Last year’s Duck Detective: The Secret Salami was one of my highlights of the year. A wonderfully slim yet totally fulfilling 2-3 hour noir satire, the game offered just the right balance between quality humour, puzzles that were both puzzling and made you feel good about yourself, and the all-important…
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Publisher ININ has announced that it is bringing Japanese indie game publisher/developer Studio SiestA’s bullet hell game Trouble Witches FINAL! Episode 01 Daughters of Amalgam to the West sometime this summer (for us Northern folk, anyway) for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. It will be available digitally and physically. This…
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Get ready to tidy, tinker, and play with your food in Umami, the debut game from indie developer Mimmox. Each stage in a large, 15-course meal contains a handcrafted and hand-painted diorama to which you affix wooden blocks to the 3D board. Rotate, tinker, and test each block’s placement. The…
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Set in contemporary São Paulo, visual novel Pivot of Hearts explores the idea that love doesn’t follow a single path. Branching relationships are determined by tarot-based choices, a gameplay mechanic explored in my recent interview with Brazilian developer Dragonroll Studio. The game’s narrative explores love, identity, and the many forms…
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Richly atmospheric, retro-inspired point-and-click adventure game Casebook 1889 – The Leipzig Murders transports players to a chapter of European history that is rarely explored. Set in Germany at the turn of the 20th century, you take on the role of Detective Joseph Kreiser as he investigates a string of murders.…
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I’ve played some great games that use in-game smartphone mechanics; for example, I love 2017’s A Normal Lost Phone. Waiting for Reply brings this type of gameplay to a visual novel format as you interact with the world through your smartphone. Use apps to send messages, check emails, take photos,…
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Brazilian indie developer Dragonroll Studio has been making games since 2019, but until now, they have all been game jam or free titles. Its focus is on making cute, subversive games. The team is poised to launch its first premium game, visual novel Pivot of Hearts. (A free demo is…
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There is a very fine line between homage and something that is just outright theft of an idea. A good example of the former is Wargroove, which is clearly inspired by Intelligent Systems’ Advance Wars, but has its own identity through storytelling, unit design, features, presentation and so on. On…
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Best known for developing Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, Summerfall Studios has announced unholy roguelite deckbuilder Malys for a 2025 release. No platforms have been announced. The developer has also revealed the pre-launch Kickstarter campaign for Malys, which is expected to launch this month. In the game, you exorcise the…
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It was only a few weeks ago that heartfelt game Hanako’s Flower Shop was announced with a release window of April, and today a specific launch date was pinned down for late this month. The game follows the titular character, a young woman at a crossroads in life. She decides…
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