Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!
This week, spooky post offices, an abundance of immortals and surprise fight choreography.
Last week was Summer Game Fest so I decided to take a week off to focus on following those announcements, but I’m back this week with an offering of many, many indie games, some of which only just got their release dates during Hot Geoff Summer.
To tackle this, I’m going to start doing something I feel I should have done a while ago. My release lists are getting bigger and bigger, and giving every game a specific spotlight is not feasible. Instead, games which I have less to talk about will all be smooshed together in a quickfire mini-roundup so you can get a wider sense of what’s out there but also doesn’t take an entire day to write. Everybody wins!
Two space-based Early Access games released this week, for all your intergalactic needs. SpaceCraft (Shiro Games) is all about travelling to strange worlds and establishing mining bases, while Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions (System Era Softworks, Devolver Digital) is the planetary exploration crew seeking out resources and trying to survive harsh new environments.
For something more down to earth, WitchSpire is an open world survival game where you play a witch. All your survival tools are magic based as you fight against the hordes and save the titular witchspires from destruction. Developed by Envar Games.
In some of this week’s smaller releases, point and click fans get Caribbean cartoon murder mystery Duppy Detective Tashia (PC / Spritewrench) and elastic Holmes and Watson caper Crushed In Time (PC / Draw Me a Pixel). In horror, Don’t Let It Starve (PC / Eduardo Scarpato, Black Lantern Collective) sees you building bento boxes for a mysterious and hungry entity.
In action spaces, Beatdown City Survivors (PC, Xbox X/S / NuChallenger) brings the Vampire Survivors formula to a Streets of Rage style setting, while Lost Castle 2 (PC / Hunter Studio) sees its blend of Castle Crashers and roguelike mechanics leave Early Access. If you’re looking for wacky times with friends, Frog Sqwad (PC, Xbox X/S / Panic Stations) and Goblin Company (PC / BitBorne Studio) have you covered.
Some strategy games out this week too, with Tabletop Tavern (PC / TJ, Frostbloom, Gamirror Games) turning tabletop wargames into an RTS and Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S / Artefacts Studio, Shine Group, New Tales) is a co-op tactics RPG focused on big boss battles.
Finally in our honourable mentions this week, it’s time for the cozy corner! Momento (PC / Fat Alien Cat, Nomo Studio) is a life-spanning room decorator, Puni the Florist (PC / Earthquack Games) is a flower shop management game, Solarpunk (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S / Cyberwave, Rokaplay) is a survival game about living off the land on a floating island, and Tales of Seikyu (PC / ACE Entertainment, Fireshine Games) is a farming sim with an Asian twist.
Leaving Early Access this week, Unrailed! 2: Back on Track (PC, PS5, Switch) is the sequel to the chaotic survival game where you must gather materials, build the track and try not to derail as your train keeps chugging along. Minecraft meets that one bit from The Wrong Trousers, I guess. Developed by Indoor Astronaut and published by Kepler Ghost.
I mostly gave this a focus due to its excellent pun of a title, but still, Beastro (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) does look fun. It’s a game about managing a restaurant for animal heroes. Run a farm, cook for the heroes that come through as see how your meals improve their performance. All as a weirdly top-heavy vulpine chef. Developed by Timberline Studio and published by Kepler Ghost.
Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker (PC, Switch 1) is a followup to the DnD-inspired visual novel about running a tavern and chatting to adventurers. It’s Coffee Talk with an assortment of fantasy beverages and clientele that’s about to go hunt some basilisks. Developed by Gentle Troll Entertainment.
I have a bit of a fondness for rally games, where the whole goal is to strap a rollcage to a family hatchback and throw it into the mud at high speeds. Exo Rally Championship (PC) merely takes the absurdity of the concept by replacing the Welsh countryside with the harsh environments of other planets. The ultimate off-road, these environments don’t even have breathable atmosphere or reliable gravity. It sounds like glorious chaos, and got a PC Gaming Show shadow drop last weekend. Developed by Exbleative and published by Future Friends Games.
Voidling Bound (PC) is the unholy spawn of Pokémon and Spore, as you become part of a crew of creature collecting scientists who plant their consciousness inside the beasts as they head out and do battle. It’s for science! Developed by Hatchery Games.
Shadow-dropped during the PC Gaming Show, 2 Fight in 2 Tight Spaces (PC) is the direct sequel to John Wick choreography simulator Fights in Tight Spaces (after fantasy spinoff Knights in Tight Spaces). Use card abilities, strategic positioning and the abilities of your crew members to defeat hordes of faceless goons. And yes, that’s really what they called it. Developed by Ground Shatter.
33 Immortals (PC) is a 33-player roguelike action game where you set out to defeat big beasties and ultimately God himself. It’s quite a departure from the studio’s previous work with Spiritfarer. Developed by Thunder Lotus Games and published by Kepler Ghost.
Game of the Week is Letter Lost (PC), a simple game about running a post office, nothing more.
You’re the newest postal worker at Wistvale Post Office, with free room and board so you never need to leave. Which you won’t, because there’s no need to. Simply do your job, serve the customers, sort the mail and make sure everything’s going where it needs to get to. Don’t ask what happened to the previous employees. It’s fine.
There’s something delightfully sinister about Letter Lost that appeals to me. On one hand, it’s a mundane game about sorting post. But also, it’s a horror(?) game buried in the mundane, and everything I’ve seen of it makes me want to know what the heck is really going on. Easy Game of the Week pick. Developed by FlatNine Games.
Leave a Reply