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

This week, antique shops, human experimentation and bricks with friends.

Early Access

Fans of classic god game Black and White should check out Fata Deum, out in Early Access this week. You have to manage a civilisation, but your actions will determine if they’re a peaceful, lovely tribe or a warmongering nation of great evil. Or you could just torture them for fun. Do what you want, I’m not your dad. Developed by 42 Bits Entertainment and published by Aerosoft.

Pigface is an FPS starring a woman with a dark past and a bomb drilled into her skull. The people who put it there now want her to do their bidding, mostly through ultraviolence. A grim, gritty shooter with a solid grindhouse aesthetic. Developed by titolovesyou and published by horror publishers DreadXP (Heartworm, Amanda the Adventurer, The Mortuary Assistant).

Goblin Cleanup is a game about what happens in a dungeon when adventurers aren’t around. You and your friends play a team of goblin maids whose job is to reset dungeons between each raid. You need to clean up the blood, turn on all the torches and make sure the dragon and/or mimic don’t eat you. Developed by Crisalu Games and published by Team17.

Mars Attracts is one of the weirder concepts for a management game. In case the title wasn’t obvious, this is set in the universe of Mars Attacks, where you play as the brainy aliens as they manage an intergalactic theme park. You manage all the usual theme park sim issues, but now you can abduct and experiment on humans for the entertainment of your customers. Developed by Outlier.

In the latest episode of, fine, I’ll quit and do it myself, Ratatan is developed by a team of former Sony developers who wanted to make a new Patapon so badly, they formed a company to make a similar yet legally distinct game. A bunch of one-eyed lil guys are venturing across the world, fighting major threats to the beat of a band. A mix of rhythm game and side-scrolling RPG, you must command them with song. Developed by TVT Co & Ratata Arts and published by Game Source Entertainment.

This week sees the Early Access release of the widely anticipated Skate., releasing as a free-to-play game. Sadly, it’s EA, so don’t expect anything on the level of the original Skate trilogy. The mixed reception on Steam is proof enough of this already.

New Releases

Bytebond (PC) is a co-op game set inside a computer, where you and a friend must work together to fix an infected CPU. You control a couple of rolly robots with electrical abilities that can be used to fix parts, defeat threats and magnetically stick together. Very cute. Developed by DVD Unicorns and published by Anshar Publishing.

LAN Party Adventures (PC) is a sim game about setting up computers for an old school LAN party with friends at the turn of the century. All very well and good, but also your friend Pedro is missing under mysterious circumstances, so you must investigate that too. Curious. Developed by LEAP Game Studios.

Hellbrella (PC) is about a cat in a raincoat who descends into hell to retrieve his soul. Your only weapon is an umbrella that can be upgraded in this quirky roguelike. Developed by Icy Mountain Studios and published by GoGo Games Interactive.

If you’ve ever wished that roguelikes were more of a cross between pool and Subbuteo, Flick Shot Rogues (PC) has you covered. Combat takes place on a tabletop where every character is a figure that can be flicked around to cause as much damage as possible. Potentially chaotic. Developed by Butter by the Fish and published by Noodlecake.

Deadwire (PC) is effectively Hotline Miami meets Cyberpunk. In other words, a violent top-down shooter but now you can use your hacking abilities to manipulate the environments to your whims. Developed by Shotgun Anaconda and published by The CoLab.

ZOE Begone! (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is a shmup made from hand-drawn animation. Playing as the titular Zoe, all you want is some peace and quiet, but the animator has other ideas, throwing dangerous enemies your way. Only solution is to shoot your way out and earn a high score in the process. Developed by solo animator Retchy Games and published by PM Studios.

Critical Reflex have built a reputation releasing experimental horror games with low-poly visuals (Mouthwashing, Arctic Eggs, Buckshot Roulette) and they’re continuing that trend with Eclipsium (PC) from developer Housefire. You play as a man seeking a mysterious “Her” in a dreamlike world. One of the trailers is just a shot of a pig walking across a room. I don’t know either.

Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream (PC) is Indonesian Yakuza. You play as delinquent teens in the mean streets of Jakarta as they set out to achieve their dreams. Along the way, they’ll find themselves getting into street brawls and spending their downtime fishing and doing karaoke. Like I said: Indonesian Yakuza. Because why should Sega have all the fun? Developed by Gamecom Team and published by indie.io.

Henry Halfhead (PC, PS5, Switch 1) is about a man who exists only as half a head. However, this does give him the ability to possess any object in his vicinity and take on its abilities. Horrifying concept, but adorable execution, as this is a cute little puzzle game about navigating life with unique challenges. Developed by Lululu Entertainment.

Marisa of Liartop Mountain (PC, Switch 1) is the latest in an endless cavalcade of Touhou spin-off games made by small teams. This time, Reimu and other members of the Touhou cast are thrust into a tabletop RPG inside a book, where dice rolls and tactical planning will get you closer to finding the missing Marisa. Developed by UnknownX and published by Alliance Arts (Needy Streamer Overload, All in Abyss, The Great Villainess).

Vampire Survivors gets a healthy dose of rock and stone in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (PC), combining the beloved survival game with an auto-battling roguelike. You play as a lone dwarf delving into the mines and extracting as many riches as you can. Developed by Funday Games and published by Ghost Ship Publishing.

Wander Stars (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is an RPG heavily inspired by classic anime. You play as Ringo, a martial artist in training who learns new powerful moves by collecting and combining words. Because, as we all know, the most powerful moves are the ones you yell the names of when you perform them. Dragon Ball fans will find a lot to love in this one, especially with its Toriyama inspired art style. Developed by Paper Castle Games and published by Fellow Traveller.

Little Witch in the Woods (PC, Xbox) comes out of Early Access this week. You’re an apprentice witch in a magical village. You train yourself in the arcane arts while befriending your fellow villagers, as you would in another cosy life sim of this kind. Developed by Sunny Side Up.

Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S) is a roguelike from Brownies and Bandai Namco set in an ancient mystic realm. You play as priestess Towa and her fellow guardians of the sacred tree as they fight off evil forces threatening the village. One of the guardians is a buff fishman, which I feel is important to mention.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (PC, PS5, Switch) is a remake of the first Trails game, made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series. Built on the same engine as the more recent Trails Through Daybreak, this boosts the visuals, tweaks combat and adjusts the story. Developed by Nihon Falcom and published by GungHo Online.

Lego Voyagers (PC, PlayStation, Switch 1, Xbox) is a co-op game about two Lego bricks on a journey together. Developed by Light Brick Studio, who previously made Lego Builder’s Journey, this puzzle platformer sees you working together to build your way past obstacles and ultimately rebuild an abandoned spaceship. Looks adorable, was a potential Game of the Week contender. Published by Annapurna Interactive.

Dying Light: The Beast (PC, PS5, Xbox X/S) is the latest in Techland’s zombie parkour series. Originally devised as a DLC expansion to Dying Light 2, The Beast expanded in scope to become a brand new game. You play as Kyle Crane, a man who has been experimented on to become half beast. It’s more Dying Light, with all the zombie killing and parkour you expect, now with additional beast powers.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week is Strange Antiquities (PC, Switch 1), a game about identifying artefacts, developed by Bad Viking and published by Iceberg Interactive.

Strange Antiquities puts you in charge of an antiques shop that mainly deals in occult items. You’ll get visitors asking for items of interest and you need to appraise the items in storage to determine what’s the right item for them. Occasionally you’ll need to leave the shop to find new artefacts and investigate rumours to aid you in future transactions.

You all know I love a good mystery puzzle game, and this is right up my alley. Add in a spooky antiques shop and I’m sold. There was a lot of positive buzz around the studio’s previous game, Strange Horticulture, which had a similar premise but with odd plants. I missed out on that one, but the release of this is making me consider picking them both up.