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Adventure

Rusty Lake is back with another deliciously macabre adventure, and if you’ve slept on the overlooked series you’re missing out

by admin August 22, 2025

If you’ve been reading Eurogamer for any length of time there’s a good chance you’ve already seen me harp on about the shamefully overlooked Rusty Lake series. It’s a wonderfully macabre thing; strange, haunting, often unexpectedly disturbing, but also brilliantly accessible, and cheap as chips too. I love it, and will never stop telling people about it in a bid to share that love, so here I am again now that new game Servant of the Lake has been revealed.

Before we get onto the new stuff, though, a bit of background might be in order, seeing as Rusty Lake is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and has one hell of a back catalogue to enjoy. Not including Servant of the Lake, the series now consists of 18 games and a short film; some are fully fledged premium offerings – usually lasting a couple of hours and most often released under the Rusty Lake label – while the rest, known as Cube Escape, are shorter (and somewhat less polished) free-to-play companion pieces.

By and large, though, all follow the same basic formula, melding casual point-and-click puzzling with room-escape-style conundrums. And with a few notable exceptions, the key word is “casual”; these are brilliantly accessible adventures, most memorable for their irresistibly macabre ambience, and the fascinating history of the mysterious Vanderboom family at their centre, rather than any radical design convolutions.

Servant of the Lake announcement trailer.Watch on YouTube

Early games are pretty shameless in their debt to David Lynch and Mark Frost’s seminal TV series Twin Peaks (right down to a murder victim called Laura and a detective called Dale), but it doesn’t take long for developer Rusty Lake to establish its own deeply weird, and decidedly idiosyncratic lore. And with each entry usually approaching the story from a radically different direction – one, for instance, plays out during a horrifically doomed birthday party, and another takes place entirely from within a cardboard box – it all adds up to a wonderfully sinister (and narratively intertwined) saga of standalone adventures.

Traditionally, I’ve tended to recommended Rusty Lake: Roots as a good starting point – it’s a beautiful and surprisingly moving tale, charting three generations of the Vanderboom family, from 1860 to 1935, as they live and die in the same house. Other standouts, though, include The White Door, which does some striking things with its engaging split-screen presentation; and if you wanted to see developer Rusty Lake really flexing its design chops, there’s the deeply impressive The Past Within, which reimagines the series’ familiar formula as a brain-melting co-op experience that demands constant communication as two players navigate the same room in different time periods.

It is, to reiterate, consistently fantastic – and often overlooked – stuff. All of which bring us to Servant of the Lake, the series’ first premium entry since 2023’s Underground Blossom, which took players on a journey through the life and memories of Laura Vanderboom as she travelled from one station to the next. As its name suggests, Servant of the Lake – a more traditional single-player point-and-click adventure – finds yet another new perspective to tell its story, this time visiting the Vanderboom House in the decades prior to Rusty Lake: Roots, as seen through the eyes of its housekeeper. “Solve the puzzles needed to fulfil your daily tasks,” teases its blurb, “look after the household, welcome the visitor and ensure their comfort while helping the family achieve their alchemical ambitions!” Death, darkness, and other assorted weirdness – usually involving saucer-eyed shadowmen – will almost inevitably ensure.

Here’s the equally unnerving Rusty Lake short film.Watch on YouTube

There’s no release date for Servant of the Lake yet, but this nebulous window between now and its eventual arrival would seem, if I might be so bold, to be the perfect opportunity to catch up on earlier events in the Vanderboom saga if it’s so far passed you buy. Better still, the bulk of the series – which was already absurdly inexpensive to start with – is currently discounted on Steam to celebrate Servant of the Lake’s reveal. The Cube Escape Collection, for instance – which includes nine smaller-scale games – costs £2.99, while the premium Rusty Lake titles cost between £1.19 and £3.99. Oh, and there’s an £18.11 bundle containing everything too! All this, I should say, works on both Mac and PC, and if you’d rather take the no-money-now approach, the Cube Escape series is free to download on iOS and Android. Thank you for listening to my TED talk on Rusty Lake. I will now be taking questions.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Keeper Is A Salvador Dali-Inspired Surrealist Adventure With No Dialogue, No Combat, And A Walking Lighthouse

by admin August 21, 2025

It’s not often I’m thrown when previewing a video game. But thrown is exactly what I was when I stepped into the unassuming Xbox Room #10 in Xbox’s business hall booth during Day 1 of Gamescom 2025. There were six seats, a small table, and a television showcasing Keeper, the upcoming adventure game from Psychonauts developer Double Fine Productions centered around a walking lighthouse and a bird. Oh, and the studio’s CEO and games industry legend, Tim Schafer.

Nobody told me the person showcasing Keeper would be Schafer, and it’s kinda wild to walk into a room and be surprise-greeted by a developer you massively respect. Of course, Schafer is a true gentleman, kind, and genuinely hilarious, so the nerves quickly disappear as he walks me through three previously recorded gameplay segments of Keeper.

I promise I’ll talk about those segments, but everything Schafer told me beforehand was just as interesting (possibly more). First off, it’s his first time doing press since 2021 with Psychonauts 2, so Schafer explains that he’s nervous – ahhh, even ground – and his first time at Gamescom in 16 years! Though he was here in person to talk about Keeper, he mostly speaks about Lee Petty, the game’s director (and Brutal Legend and Broken Age art director) and the person behind the wild idea that is Keeper.

Schafer says Keeper wouldn’t exist without Double Fine becoming an Xbox studio. “Around the time we had just joined the Xbox family, we were wondering what we should make next,” Schafer says. “We have support; we have money; and we don’t have to worry about going out of business every day, and we don’t have to pitch to publishers, ‘Please make our game, it’s very commercial.'”

At the same time, Petty was busy thinking about his time during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was locked in his home like the rest of us, but he found solace in nature hikes amongst the hills around San Francisco. He couldn’t get an idea out of his head: what if humanity didn’t survive this, but nature did and took over in our place? It’s here that Schafer explains Petty is a “weird dude who loves strange images, and grew up loving Dark Crystal and Salvador Dali.”

The result of all that pondering is Keeper – weird and chill, like Petty and his interests, Schafer says. He then describes the game as an adventure game with puzzles – light puzzles, though, because Keeper is about the “atmosphere and vibes and companionship between these two.” The two he’s talking about are Twig, a sea bird, and an unnamed lighthouse. After a violent sea storm isolates Twig from her flock, she perches on a lighthouse. For some reason, this awakens the lighthouse, it tips over, and in the resulting crash, it grows legs. Typical lighthouse behavior.

Awakened and the new owner of legs, this lighthouse feels immediately called to a giant mountain peak atop the island it’s on. So, it begins heading that way, with Twig in tow. Controlling the lighthouse consists of moving through surrealist and fantastical landscapes and shining your beam on things. You can shine your beam on plants and sometimes they’ll grow; you can shine your beam on gears and sometimes Twig will fly to them and rotate them to unlock gates; you can shine your beam on strange pot creatures that crash to the floor beneath them, sometimes revealing objects for Twig to interact with.

Your primary method of interacting with this world is your beam, and second to that is Twig. This might just be a me thing as someone who lives a couple hours away from Disney World and has a fondness for the technology of animatronics, but Keeper most reminds me of a Disney dark ride. If you’re unfamiliar with that term, dark rides include Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. It’s less about thrills and more about experiencing the things around you, watching animatronics move to tell a story, and soaking in the vibes. That’s Keeper.

I love that shining your light on objects causes them to emote or come to life with animation. It might not affect your journey forward or be part of a puzzle every time, but that’s okay – it’s about the vibes! It’s about watching the animatronics of this world, as it were, do things that make the surrounding area feel real, like it has its own story to tell.

The puzzles I see seem simple and quick, but I can’t help keeping an eye on the things outside the primary focus of these gameplay videos. I see sunflowers dance as light grazes over them, carrots come to life and dive bomb into the soil below, and more. It really feels like a Double Fine dark ride in the most complimentary way.

