Escape Academy is an exciting puzzle game that invites the player to experience around a dozen unique escape rooms. While the world doesn’t evolve into much beyond that, it’s still a lot of fun to progress through the different challenges. Add in that players can experience these puzzles with friends and Escape Academy becomes a proper re-creation of real-life escape rooms.
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms is one of the most unique brawlers to come out this year, managing to create something more than its side-scrolling relatives. The art and music help evolve this game into a charming experience that keeps the player interested through the tough battles. While there is a learning curve and the game’s controls are a bit strange, Three Kingdoms is a thrilling fight to be a part of.
Bed and Breakfast is an adorable game that manages to create a charming atmosphere through its main character Hank and all his friends. That being said, the world can be hard to enjoy when everything in the world feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. Gummy Cat managed to create a wonderful atmosphere for this game, it’s just too bad enjoying it takes so long.
Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim will be a lot of fun for fans who’ve spent the last six years growing with the original Dead by Daylight. While the mechanics can become a bit stale near the end of each path, it’s almost worth it to get a closer look at each of the killers that we’ve become so familiar with over the years. Players who are new to the series may want to play the original before trying this one out.
Fans of Two Point Hospital will likely really enjoy Two Point Campus and the new spin on the model that made the original game famous. While it can be a bit overwhelming at times, the game does provide you with tools to dig yourself out of a hole. With future support for the game likely planned, Two Point Campus is the next logical evolution in Two Point Studios’ development story.
Overall, Islets is cute and will offer a lot of fun to those who’ve played other popular platformers in recent years. The cute world and characters offer a lot of charm and it’s always a pleasure when you come across a new creature. That being said, the combat is pretty repetitive and there isn’t enough information provided about your objective when entering a new area.
The Wandering Village is a great management game that has an important message it doesn’t try to jam down your throat. The mechanics will tell your story, whether it is parasitic or mutualistic. Stray Fawn Studio has done a wonderful job of creating a game that teaches the player the importance of being kind to nature before nature leaves us.
Potion Permit is at best an okay game. From someone who was looking forward to this game for a while, it hurts to say, but it just doesn’t live up to what it’s selling. MassHive tries a lot of different things in this RPG slice-of-life game, but it doesn’t reach the mark on most of them. Players should wait on this title until it has received the necessary fixes and balancing changes, if then.
Dwarf Fortress is one of the most incredibly complex games to ever be released, with Bay 12 Games showing no sign of slowing down in the coming years. While the complicated menus and steep learning curve might be too much for some people, this game will be exactly what most colony management fans have always been looking for.
If you’re into both MOBAs and deck-builders, then you likely won’t find a better game suited for you than HEROish. It offers a great mix of both genres while still managing to be its own thing. While there’s not a wide range of varying content, it’s guaranteed to provide hours of fun whether you want to play alone or battle opponents in true MOBA fashion.
A Space for the Unbound is a great coming-of-age game that presents difficult topics to players in a compelling way. The game’s art style is beautiful, with many detailed scenes clearly lovingly created by the artists at Mojiken. While there are moments where it feels slow, this is a game that will last with players for many years to come.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake is a tribute to over 20 years of the show’s history, banking on classic references and memes to impress players. While there is a lot to do in this new version of Bikini Bottom, it largely involves much of the same linear progression as past games. If you’ve followed and enjoyed the last two decades of the show, then this game will likely be perfect for you.
While Backfirewall_ might not be the most challenging puzzle game on the market, it makes up with its unique charm and humor. While some of the jokes and punchlines feel like meta-humor from a decade ago, the game does a great job of making you feel hurt when you’re unable to help certain characters. Throughout the five-hour story, players will understand the failure of a boss and his need for preservation.
Tails: The Backbone Preludes is a really beautiful noir story that might go over the heads of some of the average player base. The dark themes and conversation mechanics are reminiscent of Disco Elysium but on a much smaller scale. It’s nice to live in this world for a playthrough, taking in the darkness of this dystopian city, but it might not be one players feel like returning to after the credits roll the first time.
It feels like Waves of Steel wants to accomplish a lot with its wartime story and comprehensive shipbuilder. Unfortunately, the actual battle gameplay feels very simple and can be overcome pretty easily by just overclocking your ships. While the game seems to be getting positive reviews from players who love this genre, it’s unlikely to become a favorite among the general gaming audience.
Birth is a wonderful little adventure through a strange city filled with unsettling creatures that never seem to scare you away. The hand-drawn art and range of puzzles make the game incredibly engaging, leaving you always curious to see what’s behind each door. While some of the objectives might be hard to decipher at first, most players will have a genuinely good time deciphering the codes.
Redemption Reapers is a brutal strategy RPG where every move you make can be the difference between success and defeat. While the game might be unapproachable to start, there are moments of true joy to be felt for those who are willing to put in the effort. Although to get there, you’ll have to be willing to take multiple punches to the jaw after trying to get through the UI.
Hotel Renovator is more than just another addition to the simulator genre, elevating what it means to create a property renovation game. No matter how you play, there’s a lot of satisfaction that will come as a result of seeing a room you created fully come together. While it has occasional issues with textures and NPCs, anyone who enjoys a good home makeover will have a lot of fun in this game.
Overall, Escape from the Red Planet is a really enjoyable arcade tower-defense game that’s joy comes from the simplicity of the gameplay. While the controls aren’t perfect, there’s still a lot of fun to be had eliminating Martian bugs as long as you’re careful. The gameplay loop provides enough challenge and requires enough strategy that fans of this genre are likely to find hours of fun in this title from Frosty Pop.
Deceive Inc. is a great title that allows players to put their stealth and sleuthing abilities to the test in ways that feel really rewarding. While there are a number of bugs in the game right now and it’s still missing some major features, it will be interesting to see if and how this game is able to evolve as we get further out from the release date.