Author: Flare

There is a unique beauty in silence, and Ayasa: Shadows of Silence understands this perfectly. Developed by Aya Games, this atmospheric puzzle-platformer takes players on a surreal journey through a world teetering on the edge of ruin. Drawing clear inspiration from heavyweights like Little Nightmares and INSIDE, it manages to carve out its own eerie identity, even if it occasionally stumbles under the weight of its own ambition. You play as Ayasa, a silent protagonist navigating symbolic lands corrupted by concepts like Greed, Betrayal, and Indifference. There is no dialogue, no text to read—just pure, visual storytelling delivered through pantomime…

From the creative minds of Cory Davis (Spec Ops: The Line) and Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails) comes SLEEP AWAKE, a first-person psychedelic horror game that blurs the boundaries between reality and nightmare. Set in a sleepless dystopia where falling asleep means disappearing into “The HUSH,” players are thrust into a world of depraved death cults, reckless experiments, and warping realities. Visually and aurally, the game is a triumph. It’s a mind-bending trip filled with vibrant colors, FMV sequences, and an “arresting” industrial score by Finck that perfectly captures the feeling of a waking fever dream. But underneath the hallucinogenic…

For over a decade, the classic RTS genre has felt like a ghost town, abandoned by the big developers after the disaster of Command & Conquer 4. But Slipgate Ironworks™ has decided to fill that void, not by reinventing the wheel, but by polishing the old one until it gleams. Tempest Rising is a shameless, loving, and incredibly well-executed homage to the golden age of RTS gaming, specifically Command & Conquer and Red Alert. Set in a post-nuclear alternate history where a mysterious new resource called “Tempest” (read: Tiberium) grows across the planet, three factions vie for control. It’s classic,…

If you thought the first game was excessive, KILL IT WITH FIRE! 2 is here to redefine the word “overkill.” Developer Casey Donnellan Games has taken the simple, primal joy of hunting spiders with household objects and expanded it into a multiverse-spanning, co-op chaos engine. Now out of Early Access, the 1.0 release proves that the only thing better than setting a spider on fire is doing it with three friends and a laser sword in zero gravity. The premise remains gloriously simple: there are spiders, and they must die. But the scope has exploded. You are no longer just…

The indie scene has a fascination with high-stakes, gamble-with-your-life mechanics (thanks, Buckshot Roulette), and SIDE EFFECTS is the latest twisted entry in this dark subgenre. Published by Free Lives (Broforce, Genital Jousting), this game seats up to four players at a grimy table for a “medical trial” where the only way out is to be the last one breathing. It’s simple, tense, and delightfully cruel. You take pills. Some help you, some hurt you, and some kill you instantly. The goal is to manage your “resistance” while using items to screw over your opponents. It’s a game of bluffing, luck,…

Every so often, a game comes along that feels less like a product and more like a dream. A Pizza Delivery is one of those games. It’s a short, meditative exploration game that borders on being a “walking simulator,” but one with a scooter, a heartfelt story, and some truly bizarre puzzles. It’s a game that reminds you of Over the Garden Wall, Grim Fandango, and a surrealist painting all at once. You play as “B,” a pizza delivery rider on her final order, in a strange, liminal “non-place.” This is a world of unease and longing, and your job…