Of course, I see some other things that catch my eye. At one point, Twig becomes a giant egg atop the lighthouse for some reason. I see a village of tiny lil guys that are rusty watches. I see the lighthouse prance through pink pollen that gives it a light, low-gravity effect when it jumps. Everything I see looks vastly different from what I witness moments before, but it’s all oozing with Double Fine and surrealist Salvador Dali-inspired charm.

Some areas are more linear, designed around puzzles, Schafer says. Other areas are more open, prime for exploration. Regardless of where you are in the lighthouse’s journey to the mountain peak, Schafer says Keeper is ultimately about change; how nature changes, how Twig changes, how the lighthouse changes. Every character, including Twig and the Lighthouse, has a story arc, he adds.

When I ask Schafer why Petty decided to have players control a lighthouse, Schafer laughs – he doesn’t actually know. He says the lighthouse was one of the game’s side characters, but when he saw it walking with legs, he told Petty that needs to be the game. “It was compelling,” Schafer says. “It really looked like something from a surrealist painting.”

Schafer ends my presentation further explaining Double Fine’s love of nonsense and the bizarre, the type of work directors David Lynch and David Cronenberg are interested in making, he says. I see the vision.

Keeper is a weird game, but it has that undeniable Double Fine charm. I can’t wait to actually play it when it launches on October 17 on Xbox Series X/S and PC.

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Buckshot Roulette Creator’s New Game Is A Dark Psychological Hacking Adventure Launching Next Month

by admin June 21, 2025

Mike Klubnika, the creator of last year’s unsettling Russian roulette horror game Buckshot Roulette, has announced his next title will arrive in just a few weeks. s.p.l.i.t. is a narrative-driven psychological horror adventure.

Klubnika describes s.p.l.i.t. as a short first-person adventure that sees players control a hacker planning to execute a malware attack on an unethical superstructure. Sitting at a computer terminal, gameplay involves solving puzzles styled as complex command prompts to navigate directories, run software, and execute commands. You’ll also use an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to communicate with fellow hackers and gain intel on your target. A press release provides a more ominous overview of what s.p.l.i.t. entails:

“A daunting task lies ahead. Unconscionable secrets and vulnerabilities lie buried deep below legacy code and engineering. Only with meticulous planning and unwavering composure will they be unearthed.”

s.p.l.i.t. launches on July 24 for PC via Steam, Windows, and Linux. Meanwhile, Buckshot Roulette is slated to come to Xbox consoles sometime this year.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

A screenshot of the protagonists from Split Fiction

Product Reviews

Split Fiction Switch 2 review: an absurd co-op adventure that just needs some refinement on Nintendo’s new handheld

by admin June 20, 2025

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We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Releasing a follow-up to 2021’s critically acclaimed It Takes Two was never going to be easy. But Swedish Hazelight Studios proved it was more than up to the challenge when it released co-op action adventure Split Fiction for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC in March 2025.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 (and PS5)
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: June 5, 2025 for Switch 2 (March 6, 2025, on other platforms)

Split Fiction took the lauded co-op experience of It Takes Two to a new level, offering more varied environments and gameplay and a lot more explosive (literally, at times) action. Now, the hit co-op adventure has been ported to the Nintendo Switch 2, releasing as part of the new console’s launch lineup alongside titles such as Deltarune, Mario Kart World, and Hitman World of Assassination – Signature Edition. But does this Switch 2 port of the co-op game manage to maintain the magic?

Mostly, yes. Split Fiction on Switch 2’s brilliantly fun, character-driven story and overall gameplay mechanics remain the same, but there’s a distinctive drop in visual and performance quality compared to the PS5. Pair this with a multitude of confusing local and online co-op play options and a less-than-optimal Tabletop mode experience and there’s some frustrating niggles to this Switch 2 port.

Worlds collide

(Image credit: Hazelight Studios)

Split Fiction begins at Rader Publishing, where fantasy writer Zoe and sci-fi writer Mio are summoned, along with others, under the premise that their stories are finally going to be published. What CEO J.D. Rader has up his sleeve, though, is far from a sit-down chat and contract signing. Instead, he introduces “The Machine,” which can create a complete simulation of a writer’s world. While everyone is excited at the prospect of jumping into their stories, with each becoming encased in their individual bubble simulation, Mio is (rightfully) suspicious of the technology and gets in a fight with the staff, only to fall into Zoe’s bubble.

