrived with over 100 new levels, and they're pretty good!
Back in 2018, the developers behind the excellent indie platformer Celeste announced that they will be releasing a bunch of new levels in early 2019 to celebrate their 500,000 copies sold milestone. As you're hopefully well aware, early 2019 has come and gone, but the free update has yet to appear.
Thankfully, this is not because of any behind-the-scenes problems, but rather because the developers have greatly increased the scope of the update. Instead of just a couple of new levels to say goodbye to Celeste, the upcoming update has now ballooned in size to over 100 new levels!
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: After a year of exclusivity, Journey is coming to Steam as well.
Journey was originally a PlayStation 3 exclusive that released all the way back in 2012. As you might expect from the name alone, it was an exploration-focused adventure that was all about navigating a truly gorgeous world, taking in the sights, and slowly but surely piecing together the overall story. A relatively simple formula, but that didn't stop Journey from becoming a massive success from the moment it launched!
With that in mind, I am very happy to say that Journey will finally be coming to PC later this week, on June 6th. Here's what you can expect to see:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
As you might imagine from the name alone, Gato Roboto stars a cuddly little cat piloting a heavily armored mech through a variety of simple yet stylish environments. When it comes to the actual gameplay, Gato Roboto is a Metroidvania that will have you cleave your way through hordes of enemies in search of upgrades and secrets, all of which will then further enable you to blast away at even more baddies.
Since gameplay is king for any sort of Metroidvania game, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. It should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: RimWorld's Update 1.1 is bringing in even more bug fixes, improvements and fancy toys to play around with.
While the vanilla version of RimWorld is really fun to mess around with, it is the mods that provide some of the much-needed longevity and challenge after you've already mastered the basic mechanics. I mean, if you can't make a cybernetic attack wolf that's hocked up on so many drugs it moves faster than a train, then what's the point of even playing RimWorld?
However, while going completely over-the-top with mods can create some truly enjoyable gameplay, it can also result in some ridiculously long load times. The longest I've seen personally was around 10 minutes while I was experimenting with dozens of new factions, but even that pales in comparison to some of the setups I've seen online.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Much like the original, Layers of Fear 2 is a psychological horror game with the focus mostly being on the storytelling and exploration. What this means in gameplay terms is that you'll spend the vast majority of your time traversing some rather beautiful locations, rummaging through everything you can get your hands on in search of story clues, and naturally, running into a whole bunch of messed up imagery along the way!
You can get a pretty good idea of what all of this looks like in action, as well as what sort of atmosphere Layers of Fear 2 cloaks itself with, through one of the developer previews down below. Have a peek:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After quite a few previews and teasers, the Diablo inspired ARPG Warhammer: Chaosbane has now finally arrived in full. As you would expect from that brief description alone, Warhammer: Chaosbane is a fantasy hack and slash that that's all about annihilating untold hordes of monsters with a variety of unique characters, all in search of ever-increasing quantities of randomized loot.
If you're wondering how all of this translates into actual gameplay, allow me to share with you one of the recent trailers featuring the Wood Elf Scout. Have a gander, it's a fairly informative one:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Void Bastards is a newly released roguelike FPS with a focus on dark humor, close quarters combat, as well as collecting everything that isn't nailed down in order to keep yourself alive for just a little bit longer. If you've played System Shock, chances are Void Bastards will feel instantly familiar as you'll spend most of your time creeping across derelict hallways, slowly carving your way through hordes of mutants and deranged robots.
You can get a pretty good idea of what all this looks like in gameplay terms, as well as what sort of atmosphere Void Bastards is going for, through the recently posted launch trailer. Have a look:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After spending a fair bit of time being a Nintendo Switch exclusive, the steampunk card-based RPG SteamWorld Quest has now finally made its way to PC as well. It brings with it a whole bunch of charming characters and hand-drawn locations, a whole host of cards which you can use to customize your playstyle, and naturally, a world filled with steampunk monsters to slay as you search for treasure and glory.
You can get a pretty good idea of what all of this looks like in-game, as well as what the card-based combat is all about, through the launch trailer below. Have a peek: