Ever wondered what Wordle would be like if it was a dark, absurd and funny dungeon-crawler? Look no further! What a strange little game. Evokes a tonne of nostalgia, but capitalises on modern game sensibilities. Great music, excellent voice acting (and a crazy amount thereof!) and chock-full of charm. Won’t be for everyone just by virtue of being so different, but absolute worth checking out.

Laura “Cressup” Cress chats with Lucas Pope, the mastermind behind games like Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. They talk about his latest release, Mars After Midnight, how Obra Dinn was initially envisioned as a series, explore his approach to game design, as well as insights and tips for other solodevs.

Sony’s recent State of Play showcased Concord, the upcoming 5v5 competitive shooter with beta pre-orders starting June 6, Monster Hunter Wilds, set to launch in 2025, and (more excitingly) a new Astro Bot game set to release September 6! There was more, so watch the full thing here.

If you love when a game tells you nothing, has exploration, puzzles and secrets - all your Christmases have come at once with Animal Well. Its intricate art and wordless storytelling make for a unique and immersive atmosphere. The puzzles are varied and rewarding. Crafting and sustaining this level of intrigue in a metroidvania without combat is an impressive feat. Above all, Animal Well is full of surprises, and the fact that it was all created by one person is remarkable.

It’s a cool game. I’m more than fine with its 6-7hr duration. The graphics are some of, if not the most impressive I’ve seen to date. The music, cinematics and performances are all fantastic. But… if it hadn’t been in development for five years, I would have said that something here doesn’t feel right, as if it was rushed out. The combat is cinematic and visceral, but not particularly rewarding and sometimes clunky. The puzzles are far less compelling than those of its predecessor. The story isn’t bad - it’s """fine""" - but ultimately feels unnecessary, which given the impact of the first game, is a little sad.

Cute! Duck Detective is a delightful and tightly designed deduction game that won’t have you sweating over a scrawly notepad like Golden Idol or Obra Dinn, but I think that’s the point. There’s one case made up of charming and funny characters, everything is voiced, the art and music are terrific. If you’re into detective games, you’ll finish it in a few hours and have a great time… quacking the case.

Apart from the obvious gacha repulsion, the major things stopping me from enjoying Genshin were laborious movement and unsatisfying combat. Wuthering Waves attempts to remedies these, with almost over-the-top traversal abilities, and more impactful (albeit still button-mashy) combat. That said, even ignoring how unashamedly they’re ripping Genshin, I still struggle to get properly into it. Several hours in, it feels like 90% of that has been spamming ‘advance dialog’, the VO is hilariously flat, and the story isn’t particularly compelling. Ultimately, if you’re into the genre, it’s worth checking out - and even if you’re not, it’s a fun braindead way to spend some time before the F2P grind becomes too harsh.

It’s always a real treat to hear from Nintendo in this context, and at GDC 2024, developers of ToTK spoke about crafting an enriched Hyrule via emergent gameplay in an entirely physics-driven world, and advanced sound design. Technical Director Takuhiro Dohta, Lead Physics Programmer Takahiro Takayama, and Lead Sound Engineer Junya Osada share their design approaches and hurdles their teams overcame during development - absolute legends. In true Nintendo style, even the presentation itself is fun. Hugely insightful and wildly impressive. Watch it here.

[Early Access] All of the Hades fundamentals are still here, but Melinoë definitely has her own identity which makes for a slightly more deliberate flow of combat, which is great. There are a bunch of new systems, all of which are interesting and interplay well. What can one say about Supergiant? Jen Zee’s art is incredible as always, Logan Cunningham and Darren Korb have absolutely killed the VO and music. The writing is heartfelt, engaging, funny. And of course, above all, the gameplay loop is tight, satisfying and addictive. Truly the best way to kill Time.

Sucks to share leaks, and I very much feel for Valve, but it’s too big to not talk about. “Gabe Follower”, a credible source, has confirmed on Twitter that Valve’s next game previously known as Neon Prime (Citadel) is in development. Now called Deadlock, it’s allegedly a 6 vs. 6 hero shooter with objectives, lanes and lasthits on a steampunk-fantasy map. Sounds intriguing.