Mio spawns in Zoe’s magical, fantasy world, much to both’s chagrin, alongside a suspicious-looking glitch. When the writers approach the glitch, they’re pulled into Mio’s story, a chaotic sci-fi thriller full of explosives, dogfights, and lasers.

It’s the perfect setup for what you should expect in Split Fiction. With each level, you jump from Zoe’s enchanting fantasy world to Mio’s explosive, sci-fi world – one minute you’re flying dragons and the next you’re lobbing bombs in a cyber game show.

As you’d expect, Mio and Zoe are, on the surface, polar opposites. From the start, Zoe is painted as an optimistic, bubbly daydreamer, while Mio is surly, suspicious, and sarcastic. But, once they realize Rader’s intentions are (as Mio predicted) sinister, they must work together to find all the glitches and escape the simulation.

(Image credit: Electronic Arts)

We put a little bit of ourselves into everything we write. Through their adventure, Zoe and Mio discover this is more true than they thought. Their friendship grows as they come face-to-face with the surreal, funny, magical, and darker aspects of their lives that have made their way into their work – allowing them to see they have more in common than originally thought.

This character growth is well-paced, with some emotional twists that you’ll likely see coming a mile off, as the writing isn’t amazing. But it’s the visual interpretations, the worlds, and how they portray the story’s emotional beats that hit hardest. The metaphors may be on the nose at times, but they do help you to understand both writers without the need for words.

But don’t worry, this isn’t a heavy adventure. Instead, Split Fiction carefully walks the line between thrilling action and laugh-out-loud silliness. Its gameplay, too, keeps you guessing. As with It Takes Two, Hazelight isn’t afraid to experiment with different genres and gameplay mechanics here, throwing in platforming, shooting, puzzles, and more, resulting in the perfect formula for co-op partners who struggle to agree on what to play.

A clear split

(Image credit: Hazelight Studios)

While Split Fiction, at its core, is a great game, its Switch 2 port is a noticeable downgrade from its PS5 counterpart – and this is clear from its opening splash screen showing the title. In TV (docked) mode, the splash screen’s blacks are blocky, and the frame rates on the animation are noticeably lower than on PS5. Even sitting on the main menu, I spotted issues before playing, with the shadow renders on the Rader Publishing sign flickering. In-game, the visual drawbacks are apparent, too.

While the cutscenes look alright, the visuals are considerably less polished than on PS5, with character hair textures a bit frazzled at the ends and the graphics overall looking less refined and detailed. It’s not a huge surprise, given Split Fiction on Switch 2 runs at 1080p/30fps, a drastic drop from the 4K/60fps of the PS5. If you’ve not played Split Fiction on another platform, you may not notice these issues, but you’ll likely still clock a few.

During actual gameplay, there’s occasionally a clear blur when characters move quickly, and the shadow rendering is less than optimal, resulting in dark, poorly lit areas and flicking shadows. While the worlds and characters still look good, again, they’re nowhere near as impressive as on PS5. The visual refinement isn’t quite there, which can result in Mio looking a bit like a cartoon character at times. For the most part, this isn’t a huge issue, but the blur and darker areas can make it slightly harder to navigate certain areas where careful footing is critical.

(Image credit: Hazelight)

This is particularly frustrating in Tabletop mode. While the general visual and performance aren’t so obvious when playing in Handheld and Tabletop mode, the shadows are a killer. This is mainly because playing Split Fiction in Tabletop mode is a less-than-optimal experience. Firstly, this is because it’s really hard to see what’s going on on your side of the screen anyway when there are two of you gathered around the screen. In TV mode, I can struggle at times to keep track of my character and their footing, but on a smaller screen, it’s a much bigger challenge, especially when you hit those darker areas.

