tldr videogame curation
melbourne, australia

Genre: Strategy

The King is Watching hooked me from the demo alone. A smart blend of roguelite, city builder, and tower defence. The gaze mechanic makes every choice feel vital, and runs are tense and addictive. Balance and grind may hold it back a bit, but it’s got enough going on that absolutely deserves attention.

He is Coming delivers a stripped-down but intriguing roguelike loop, helped a lot by its retro artstyle: explore, loot, and face tense boss fights with wild set bonuses. The real star is potentially Kingmaker-mode, a PvP twist where your build becomes the boss for others, with crowns and skins as bragging rights. Worth a look!

Word Play blends Scrabble with roguelike tropes, offering clever modifiers and polished design. Runs can lack the wild synergies of its Balatro inspiration, but it’s still a sharp, satisfying word puzzler, especially if you’re a word nerd.

Pip My Dice takes Yahtzee-style rolls and turns them into a pretty slick roguelike. Customisable dice, clever relics, and endless synergies make it dangerously addictive. Rough edges and overt Balatro inspiration aside, it’s got that number-go-brrr joy.

Cult of the Lamb expands in early 2026 with the Woolhaven DLC. Near the endgame, players can uncover the frozen mountain of Woolhaven, rebuild its lost town, endure blizzards, battle the creeping Rot, and even raise animals through new ranching systems. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

Analyst mauronl has shared Devolver Digital’s 2024 investor highlights, revealing lifetime revenue of their top ten major IPs. Aussie-made Cult of the Lamb leads the bunch with over $US90M! Devolver now plans to double down on hit IPs with sequels, DLC, and definitive editions, while shifting to smaller third-party budgets and developing for Switch 2 after strong success on the original.

I cannot overstate how much I love Blue Prince. It’s an absolute masterclass in design, and oozes thoughtful passion. Every mechanic interlocks with intent, it rewards curiosity without ever hand-holding, exquisitely links story and gameplay, and its puzzles are a seemingly endless cascade of satisfying eureka moments. Smart, stylish, deep - Blue Prince instantly joins the ranks of the best puzzle games of all-time. Go in blind, bring a notebook.

Utter chaos in the best way. An absolute fever dream of retro vibes, unhinged builds, and a ball named Nubby that makes numbers explode until the game crashes. It’s five bucks and way more fun than it really should be. If you need a quick dopamine hit, just get it.

A fresh twist on autobattlers, The Bazaar was described by its ex-Hearthstone-pro creator Reynad as “multiplayer Slay the Spire”. Roguelike runs are PvE and async PvP, letting you pause, pivot, and plan without the usual pressure. Deep, fresh, and very addictive - despite not being officially released yet, it’s already a standout.

Die in the Dungeon is a fresh roguelike deckbuilder that trades cards for dice, aiming to combine strengths of strategy with unpredictability of randomness. The charming art and unique mechanics make for a compelling experience, but early-game monotony and balance issues hold it back a bit. Runs are looong too, so you gotta be up for that. Lots of potential, though, and absolutely worth playing.