- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update #2]: Following the success of the original, Supergiant Games are now working on a bigger and bolder sequel!
[Update]: After two years in Early Access, Hades has now been unleashed onto PC and Nintendo Switch!
The Epic Games Store has recently opened its doors, and what better way to start things off than by announcing and subsequently releasing Hades, a brand new game from the creators of Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. Given the studio's previous work, I'm sure it won't come as much of a surprise to hear that Hades is a remarkably stylish dungeon crawler with some rogue-like elements thrown into the mixture, as well as a focus on storytelling through some quality narration.
Since these types of games are better shown than talked about, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, it's quite an interesting one:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're a fan of challenging gameplay and action-platformers in general, you might be interested to hear that the Ghouls 'n Ghosts inspired Battle Princess Madelyn is set to arrive this December 6th for both PC and consoles. As you might imagine from that description alone, Battle Princess Madelyn is all about scouring the various levels for secrets and new weapons, mastering the movement and combat mechanics, and naturally, trying to beat up giant bosses without losing any of your power-ups in the process.
You can get a pretty good idea of what Battle Princess Madelyn is all about, as well as what the visual style looks like, through the recently posted trailer down below. Have a gander, it's quite a charming game:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Nearly 20 years have past since the original X: Beyond the Frontier released, and thankfully it would appear that the series is still going strong as X4: Foundations has recently made its way to Steam alongside some fairly positive reviews. Much like it's predecessors, X4: Foundations is all about roaming around space, building your own ships and stations, fighting or trading with the various factions, and naturally, creating an empire that will dominate all others.
Since trying to explain all of this through words alone is a bit of a pointless venture, allow me to share with you one of the gameplay previews. It should give you a pretty darn good idea of what X4: Foundations is all about and what you can expect to see. Have a gander:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
If you're feeling nostalgic about Warcraft 2 and 3, you might be interested to hear that the newly released Loria has taken some heavy, heavy inspiration from both of them. The visuals are greatly reminiscent of Warcraft 2, there are two playable races with their own unique campaigns, each faction has dozens of units and upgrades to juggle, you can level up and equip six different heroes, and the list goes on.
You can get a pretty good idea of what Loria looks like in gameplay terms, as well as how the Warcraft 2 styled visuals hold up in motion, through the recently posted trailer down below. Have a gander:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After a successful Kickstarter and two years in Steam's Early Access program, the RollerCoaster Tycoon inspired Parkitect has now finally released in full. As you can probably guess from the name alone, Parkitect is a business sim that will have you construct, manage, and most likely annihilate your very own theme parks (and/or death traps).
If you're wondering what all of this looks like in gameplay terms, however, allow me to share with you the recently posted launch trailer. Have a gander, and do make sure to prepare yourself for quite a lot of cheesiness:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
After two extremely solid forays into the dungeon crawler genre, Legend of Grimrock devs are now working on a new turn-based, tactical RPG called Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest. As you can imagine from that brief description alone, Druidstone will have you slowly build up and upgrade you party, all in an effort to conquer various hand-crafted and challenging missions.
Continuing the tradition from the Legend of Grimrock series, Druidstone will also be full of secrets to unravel and puzzles to solve. Some will give you rare equipment, others power gems that you can use to upgrade your abilities, and some might just give you an opportunity to ambush a particularly nasty group of enemies.
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
Given Doom's significance and the success of its modern reboot, it was only a matter of time before we saw another wave of Doom-inspired shooters. As you might imagine from that description alone, Prodeus is a retro-styled FPS with a focus on fast paced action, brutal combat encounters, a variety of over-the-top weaponry, and naturally, levels jam-packed with secrets to uncover.
Since a lot of the appeal comes from the visuals and atmosphere, allow me to share with you the recently posted reveal trailer. It's not exactly lengthy, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from Prodeus:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: If you're looking for more games like this, The Case of the Golden Idol is a charming yet oddly bizarre detective game heavily inspired by Return of the Obra Dinn.
Return of the Obra Dinn is an adventure and investigation game that will have you wonder across the fabled merchant ship Obra Dinn in order to discover how it ended up drifting into port with damaged sales and no visible crew. In order to accomplish this you will be given brief glimpses into past events and their consequences, and from there you will need to piece together evidence to figure out what exactly happened, why it happened, and what sort of effect it had on the rest of the ship.
Since all of this is accompanied with a truly unique and fetching art style, it would probably be for the best if I just shared with you the most recent trailer. Have a look, it's well worth the two minutes:
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
The original Layers of Fear is a first-person psychological horror game with a focus on storytelling and exploration, as is tradition. From what I can recall it had a pretty darn good start with some solid atmosphere and interesting events to back it all up, but as I went further along the jumpscares became more and more predictable and the horror elements kind of faded away. I'd still rate it as a pretty decent horror game, but if you ask me, the studio's next game >observer_ was much more impressive.
It would appear that I am in the minority here, however, as the developers have just recently come out to announce that Layers of Fear 2 is getting a sequel! Not much is known about it so far, but if you'd like a couple of hints points you towards what Layers of Fear 2's story will be like, you'll find the recently posted teaser trailer right below. Have a gander:
After many years in Early Access, the incredibly varied colony sim RimWorld has now released in full
- By Ash
- in Indie Games
[Update]: RimWorld's very first expansion Royalty has now suddenly been released alongside Update 1.1!
In a world where Steam Early Access is most often used as a tool to avoid legitimate criticism, RimWorld stands as a shining example of what it can truly be used for - community interaction, tons of changes, and an endless stream of new content to keep backers occupied. And so, after many years in Early Access, I am very happy to announce that RimWorld has just recently launched in full alongside a nearly perfect (and most certainly well deserved) 97% approval rating on Steam.
For those of you wondering what RimWorld is actually all about, however, it would probably be best to just say that it has been inspired by Dwarf Fortress. That alone should tell you how complex, interwoven, and often times absolutely bloody insane the gameplay can truly get. Thankfully, RimWorld is neither as insurmountable or as unwieldy as Dwarf Fortress, so if you're even remotely interested in experiencing what I can only describe as 'self-writing stories', you should definitely give it a look.