My partner and I struggled to play Tabletop in our living room, pondering if our 30+-year-old eyes were to blame while also questioning how anyone could play optimally on the go. If we struggled in our living room, huddled up on our sofa to try and see the screen, how feasible is it to play in an airport or on a train? This is exacerbated by the fact that you cannot play Split Fiction with just one set of Joy-Con 2 controllers, like you can with other Nintendo co-op games. Instead, you need to own two sets of controllers to play. This is great if you have another set, but less than ideal if you find yourself needing to shell out $95 / £75 on top of the game price to play with a friend locally.

The audio, however, in TV mode and Tabletop mode is impressively loud and detailed, especially for the latter. So, at least that’s something.

Play nice with others

(Image credit: Hazelight Studios)

Where Split Fiction confused the heck out of me was its numerous co-op play options. Trying to work out who I could play with locally and online and on what platform seriously hurt my head (even with the information boxes beside some). So, here’s what I eventually worked out.

Playing couch co-op with a friend is easy; just select the ‘Play Local’ option. The ‘Play Local Wireless’ option has three choices: ‘Host through Local Wireless,’ ‘Find and join through Local Wireless,’ and ‘Host a game using GameShare.’ Hosting and joining local wireless only lets you play Split Fiction with a friend on Nintendo Switch 2 who is in your vicinity, and doesn’t seem to require an internet connection. It does, however, seem to require your friend to own Split Fiction.

If you want to play Split Fiction with a friend on the original Nintendo Switch, you can’t do this online. Instead, you need to use the GameShare option to stream it to them (the quality will drop a bit more), but they must be in your vicinity. You can also use this option to play with a friend on Switch 2, where you can utilize the console’s GameChat feature, allowing you to see and speak to your friends while you play. Local GameShare doesn’t seem to require an internet connection, nor does the other person need the game, so it’s probably the better option over local wireless.

Playing online, you can make use of Split Fiction‘s Friend’s Pass to play the full game online with a friend who doesn’t own it. All you need to do is select ‘Play Online’, and you can invite your Switch 2 friend. You can also crossplay with those on other platforms (PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) by entering their EA account name. If you are using the Friend’s Pass, your pal will need to download the Friend’s Pass to their console before you can play.

The number of co-op play options can be a bit overwhelming, and playing with a Switch 2 or current-gen platform player is pretty straightforward, but I was disappointed to not be able to play online with an original Switch friend.

A solid but less-than-optimal experience

(Image credit: Hazelight Studios)

Split Fiction offers the same thrilling fun on Switch 2 as on other platforms, but don’t expect the same level of polish here. While Tabletop mode, in theory, offers the opportunity to take your co-op playthrough on the go, it’s not the most optimal experience, and you’ll likely find playing in TV mode more enjoyable.

Overall, this is a pretty solid Switch 2 port, with some annoying niggles, but I advise picking up this co-adventure on another platform for the best experience all-round.

Should you play Split Fiction Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

Split Fiction offers a solid selection of accessibility features. In the Options menu, there is an Accessibility tab that allows you to reconfigure the controls for Mio and Zoe. The options include the ability to change button-bashing prompts and toggle spinning/wiggling prompts, so you just need to hold the button, or they complete automatically, the option to turn on subtitles and closed captioning, the ability to skip gameplay areas, and to reduce enemy damage.

You can also remap controls and make adjustments to the camera and controller rumble under other tabs in this section.

How I reviewed Split Fiction on Switch 2

I played Split Fiction for roughly 18 hours across PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. During my playtime, I completed the main story as well as all the side quests I could find. Having played the game on both platforms, I was able to compare and contrast the experience on PS5 and Switch 2, primarily focusing on the Switch 2 version’s performance, visuals, audio, and overall experience.

I reviewed Split Fiction on Nintendo Switch 2, playing local co-op with my fiancé using a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller and a set of Joy-Con 2 controllers. We primarily played in the console’s TV mode with my Samsung Q80T QLED TV, but also played in Tabletop mode to test what effect this mode had on the experience. I tested the GameShare function by sharing my Switch 2 game with my Nintendo Switch Lite and the crossplay functionality by beginning a game between my Switch 2 and PS5.

I also tested whether I could play Split Fiction online with someone with an original Nintendo Switch by trying to GameShare and online play with a friend (this didn’t work).

