tldr videogame curation
melbourne, australia

Platform: Mac

Turn-based roguelike deckbuilder where you collect a band of mercenary pieces, combining traits and relics across a dark gothic medieval world. The art is fantastic, the world is intriguing and the design is elegant - approachable on the surface, genuinely demanding underneath - with solid variety across runs. So far, a strong early access foundation with clear room to grow.

A port of a free Playdate game from osuika, now on Steam with cross-platform online multiplayer between the two versions. You slide office chairs at a target - physics-based, simple, immediately fun. The multiplayer works well and the high score mode has more pull than I care to admit. Cool little game, and the fact that it talks to a Playdate across platforms is hilarious.

Pearl Abyss’s MMO roots are all over this - the progression systems, the menu clunk, the forgettable story - but what that DNA also buys is a staggering amount of content with genuine variety. The world is massive and beautiful, clearly built on a love of BOTW and RDR2, though the “immersive” interactions don’t always land and the movement, even post-patch, still isn’t where it needs to be. I also wish they’d just given us a character creator. There’s a lot to improve, but somehow it doesn’t matter a whole lot: the world has that rare, old-fashioned wanderlust that keeps you riding toward the next horizon just to see what’s there.

[Early Access] It’s more Slay the Spire, and that’s entirely a compliment. New systems and mechanics add variety and depth to each run, and the two new characters both feel meaningfully distinct rather than just reskins. Already deeper than the original at launch - balance may be all over the shop, but it’s a tonne of fun. If you’re at all into these kinds of games you’re probably already playing it, but if not, just get it.

Neva: Prologue is a prequel DLC telling the story of how Alba and the wolf cub first met, launching February 19. New enemies, mechanics and locations are promised. Neva was ‘fine’, so a tighter, more focused prologue could work.

Q-UP pretends to be a sweaty 4v4 ranked esport, but it’s really a pseudo-multiplayer incremental dressed in a sponsored competitive jersey. You build elaborate skill engines, then watch the coin flip and the satire unfold. The joke works, and so does the game. Brilliant.

A stylish, fast-paced incremental with satisfying feedback and great polish. Its upgrade tree is mostly linear and not all modes feel essential, but the main loop delivers short bursts of dopamine-maxing destruction. Not for deep strategists, but ideal if you want to switch off and watch numbers-go-up for a short while.

Skate Story is a moody, tightly-controlled skating experience that leans hard on atmosphere and flow. The skating feels weighty but precise, the premise and art is inspired, and the soundtrack does a huge amount of emotional lifting. Not a deep trick sandbox like Tony Hawk - more a short, vibey art piece that peaks in its linear flow sequences, and when everything clicks, it’s genuinely special.

Team Cherry has announced Hollow Knight: Silksong - Sea of Sorrow, a free (!) 2026 expansion bringing new areas, bosses, tools and more in a nautical-themed update for all Silksong players. More details are due closer to launch.

Some may ask why the absurd incremental/clicker Tingus Goose exists at all - what is this? Who made this, and why? And yet, in its honking chaos and wilful grotesquery, the answer becomes self-evident. It rejects polish and restraint, favouring curiosity and excess instead. Creation becomes ritual, repetition becomes comfort, and the absurd reveals itself as essential. It’s fun. Honk.