Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault has come a long way from its original Early Access state, and I found myself appreciating it a lot more thanks to the various improvements and added features. A fantastic mix of roguelike combat and shop management, the game creates an incredibly engaging gameplay loop of procuring and then selling rare items, and even manages to gamify running a shop in an unexpected way. Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is a fantastic roguelike at a very fair price, and I highly suggest checking it out.
Though the game is incredibly linear, guiding you carefully and directly through its narrative, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is an experience worth being guided through. What surprised me most was how fast, fun, and deadly the game’s combat felt, making every encounter an exhilarating dance that could end just as quickly as it started if I wasn’t careful. With great characters and a fantastic story, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is definitely worth checking out.
Enshrouded is an exemplary entry into its genre, seamlessly combining survival crafting mechanics with ARPG exploration and progression and, in my humble opinion, delivering the best of both. While you can absolutely play the game solo, it’s even more fun with friends, scaling the adventure to your group rather than becoming too easy or outright demanding the extra hands on deck as some other survival-crafting titles do.
Alpha Nomos can be a little repetitive at times, and it can feel as though there isn’t an abundance of content to unlock, but it still remains a fairly fun and distinctly creative experience throughout. The game’s unique mix of rhythm-game mechanics and roguelike progression, paired with its fun story and characters, makes for an undeniably memorable experience.
Truckful‘s flow might be interrupted by frequent loading screens, but it is otherwise a pretty fun, relaxing physics-puzzle about driving through a beautiful countryside delivering packages. That is, until sudden, unexpected but much-appreciated horror elements show up, giving the game a unique and threatening element not present in similar titles.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival gives me new hope for horror movie franchises in the video game space, and truly is a superb single-player horror game that stands alongside the best in its genre. The story is exquisite, the gameplay is solid, and the imagery is visceral, never pulling its punches to deliver a truly terrifying horror gaming experience.
Forever Ago moved me in ways that are hard to describe: the game’s themes of loss, regret, hope, and courage resonate deeply and are presented through a phenomenal cast of voice talent. If narrative-driven experiences are your thing, this is a title you absolutely cannot afford to miss out on.
Slayblade was clearly built on a vision, and that vision was executed decently. However, the game left me wanting, feeling unnecessarily short, barren, and repetitive. You quickly grasp everything the game has to offer within the first 20 minutes, and it does little to keep you playing after that.
Mexican Ninja has some readability issues in combat, but it makes up for it with fast-paced action, crass-but-clever writing, and an overall incredible setting. You won’t be disappointed by this all-around solid entry into the genre.
Doloc Town can feel slow and doesn’t always communicate its concepts to the player, but it is still a great entry into the farming sim genre, offering much-needed originality in both its setting and mechanics.
If you’re looking for a fun way to shut your brain off for an hour or two, Doggy Don’t Care is a fine way to do it, offering a short but chaos-filled adventure where you terrorize your owner’s home, explore new places, and pee on the carpet.
Though I feel like False Hero misses the mark when it comes to what makes progression so fun and rewarding in a soulslike game, the title gets every other piece of the formula down incredibly well. Fans of the genre will appreciate this solo-developed gem, especially its unique approach to combat and interesting original story.
Graveyard Keeper 2 is perhaps one of the most interesting titles in its genre, delivering an incredibly unique premise, a story full of dark comedy and familiar, genre-beloved gameplay with some great quality-of-life
Deified is a solid turn-based combat roguelike that should appeal to fans of the niche with its slightly faster pacing. However, I don’t expect it to change anyone’s mind if they aren’t already fans of similar titles, and the game’s difficulty curve and grindy nature might keep some players from enjoying it to the fullest.
Lootbound highly impressed me with its simple yet expressive mechanics and its loot-focused, turn-based roguelike structure. Paired with its incredible art, vivid world, and interesting characters, and you have a game that is sure to stick with you long after you’ve beaten it. Lootbound is an experience that you’ll struggle to let go… much like that legendary but under-leveled piece of gear you’re hanging on to.
Folklands is a highly nostalgic city-builder, paying homage to a simpler era of games with its beautiful pixelated graphics and familiar mechanics. However, it might be nostalgic to a fault, with the game feeling somewhat dated and overly simple when compared to other indie city-building games on the market. For the price the game asks for, it’s not a terrible buy, but you might find yourself bored before finishing your first settlement, especially if you’re a more experienced city-builder.
Leafy Corner offers a small, consistent, relaxed gaming experience. However, I was left wanting, quickly finding the gameplay loop to be repetitive and boring. Simple, perhaps to a fault, I can see how Leafy Corner would be perfect for some who just want to relax for an hour or two after work. For others, however, you may find the game a bit too relaxed for the price.
Welcome to Elderfield surprised me as a delightfully spooky, terror-filled take on the cozy farming sim genre. Depicting small-town life as full of unexplainable phenomena and horrors that become the mundane, Welcome to Elderfield easily shines as one of the most unique titles in its genre, while still delivering the familiar mechanics and gameplay loops that fans have come to expect.
The pacing in Orc Incremental can feel slow, and the repetitive nature of the game is readily apparent, with frequently repeated encounters and an abundance of less-than-exciting statistical improvements littered throughout the game’s upgrade trees. However, build variety is abundant and exciting, making the game pretty satisfying when it does manage to pick up speed. You just might be left wishing it did so a bit more often, and with a bit more haste.
Dragonsword: Awakening delivers well-polished, albeit familiar-feeling gameplay made popular by titles like Genshin Impact, without any of the microtransactions. While I’m not personally a fan of the title’s gameplay identity, I can see how genre fans would love Dragonsword: Awakening, which does everything the biggest games in the genre do for a fraction of the price.