Split Fiction on Switch 2, first reviewed June 2025

Split Fiction Switch 2: Price Comparison

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Survival Kids review: a vibrant co-op adventure that lacks meaningful depth

by admin June 14, 2025

Why you can trust TechRadar

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has finally arrived, and along with it, so have a handful of launch games. Some old, some new, and some, well, they land somewhere between those two categories.

Meet Survival Kids, a cooperative platformer, built on the bones of the 1999 Konami Game Boy Color game of the same name, and developed by the minds behind the wildly popular game engine Unity. Its inception is a mouthful, and yet when it comes to the reality of the game itself, it’s very simple – perhaps too simple.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 6th, 2025

In Survival Kids, you play as a (you guessed it) kid who, after being capsized in a mythic storm, must craft their way across an ancient archipelago in the hopes of escape.

Rinse and repeat

(Image credit: Konami)

Every level in Survival Kids begins with a capsizing, and players wash up on the shore of a new island. From this point on, the aim of the game is to consolidate resources and move your base camp to the highest point, where you’ll construct a raft and start the cycle all over again.

The parts you need to complete this objective range from easily-accessible vines and stones (which can be harnessed by chopping down trees or mining rocks) to hidden aeroplane wings and half-buried propeller parts. It’s not as complex as something like Astro Bot by any means, but the diversity of islands and the platforming challenges embedded in them were varied enough to keep me entertained as I continued to explore.

In place of any towering challenges or punishing mechanics, the biggest antagonist you’ll face here is your stamina, which dictates how far you can climb on a climbing net and whether you can unearth objects. To increase your stamina, you need to find and cook food, making sure not to burn your precious meal in your camp’s cooking pot by leaving it on the castaway-hob too long. The more food you load into the pot, the better the quality of the meal, providing you with extra precious stamina.

Beyond staying fed, there aren’t really any stakes to speak of. Sure, you can fall off a cliff and lose your items or fail to wrangle a fish. But you can simply go back and pick them up again or just cast your line at the same fish a second time.

(Image credit: Konami)

You’re never really punished for your mistakes in any meaningful way, which has its pros and cons. By keeping the workload accessible and forgiving, Survival Kids feels like a great introductory game for kids who may not be familiar with the Survival genre. Still, at times, it feels as though it’s underestimating what younger players are capable of, especially when you consider the alternatives on the market like Nintendo’s own appropriately challenging Super Mario Odyssey.

Upon completing a level, you’ll earn stars depending on how quickly you escaped the island or how many collectables — called Treasure Stones — you found in the process. Early on, these stars mean very little, and you can breeze through the game – no questions asked. However, as you near the end, there’s a good chance you’ll need to revisit an island to collect a few more to surpass some star-based progress gates.

With little else to latch onto, Survival Kids often feels a bit dry and lacks the personality to really make its mark. It says something that not even a quirky British narrator can lift the tone. In fact, their chatter quickly started to grate.

Play nice

(Image credit: Konami)

Between island hopping, you’ll also get a chance to customise your cartoon avatar with a selection of kitschy castaway garb. There isn’t a great deal of diversity at first, but it’s plenty to set you apart from your co-op collaborators, and it’s good fun to tweak your hair colour, skin tone, and ocular scenario before hopping into a level. Thankfully, this small pool of outfits is just a jumping-off point, and you can unlock more by completing challenges layered throughout the game.

Alongside meeting the essential crafting criteria, you can complete optional tasks like fishing ten times in a row or cooking with a certain number of ingredients in your pot. By achieving these optional objectives, you can unlock themed outfits to jazz up your mini-me. Many will be achieved automatically as you play, but at the very least, I was pleased to have something else to shoot for outside the confines of the repetitive campaign.

Best bit

(Image credit: Konami)

Survival Kids is at its best when played with friends. Between the simple control scheme and the plethora of comfortably mindless processes to complete, I could chat to my heart’s content without needing to maintain an intense back-and-forth to complete objectives.

