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

This week, hazy 90s nostalgia, grumpy rabbits and photography.

Re-Releases and Ports

Monument Valley and Monument Valley 2 hit consoles this week. One of extremely few mobile games I will celebrate as being genuinely worth your time is now on Switch, PlayStation and Xbox. It’s a seriously good puzzle game built around isometric illusions. Go play it if you haven’t already done so on your phone.

The Lunar Remastered Collection (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One) brings together Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete into a special remastered collection. These beloved JRPGs see you playing as plucky young protagonists in a world of dragons and creatures from another world. Sadly, for hardcore fans of the series, the original Sega CD versions are not included, just the PlayStation remakes.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is now on PS5 this week, after its release on PC and Xbox back in December. An Indy immersive sim where you have plenty of options to deal with Nazis, while uncovering the mysteries of the globe-spanning Great Circle. Plus Troy Baker is unrecognisable as Indy himself, impressing even the notoriously cantankerous Harrison Ford. Been eagerly awaiting this one.

New Releases

Sacre Bleu (PC) is an action platformer where you use a blunderbuss as part of your movement. You play as a musketeer who’s been thrown into prison after French aristocracy has become bloodthirsty zombies.

Do you like 2D platformers? Do you like skateboarding games? Seafrog (PC) brings you both simultaneously. You play as the titular frog as he skates his way through nautical themed levels on his rocket-powered wrench, where the goal is momentum through rad trick combos. Hell yeah.

The Fool’s Apprentice (PC) is a management game about running a wizard academy. You must keep your apprentices in good shape so they can graduate and not die horribly in the process. Like The Sims but for Hogwarts, but with less transphobia.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is a Souls-inspired sidescroller where you play an Inquisitor whose loyalty is tested by a single act of defiance. It’s set in a dark fantasy world written by Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines writer Brian Mitsoda and presented in a painterly art style.

Bionic Bay (PC, PS5) is a cinematic puzzle platformer built around teleportation and the manipulation of your environment. Imagine Limbo but with more scientific gizmos to play around with.

Tempopo (PC, Switch, Xbox) sees you repair a series of sky gardens using the power of musical plants you must conduct. This one looks extremely cute and comes from the same studio as the excellent Unpacking, so that’s always a good start.

Lushfoil Photography Sim (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is essentially Photo Mode: The Video Game. If you’ve played other games and enjoyed taking virtual photographs in those worlds, but have been annoyed by all those pesky combat, exploration or puzzle bits in between, you’ll get a lot out of this. You get to explore a series of real-world locations and take beautiful photographs while having a chill time.

Rusty Rabbit (PC, PS5, Switch) is a Metroidvania starring a grumpy middle-aged bunny named Stamp who spends his time searching through junkyards in his self-built mech. Underneath the mech building and exploration there’s a story about a world full of secrets, where Stamp’s worldview is changed forever. Has a fun blend of gritty and cute aesthetics, with some fun mech mechanics.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S), thanks to the release of Tape 2.

I mentioned the release of Tape 1 (the first half) earlier this year, as I got a pre-release copy, and stated that I was likely going to make it Game of the Week once the whole game was available. And here I am, keeping my promise.

I haven’t gotten round to Tape 2 yet (had to do some fiddling to get the update to install) but I’m eagerly looking forward to it on the strength of the first half. Hazy VHS-tinted nostalgia, soundtracked by shoegaze and riot grrl and a story full of mystery and Stephen King influences all make this an excellent experience. So many mysteries left to unravel, and this week it’s all finally revealed at last. I’m so excited.