I could argue that instead of buying a Nintendo Switch 2 game, you could buy all the games here, but these are two very different things and I may as well argue that you should buy $80 worth of books or Doctor Who audio dramas or prosciutto. Do you know how much prosciutto you can get for $80? Not that much if you buy the good stuff! Maybe I’m just bitter that I don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 and can’t join the rest of you in taste testing the cartridges.
There’s also been a bunch of summer games fests happening this week. I have not followed these at all. Don’t care! I will let other people do the work in figuring out what I should be looking at.
This week’s shoutout is for Graceless Games. I’m a huge fan and think you should pick up some of their games on Itch.io
Anyway, here’s the games. As usual, if you worked on something that you’d like included, just let me know. I miss plenty of stuff.
I think everyone knows Deltrarune is out. It’s not for me but I’m happy for everyone else.
HardAF (Steam) is a Meatboy-like but the entire level is dark and you use the blood from your previous deaths to figure out where the obstacles are at. It’s good stuff. There’s a demo that I think people should check out.
As a child of the 90s that played a lot of multimedia cd-roms made by musicians, I get very excited about musicians making video games. We got two of them this week! Aesop Rock’s Black Hole Superette Experience (Steam) has you listening to his music while exploring a convenience store and The New Flesh (Steam) is a game where you explore a surreal space in a city while listening to upcoming songs by Red Vox. I haven’t played either so I can’t tell you if they’re as good as Peter Gabriel’s Eve, but both are free.
The Lego RPG Jam is a game jam where you write ttrpg systems inspired by your favorite Lego sets.
astoryinpieces keeps making great experimental and adult games for the Game Boy and she has another! Four of a Kind (Itch.io) is a horror anthology featuring 4 short stories.
Gaurodan (dev site) is a shmup inspired by 80s arcade games where you fly around as a dinosaur and blow shit up. It’s free but the dev does take donations. This is an old game but it got an update and it’s new to me
DOMINOID (Itch.io) is a pay-what-you-want puzzle game where you stack dominids and create combos.
Kabuto Park (Steam) looks like a very cute bug catching game and has a demo.
A weirdly specific thing I get excited about is using a yo-yo to fight enemies in video games. Don’t know why, just is. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (Steam/Switch) is a top-down action game where you get to do that and even has a demo.
Name Change Simulator (Itch.io) is a free visual novel all about getting rid of your deadname.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. Hope you found something nice to play!
You’re not missing much by not watching SGF, trust me.
Wait, scratch that. Liz Ryerson put out a cool showcase of games! “The Unearthed Treasure Room: An Alternative Showcase of Overlooked Games”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2EOk2DFOw
Last week or so I’ve been playing a bit of Haneda Girl, a criminally underrated game from the makers of Narita Boy (this time self-published). I might get back to Bionic Bay if the moods strike. I did pick up Pipistrello due to being from a Brazilian dev, but hadn’t put the time. I’ve been eyeing “Without a Dawn” but again, still on the wishlist for now.
Also on the docket there’s “The Siege and the Sandfox”, which I’ve been meaning to mention to you for like, a week or so.
I might end up just driving around in Assetto Corsa since I have my steering wheel set up and when you mod that sim you can drive around the Isle of Man and many other places. It’s my “chill” game, kinda.
By the way, I sadly didn’t find the Proteus interview. I’m not sure if is up on the website or I lost the post after an almost database wipe back in 2018. I am still looking around for the draft because I am >sure< I have it somewhere.
Have a great weekend!
Thank you! I hope your weekend is going well. I did manage to make some time for the Unearthed Treasure Room showcase and it’s very good. I think that’s my ideal version of a showcase. I heard of Assetto Corsa but that’s it. I wasn’t even aware of all of these other games so I’ll need to check those out
Assetto Corsa might not be Your cup of tea, especially since it requires a steering wheel to play it properly. But is a fantastic showcase of the power of Community.
A quick recap for you: The game launched 10 years ago with a simple setup. No weather other than sunny, odd force feedback and steering. BUT Kunos added one poweful tool: a very in depth modding toolkit.
Nowadays the Community took the reigns and elevated it to new heighs. Nowadays you have rain, custom maps (from drift, to rally, to real life locations), custom cars, effects. Some cars even have those digital dashboards that work and hook into your audio player (be it winamp, foobar or one of the awful audio streaming services).
One of the most prolific maps is the Tokyo Expressway. Here’s a vídeo of it during night time and rain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZXbLQ4fRXE
Also, the traffic is also a mod made by the community! There are weekly meetups on online servers just to drive and chill around. No need for voice chat and the likes. I’d say 99% of that vídeo wasn’t in the base game and it’s free (A lot of modders have patreon and people aren’t shy at throwing Money at them for new cars, maps, etc)
As someone who is a sucker for games with great modding potential, Assetto Corsa is kind of a dream coming true. Brings me back to the classic Quake 3 / source days (Although the Quake 1 mod / map scene is thriving lately)
That’s so cool! It may not be for me personally but it makes me really happy that something like that has such an active modding community. Thank you for the history!