Developer Cygnus Cross has announced an Early Access release window of (Northern) summer 2026 for ARPG and town/farm sim Emberville. For the gameplay, think Diablo-lite meets Stardew Valley. The game goes beyond traditional “farm and fight” games with a simple (yet deep) combat system, an inherited skill levelling system, and challenging boss fights. Today’s new gameplay trailer showcases what players…
Ikai is so close to being something special. The premise of the game is strong, it has the occasional moment of inspired horror design, and you can tell that the developers entered into this with some genuine intent and vision. Unfortunately, at other times it comes across as amateur and…
Read MoreI’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
Read MoreBack in 2015 (seven years ago!), in my review of the original Submerged, I wrote: “Submerged is at its core a deeply frustrated warning against humanity ignoring the 97-odd per cent of climate scientists that insist we’re set for a bad time if we don’t hurry up and start dealing…
Read MoreI should love Dark Deity more than I do. The developers clearly have passion for what they’re doing, and the thing that they’re doing is copying one of my favourite games of all time. In its entirety, Dark Deity aims to clone the two Fire Emblem titles that were released…
Read MoreI’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
Read MoreThe Ascent looks gorgeous in the kind of grim and nihilistic way that the best in the cyberpunk genre can look gorgeous. That gets it off to a most excellent start. From wading through the gank of refuse waste and… much less wholesome byproducts from humanity’s essentially wasteful existence, right…
Read MoreFingun is a straightforward, sexy shoot ‘em up with a distinct, bright pixel art look to it that brings a smile to your face in otherwise dark times. It’s also a subtle but striking commentary on the way love is increasingly commodified, ultimately undermining the human connection. Now, I want…
Read MorePicture the scene, if you will. Socrates approaches the Lyceum, deep in thought. His disciples gather around him, and he poses this question: What’s a Greek Urn? The answer is, of course, about five drachmas an hour, and that’s a very old joke. Probably not quite as old as Socrates…
Read MoreI’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
Read MoreConan Chop Chop wants to sit somewhere between Gauntlet and Hades. It wants to be an action roguelike with a moreish loot system, but also being orientated heavily towards bringing four friends together for some button-mashing chaos. Unfortunately, it’s much too inconsistent to reach the heights of either genre-defining great,…
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