Survival Kids can be played in single-player mode, however, it’s just not nearly as much fun as it is when you’re playing with friends. Aside from helping collect loot, the most fun I had was antagonising, and subsequently being antagonised by, my co-op partner. On one occasion, I led my fellow-survivor into a wind tunnel where they were gust into oblivion.

The repercussion was that after spending ages fishing and cooking up a delicious meal, they threw it off the edge and out of my reach. When playing solo, these kinds of light-hearted interactions aren’t possible, and instead, you’re just left with the workload.

It’s clear there’s been an effort to scale things back in solo mode and make the levels more approachable, like reducing the stamina needed to pull up objects. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t make up for the tedious nature of completing the same tasks alone.

When playing through the later levels in the game, I found myself frustrated, not by the turrets shooting me off the map, but rather the boring nature of carting materials back and forth with no help. It’s admirable that the team at Unity wanted to give solo players a chance, but it doesn’t do justice to the obviously communal aspects at the core of Survival Kids‘ gameplay loop.

Should you play Survival Kids?

(Image credit: Konami)

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

In Survival Kids, you can access the settings menu from the main menu or anytime in-game by pressing the pause button and selecting the Options button.

From here, you can toggle on and off subtitles and a level timer, as well as level objective arrows and banners. In the Controls submenu, you can toggle between two layout options. Where audio is concerned, you can use incremental notches to tweak Music, SFX and Narration Volume.

How I reviewed Survival Kids

(Image credit: Konami)

I played Survival Kids‘ main campaign over twelve hours in a mixture of single-player, local co-op, and online co-op.

I used a Switch 2 console in both handheld and docked modes. When docked, I used an LG OLED C2 55-inch TV, with no additional soundbar or external speaker system.

First reviewed June 2025

Survival Kids: Price Comparison

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June 14, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Ghostly Cycling Adventure Wheel World Crosses The Finish Line This July

by admin June 10, 2025

Wheel World is an upcoming open-world game in which players ride a bike possessed by ghosts on a quest to save the world. This quirky adventure comes from Nidhogg and Flywrench developer Messhof and has been floating around for some time, but as announced during the PC Gaming Show, it’s finally launching on July 23.

A new trailer shows off newly revealed locations that the protagonist Kat will traverse atop her bicycle. The game’s plot centers on Kat’s quest to save a universe on the brink of collapse with the aid of ancient cycling spirits. Doing so involves winning races and other cycling challenges against colorful characters while recovering legendary parts to perform a special world-saving ritual called The Great Shift. You can also customize Kat’s bike to tailor it towards your riding style and explore the colorful open world in search of secrets.

If you’re curious to try Wheel World, a Steam demo is available now. The game will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S (launching day one on Game Pass), and PC.

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June 10, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Gorgeous stealth adventure Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream gets July release date and demo

by admin June 9, 2025

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream – the stealth adventure that’s been eliciting all sorts of oohs and ahhs thanks to its lovely looks and impressive motion capture – finally has a release date. It’s coming to PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 15th July, with a demo available now.

Eriksholm is the work of River End Games, a Swedish studio comprised of around 16 people (making its presentational pizzaz all the more impressive), and it takes its inspiration from the Scandinavia of the early 1900s. This isn’t quite the world as we know it – a mysterious illness known as Heartpox has the city in its grip, for starters – but it’s here we meet our protagonist, Hanna, who becomes embroiled in a deadly adventure after her brother disappears.

River End Games calls Eriksholm an “isometric, narrative-driven stealth game”, and it shares many of the trappings of the stealth-tactics genre – including sight cones, that isometric perspective, and multiple characters with complementary abilities you’ll use to navigate the city undetected. Based on my time with a couple of levels not so long ago, though, it appears to play a bit more puzzle-y, with obstacles having specific solutions.

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream release date trailer.Watch on YouTube

It’s unclear if that’s indicative of the broader experience, but I’m certainly intrigued enough to want to play more. Not least because Eriksholm – with its endearing cast and gorgeous environmental design – is a lovely world to sink into.

