Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Games Release Roundup!

This week, cosy mysteries and mediocre cats.

Re-Releases and Ports

Atari and Limited Run Games have collaborated on a retro collection. What could pawsibly go wrong? Well, regrettably, it’s Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S), which brings together every game starring one of the more prominent also-rans of the 90s mascot platformer goldrush. Games included are Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind (Mega Drive, SNES), Bubsy II (Game Boy, Mega Drive, SNES), Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales (Atari Jaguar) and star of many Worst Game Ever lists, Bubsy 3D (PS1). The collection includes a ton of additional behind the scenes supplementary material if you’re somehow really into Bubsy.

Early Access

In Early Access this week, Eat the Rich promises us a utopian future, where billionaires must compete in a death game as penance for destroying society. This is a multiplayer social deduction game where you attempt to screw each other over for pennies and aim to be the last rich person standing. Developed by Maccima Games and published by Monstronauts.

New Releases

We all know the trolley problem, which poses the question of whether you should save the life of one person or several. Well, solo developer byDanSans has provided The Trolley Solution (PC), a series of silly puzzle scenarios involving people being tied to train tracks. If you like your thought experiments to have the aesthetics of PSP platformer Echochrome and the high-octane action of the climax of Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, this is the game for you.

I’ve expressed my love of any game that replicates stop motion aesthetics, and Gloomy Eyes (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is the latest example of this. Taking obvious inspiration from Tim Burton’s animated efforts, you control a zombie boy named Gloomy and a human girl named Nena. These two kids form an unlikely alliance to bring the light back to a world of eternal darkness. Gameplay sees you using both characters’ abilities to solve puzzles, in what the team calls a “self co-op game”. Developed by a coalition of Atlas V, Be Revoltion Gaming, 3Dar and Fishing Cactus, with the assistance of ARTE France and Untold Tales.

Dead Reset (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is the latest FMV game from Wales Interactive, set in an underwater facility where an alien parasite is affecting the crew. You must operate on the patient zero, while uncovering the secrets of what’s going on. Every death resets your progress, but you retain all knowledge of what happened, allowing you to get closer to the truth with each reset. Probably the goriest game to come from Wales Interactive, and since it’s all FMV, you’ll get to see it all in grim HD detail.

If that’s not enough gory sci-fi death loops for you, Katanaut (PC) is an action roguelite where you play as a space-faring samurai who slashes his way through a space station afflicted with the cosmic terrors. You have to delve deeper into the station to uncover exactly what happened to it, while what’s left of the crew attempts to extract your organs. It’s Dead Cells but more sci-fi, with a cool pixel art visual style. Developed by Voidmaw and published by the revived Acclaim (yes, really).

In case the Bubsy collection didn’t provide your fill of mediocre orange cats, there’s also Garfield Kart 2: All You Can Drift (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S). Yes, it’s a kart racer starring Garfield, and yes, it’s a sequel. From mobile racing game developer Eden Games and publisher Microids, this puts Garfield and seven other characters from Jim Davis’ comic strips into wacky vehicles on cartoony tracks. Features an achievement for eating 4 lasagnas in 10 seconds. Of course.

Borderlands 4 (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest in Gearbox’s sci-fi comedy FPS series. Now boasting a seamless world and a new grappling hook traversal mechanic. And this isn’t short because I’m hastily adding it in at the last minute because Randy Pitchford quietly moved the release forward and I didn’t know. Of course not. Don’t know what you’re talking about.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game (PC), a game that explains itself in its title.

Little Problems is a mystery game developed by small female-led Indonesian studio Posh Cat. It plays similarly to the Golden Idol games. You get a static scene which you must click around for clues, uncovering names and other essential information so you can solve the mystery at hand.

However, unlike the Golden Idol games, you’re not trying to figure out how people died in gruesome ways or uncovering conspiracies, you’re dealing with issues with much lower stakes. For instance, finding your friends at a busy concert, building a family tree for your dad’s birthday or sorting out a student study room mix-up.

Little Problems truly is a cosy detective game. It imitates a solid gameplay loop from other mystery games while putting a fun and interesting spin on things. And, since I was graciously handed a full review key for this, I will have a review up here soon, so I will share my full thoughts there. Stay tuned.