Summary
I don’t know what Edwin’s been feeding the Maw in my off week, but when I entered its chambers this morning it had left game releases everywhere. Ceiling, walls, floor, they all glisten with games of every size and genre. Even after I hosed away the ones largely made with the assistance of generative AI, the sifting sieves fitted across the drains held a bounty of interesting releases. Let’s get to it, then, before the Maw wakes up and realises I’ve nabbed all its spoils. Monday, 9th November
- While I might think that a plumbing minigame makes no sense for hacking in Bioshock, I’m not against them in the correct circumstances, and managing the coolant level of a nuclear power plant inMeltdownis exactly that. - I love the colour and movement on show in Project: Haste, but the arena shooter’s low player count of just 4-player free-for-all is what stands out. There’s space for big team battles, but duel formats can be much more tense affairs. - A deduction game set across 400 years of Latin American history, Funeral For The Sunhas you trying to solve the disappearance of 700 people in a single night. - If Dredge taught me anything, it’s that there’s space in my heart for monstrous fishing games. As such, Dreadmoorhas its hook in me. Gnart’s Escapegives me both Dicey Dungeon and Legend Of Grimrock vibes, with a dash of Diceomancer for good measure. That may be putting undue pressure on the card battling dungeon crawler, but it has my attention.- A light puzzle game to cleanse the pallet. In Masyu: Line Logic, you have to draw a continuous line through every circle on the grid, except every circle you pass through applies a different rule to the direction the line can go next. - In Vena: Hex Automation Roguelikeyou must grow your tile kingdom to keep the monstrous stone idol at its heart content. A happy idol means prizes, a hungry idol means death. - Build a gorgeous-looking night market in Oboro No Ichi(pictured) and each night attract spirit clientele to buy your wares. The game looks to satisfy the part of my brain that always wants to buy Rolife miniatures kits. Palisadelooks almost like Conway’s Game Of Life. It’s a strategy game where you place down supply roots and structures and then your territory expands like fire burning across a map. Tuesday, 10th November
- Following on from a divisive release last year, Football Manager 27is the first of several sports management games out this week. - Kiki’s Delivery Service, except in Tanuki: Pon’s Summeryou’re more of a raccoon-like creature than a young witch, and you ride a bicycle instead of a broomstick. Its developers opted not to includethe large testicles that are a key part of the main character’s inspiration. - If you like Vampire Survivors but find yourself wishing all the enemies were instead based on Games Workshop’s 40k and fantasy worlds, then Warhammer Survivorsis for you. Derelict Division, LLCis a co-op take on Hardspace Shipbreakers. It doesn’t have quite the same sheen of that beautiful Homeworld adjacent spaceship carving simulator, but it does let you jettison your friends into a vacuum.- I never could get my head around the side-scrolling Streets of Rage-style beat ‘em ups, but Takeover 2does look like a funtime for them what can. - I’m wary of recommending any idle incremental games, because they are a personal sickness of mine. ButSwarmbreaker’s floods of enemies that move like water, look fascinating and evokeInfested Planet, which is only a good thing. - If solving the disappearance of 700 people seems like too much of an ask, detective game Hillthornchallenges you to find just one. Though, you’re working against a time limit and using cards in a system similar to Cultist Simulator. Rally Shiftlooks like a racing game out of the 90s arcade. There’s a bomb on your dashboard, an alien spaceship hunting you from above, and you have to race to the end of the track before either of them destroy you.Vampire: The Masquerade - Oaths & Ashesis a visual novel spin of the bloodsucking RPG, sets the action in Berlin and all the vying factions with centuries of grudges.Chess Twistkeeps the rules of the game the same, but it morphs and flexes the board, so navigating the grid becomes its own challenge.Combustorhas a simple premise for a complex task: build a jet engine and hope nothing explodes.Australia Did Itis the new game from Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail. It’s a game of split halves, with you defending a desert-travelling train in a turn-based tactics mode when it’s stopped and refueling, but then switching to a real-time bullet hell mode when you’re on the move. Wednesday, 11th November
- Despite my lukewarm reception of Wall World 2, I still have hope for its citybuilder spin-off:Wall World Strategy. It has both the wall mining and tower defense of the original game with the added business of constructing a settlement on the side of a vast edifice. - Thronefall developer Grizzly Games may have moved onto new projects, but new owner Mythwright are releasing Craaghelm, a DLC expanding the minimalist RTS game. The Vast Whitehas you snowboard down a lovingly-rendered low poly mountain, and in a week where there are quite so many games as this one, it looks like a very relaxing time.- Between a fuller schedule and a concerted effort to diet, I’ve been baking a lot less this year. I can’t tell if minigame-filled Cake & Bakewill help me stay strong against the sugar and carb delights or weaken me into buckling territory. - It seems all too rare these days to see a 2D mining game that’s not an idler, so I’m all for Prospect’s procedurally generated adventure. It has a smidge of Spelunky about it. - If you want your platforming a little simpler and more puzzle-inflected, then Tape Man, a character who navigates the world with their array of tape measures may be for you. Thursday, 12th November
- As someone who uses a their Moomin hot water bottle cover throughout winter, I can’t not flag the release of Moomin: Midsummer Madness 687 Days on Marslooks to be a survival game doing its best to recreate The Martian. Though potentially with less of a disco soundtrack.Barbie Rewindis a collection of 16 different games released between 1991 and 2007. You also get to decorate the Dreamhouse. As someone who spent their weekend playing a game where you manage a horse farm and another where you renovate different rooms in a miniature house, this will do quite nicely, thank you.- Not happy to let Sports Interactive have their time in the sun with Football Manager, Franchise Hockey Manager 13gives you the same depth of sporting simulation for the one where you use sticks - And, Pro Basketball Managerlooks to let you do the same for the game where you’re allowed to touch the ball. Friday, 13th November
- I love when a developer makes their games in the physical world, so adventure game Knurlworm’s woodcut illustrations have delighted me. - Looking like a lost PS1-era sci-fi horror shooter based on a cross between Aliens and Event Horizon, Derelikthas shot straight to the top ofmy freshly-pruned wishlist. - Part Dungeon Keeper, part Orcs Must Die! Malignushas you build your dungeon and then hold it tower defense-style against the creatures that want to take it from you. - I appreciate any developers making games that satisfy their niche frustrations. For Vroomity Loopsmaker Happy Chimkens, it’s the “erratic behaviours of Portuguese drivers” when faced with a roundabout. - Another small puzzle game to cleanse your dirty palate, in Inkturnyou play two alternate colour squids that have to gobble up stars while only moving in their partner’s wake. - Match a beat by laying down a path for different drum-shaped robots in Beat Bots. Free Companyhas a lot of Battle Brothers about it but the scale is larger than individual party members, here you’re leading a much larger contingent of mercenaries.- A chill citybuilder where you lay down roads and the city grows around them, Arterialooks like a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Well, that was potentially too many games in all, even after striking out a fair few that were on my list when I started writing this round up. It’s a busy week for us in the warehouse. Edwin’s putting the finishing touches on a series of features he’s been working on for months, I’m getting the RPS 100 ready to go live next week, James is wrangling the advent calendar, Mark is working on a write up of a tasty expansion pack, and the guides team are getting everything in order head of the release of GTA 6 next week. One day we will rest, and it will be lovely. But not this week.