And River End Games is now letting everyone have a nose around Eriksholm ahead of its launch, thanks to a newly released demo on Steam and the Epic Games Store. River End hasn’t specified what’s in the demo, but it’s promising a glimpse of Eriksholm’s “atmospheric design, tense stealth sequences, and emotionally driven narrative”. And you’ll be able to carry your progress over to the full game if you’re suitably convinced.

Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on 15th July, and (depending on platform) it should cost around £33.50 GBP/€39.99/$39.99 USD.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Gorgeous 2D adventure Planet of Lana is getting a sequel

by admin June 9, 2025

Planet of Lana is getting a sequel called Children of the Leaf and it’s due out next year.

A continuation of the 2023 game’s gorgeous 2D world, players will once again take the role of Lana and her adorable companion Mui as they navigate a strange world after a robot invasion.

The game will be released across Xbox Series X/S, PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch in 2026, arriving on Game Pass day one.

Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf Announcement Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2025Watch on YouTube

“In the past few years, we’ve been honoured to see how Planet of Lana has touched players worldwide, from its cinematic world to its heartwarming story and action-packed gameplay,” said Adam Stjärnljus, creative director at developer Wishfully.

“Our team learned a lot from creating the first game and we always knew that Lana and Mui’s story wasn’t over, so we’ve created a whole new adventure for players, packed with creative puzzle sequences and surprises around every corner. We can’t wait for players to join our dynamic duo once again, and unravel the mysteries of Novo’s world.”

The sequel promises more clever puzzle solving, as well as refined stealth mechanics, new agility-challenging action sequences, and a profound sci-fi story.

The original Planet of Lana received a positive reaction on its release. “A beautifully crafted side-scroller with a restless puzzle imagination,” reads our Planet of Lana review.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Psychonauts studio returns with sentient lighthouse adventure Keeper

by admin June 8, 2025

Four years after the release of Psychonauts 2, developer Double Fine has returned with Keeper. It’s a third-person action-adventure charting the mysterious journey of a suddenly sentient lighthouse, and it’s launching for Xbox Series X/S and PC this October.

Keeper’s adventure across an atmospheric post-human world begins on a distant island in the shadow of a mountain, where a crumbling lighthouse still stands. For reasons currently unexplained, its ancient masonry suddenly gains life – and legs – whereupon it begins a journey toward the looming mountain, accompanied by a curious seagull.

Double Fine says the ensuing odyssey – a “story told without words” – features a mix of exploration, puzzle solving, and “unexpected departures from reality”. Along the way, the lighthouse learns to use its beam of light to affect the flora and fauna of the world, and to ward off mysteriously spreading tendrils. Its bird companion, meanwhile, is able to interact with ancient mechanisms to clear the path ahead.

Keeper announcement trailer.Watch on YouTube

“Together, these two unlikely friends set off together on an epic adventure,” explains Double Fine in its announcement, “an odyssey of mystifying metamorphosis, and a journey that will take them into realms beyond understanding. “

And if that’s piqued your curiosity, Keeper launches for Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Game Pass on 17th October this year.

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June 8, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Tire Boy is a wacky open-world adventure game you can tread all over

by admin June 7, 2025

One of the best things about an indie game showcase is that you’ll see at least one preview that makes you think “huh?” and “lol!” in equal parts. For the Day of the Devs presentation at Summer Games Fest 2025, Tire Boy definitely fits the bill. Mechanics-wise, it’s an open-world action-adventure game, which is pretty standard fare. However, like the name says, you play it all out as a tiny anthropomorphized tire. It looks super goofy, but in a way that might also be super great.

The trio from GameTeam6 who presented the early build of the game explained that they wanted to do some odd things with scale in the world, and that’s definitely been accomplished. Most other characters tower over little Tire Boy, whether they’re a friendly owl, an enemy frog or just a really big heckin bunny. But there’s also some sweetness promised as Tire Boy tries to uncover the secrets of his past and his tire people. It’s the sort of wacky combination that can be a lot of fun in practice.

The studio has a ways to go before it’s ready to play; they didn’t suggest any time frames for a demo or release window, but Tire Boy can be wishlisted on Steam if you want to keep tabs on this quirky project.

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June 7, 2025 0 comments