Author: Obsidian

The zombie apocalypse is usually depicted through the barrel of a shotgun or the swing of a baseball bat. We are used to being the survivors running through the streets, scavenging for cans of beans, and aiming for the head. But what happens after the initial panic settles? What happens when bureaucracy tries to reassert itself on the edge of oblivion? Quarantine Zone: The Last Check, developed by Brigada Games and published by indie powerhouse Devolver Digital, answers this question. Released on January 12, 2026, this simulation-strategy hybrid asks you to holster your weapon and pick up a clipboard. You…

On the Nintendo Switch 2, the apocalypse isn’t about survival of the fittest—it’s about survival of the chillest in I Am Future. When we think of the post-apocalypse in video games, our minds usually drift toward the radiation-soaked wastelands of Fallout, the fungal horrors of The Last of Us, or the desperate resource scarcity of DayZ. The end of the world is traditionally stressful, brown, and depressing. But what if the apocalypse was… nice? What if, instead of fighting off raiders, you were fighting off the urge to take another nap in your hammock? This is the central question posed…

Every now and then, a game comes along that feels less like a product and more like a proof of concept—a concentrated shot of creativity that leaves you desperate for more. Hank: Drowning On Dry Land is precisely that. Developed by My Next Games and released on January 13, 2026, this bite-sized adventure pitches itself as “Batman, but always drunk, and he can time-travel.” It sounds absurd, and it is. But beneath the veneer of comic book noir and alcohol-fueled vigilantism lies a genuinely clever puzzle game about time loops, paradoxes, and cooperation with your past self. The Setup: A…

There is a specific, primal joy in gathering three of your best friends, hopping onto a giant, mechanical arthropod, and firing a cannonball into a jar-headed enemy fortress while screaming about reload times. This is the niche that DuneCrawl, the latest release from indie developer Alientrap, seeks to fill. Released on January 5, 2026, DuneCrawl pitches itself as an open-world action-adventure that feels like a fever dream combination of Sea of Thieves, Castle Crashers, and the giant mechanical spider form of Kenneth Branagh from the 1999 Wild Wild West movie. It is a game about teamwork, ballistics, and glorious crustaceans.…

The factory automation genre has firmly established its titans over the last decade. We have the grim, insect-infested complexity of Factorio, the vertical sprawl of Satisfactory, and the interstellar logistics of Dyson Sphere Program. For fans of the genre, the loop is familiar: mine ore, smelting ingots, crafting plates, and, inevitably, drowning in a chaotic “spaghetti” of conveyor belts that would make an Italian chef weep. But what if you took the conveyor belts away? What if the logistics were airborne, the environment was hostile, and the goal wasn’t just to build a factory, but to bring a dead world…

There is a specific sub-genre of gaming that I like to call “Slav-jank.” It isn’t an insult; instead, it’s a term of endearment for games from Eastern Europe that prioritize thick, suffocating atmosphere and deep storytelling over the polished, focus-tested smoothness of Western AAA titles. Think S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Metro, or Atomic Heart. Hail to the Rainbow, the latest project from solo developer Sergey Noskov, fits squarely into this lineage. It is a game that feels like a forgotten memory of Half-Life 2, remixed with the neon-soaked melancholy of Blade Runner and set against the backdrop of a frozen, post-apocalyptic Russia. It…