The Metroidvania genre is a crowded galaxy. To stand out amongst the stars—especially in a timeline where we are finally “eating good” with heavy hitters like Hollow Knight: Silksong dominating the conversation—an indie title needs more than just a map and a double jump. It…

A New Breed of Rage When 28 Years Later (Part 1) hit theaters, reactions were mixed. It felt like a disjointed attempt to restart a franchise that had been dormant for decades. However, its sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, does something remarkable: it…

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…

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…

A New Hope for Westeros It is no secret that the Game of Thrones franchise has had a turbulent decade. From the divisiveness of the Season 8 finale to the behind-the-scenes creative struggles of House of the Dragon, fans have been desperate for a win.…

The “night shift horror” sub-genre has exploded in popularity over the last few years, fueled largely by the indie scene’s fascination with liminal spaces and the inherent creepiness of mundane labor after dark. From The Convenience Store to Happy’s Humble Burger Farm, developers have realized…

Set Phasers to “Dumb” “Do you just want to hate Star Trek?” That is the question fans of the Gene Roddenberry universe have been asking themselves for nearly a decade. Under the stewardship of Alex Kurtzman, the franchise has seen highs (Picard Season 3) and…

The “Quota Horror” genre, popularized by the meteoric rise of Lethal Company, has spawned a fascinating sub-genre of co-op survival games. The formula is simple but effective: you are an expendable employee, the environment wants you dead, and the Corporation demands profit. Planet Hoarders, the…

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…

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…