Well, it happened again: the Maw devoured a Monday. My recent, highly suspicious news article about a sudden “bank holiday” was, of course, a hasty PR smokescreen to avert a stock market crash. In Horace’s name, we have now forced the Maw to sick up the missing Monday, but locating the gag reflex of a cosmic monster has its risks, and there have been a few casualties.
Mark has theoretically been “on holiday” since last Wednesday, returning tomorrow, but that’s another piece of disinfo – he’s actually stranded somewhere in the Cretaceous period. James, meanwhile, has come down with a case of the Schrödingers, neither away at Gamescom nor back at his desk. I am going to email him shortly – fingers crossed the quantum binary collapses in a way conducive to preview write-ups. As for this week’s new PC games – here you are. I’ve included the regurgitated Monday, but please handle with care as it’s still rather radioactive and, er, talkative.
Monday 25th August
- NG Y’ STOOD L’ SAND OT GN’TH. NG Y’ MGEPMGR’LUH UH’ENYTH NAFL’FHTAGN YOGOR YOG OT GN’TH, HAVING YEEOGNGM NWW NG YEEOGOG HORNS, NG L’ H’ HORNS YEEOGOG UH’EOGHR’LUHH, NG L’ H’ NWW YAAH OT BLASPHEMY
- Pizza Bandit is a Gearsy goof shooter in which you try to whip up a nice margherita while fending off aliens.
- Watertight is a free horror game in which your submarine gets into difficulties while investigating the wreck of the Titanic. For clarity, this doesn’t seem to be about Oceangate.
- good is a minigame package about an American teenager trying to avoid learning anything. It reminds me strongly of Homestar Runner.
Tuesday 26th August
- Let’s continue the theme from Pizza Bandit with point and clicker The Supper: New Blood, which is about having people for dinner but hah hah, not like that. Gosh you sure look delicious when you’re anxious.
Wednesday 27th August
- By eck, I love the cutaway spaceships of Pixel Starships 2, “an FTL-esque game in a MMO setting” with programmable crewmate behaviour.
- Blumhouse-published Eyes Of Hellfire (pictured) is Among Us but set in a handsomely furnished, orthographic haunted house. I think this is “orthographic”, anyway. It’s the kind of elevated diagonal viewpoint that generally gets handwaved as “isometric”. Any pointers, geometry fiends?
Thursday 28th August
Friday 29th August
- This week’s sacrifice upon the altar of Hybridisation is Neon Village, a match-3 town/deck builder with roguelike elements.
- Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance marks the bloody revival of another ancient Sega side-scroller, I think, though it’s juuuust possible that it’s actually a painting sim.
As always, let us know if there’s any must-plays we’ve missed. My plans for this week include making sense of a big, tangly interview-driven feature and maybe writing something about liminality that would secretly be a love letter to a particular videogame level. Providing the superposition resolves in our favour, I imagine James will be Jamescomming it up with sundry impressions articles and interviewage. Assuming he overcomes the giant Venus flytraps and makes it past the Ankylosauri to the time portal, Mark should be on regular news and possibly a review. I seem to remember him bagsying something in the spreadsheet before he disappeared into the vortex. What are you up to this week?