Demonic Pikmin, Mech Farmers, and a really cool shooter
Happy Friday folks! This week has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. My son started nursery school again after our trip to Aus, which means he immediately brought the plague into the house. So I have been nursing a heavy cold while also trying to shepherd the project I am working on, AWAYSIS through console submission. It's been a lot of late nights and stress.
However, I did manage to get some game time in. I played through Virtue and a Sledgehammer this week, a game I dropped into the Dispatch last week. Running at a short three hours, the latest from Destructeam might actually be their finest. It tackles a lot of what's going on in society right now, the confusion and rage that a lot of us are feeling, the impending doom of widespread AI adoption, while also asking very directly - what does it even mean to be Human. I was expecting it to have some deep moments, but this might be the hardest a game has hit me since 1000X Resist, and while I do think that it lacks a lot of the nuance that Resist brought to the table, I definitely think that if you are into gut punching narratives, you should pick up a Sledgehammer and let me know in a DM what you though at the end of it all. I'll post up a review on Pixels for Breakfast next week.
Anyways, onto the new stuff!
What came out this week?
Lightyear Frontier
Developer: FRAME BREAK
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page
If you ever wanted more farming in your Mechwarrior, then Lightyear Frontier is going to scratch that very particular itch. A colorful open-world farming game, you and three of your mates can jump inside a hulking mechs, trading in the death and destruction that usually comes with the territory for a cozy crafting experience. Clear the land, plant crops, set up automations, and explore the frontier.
The store description calls out that there's no death, no lost progression, just a fun chill time. They do say you can tweak the options to make the game fit your preferred challenge levels, so it does seem like there's a chance to craft your perfect kind of hang out times. I'm personally not a huge fan of these games for me - with a toddler I have next to 0 time to play games outside of this newsletter and work, which means these cool hangout games just don't work for me. But chances are that YOU have friends and time, and maybe this would be a nice way to spend said time.
VOID/BREAKER
Developer: Stubby Games
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page
When I saw that this was made by a solo dev, I was beyond impressed. After the success of Portal-like puzzler The Entropy Centre, Stubby Games is back with their FPS Roguelite, VOID/BREAKER. This one has been sitting in Early Access for a little while now getting some praise, but it hit 1.0 just a few days ago and the praise has been glowing.
VOID/BREAKER focuses heavily on fluid movement, gun modding, and destruction. You are trapped inside a sequence powered by a hostile AI, where you will need to run, die, repeat until you can break out and destroy the system.
The gun modding is where it really is at though. You need to combine mods for your weapons to craft your build, then use your advance movement to run circles around the enemies, and blast holes in the environment to use the destruction to your advantage.
It looks incredibly slick, and despite it's "we've got Mick Gordon at home" trailer track, I am pumped to give this one a shot this weekend.
Hull Rupture
Developer: Konfa Games
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page
Hull Rupture is a base-management tower-defense roguelite (say that fast three times!), that has you using humans as a resource. The aliens are coming to rip a hole in your ships as you hurtle through the galaxy, so it's up to you to use what you have to build defenses and survive the encounters. As you keep moving, the consequences become much tougher, but the rewards so much sweeter.
It has this real grim dark vibe, and when I saw Hull Rupture a few weeks ago, I knew it would be making it to the dispatch. It's one of those games that captures that early 90's SNES era "SPACE IS PURPLE" pixel art so perfectly, and it meshes a few genres to create a compelling pitch.
Worship
Developer: Chasing Rats Games
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page
A demonic Pikmin-like has released this week, and I am all about it. Worship is a roguelike that mixes RTS, puzzle solving, and exploration inside a glorious black and white wrapper. You are a cultist who has pledged their faith to the eldritch god in exchange for incredible dark powers. Expand your cult to gain access to new blessings and rituals, and invade the Mortal Realm to help shepherd the old ones back into power.
You will be commanding a small force of cultists to do your bidding, each with unique abilities. That's where the Pikmin of it all comes into being - it looks like as you unlock new units you need to balance your cult to deal with the trials you are facing. Honestly, that's a pretty cool idea.
And it just looks great! The stark inky black and white with splashes of color makes it really stand out, especially as you draw out the blood rituals on the ground to summon help. Super into this one.
Underkeep
Developer: Rake in Grass
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page
A modern homage to the dungeon crawler, Undercrawler is a turn-based combat, grid-based movement RPG where you assemble a party of heroes who love to go questing in the dark corners of the underworld. The team has set out to really capture the tension of those classic games, where each step feels like it could lead to a trap, and judging from the Steam reviews it takes the party management, weird events, and secrets of the classics, but makes it a little nicer and more modern.
Not much to say about this one other than it's neat to see another one of these that captures the spirit so well. I have never really played a dungeon crawler, so maybe I can take this as my opportunity to dive in.
It's Bandcamp Friday
Every few months the folks over at Bandcamp run "Bandcamp Friday" where the platform takes 0% on sales, and all the money goes to the artists. I have mostly transitioned to buying and listening to FLAC files from Bandcamp over the last few years, and I always make sure to take advantage of these days to make sure I am giving the indie artists as much support as I can. The good news is that there are tonnes of indie game soundtracks over there, and I encourage you to go grab some tunes and live like it's 2004 again. Some recommendations from me:
And that's a wrap
Thanks so much for reading. If you like what you see, please share it with a friend. If you want to help support me to grab some indie games to get some reviews, please consider dropping some money in the ko-fi cup.
See you next week
Steve
