5 Great New Games You May Not Have Heard Of In Early 2020
Greetings, once again! I’ve been meaning to update this more regularly, and since most of us in the world are stuck in a “social distancing” scenario, what better time then now to really flex my creative wings and fly!
Really, though, I just have an excess of games to talk about, and it’s been my desire to create more content around that entire concept. On average, I probably play 15+ games within a month for my Twitch stream, many of which are sampled during Try it Tuesday – a segment I put on most Tuesdays where I check out something new, whether it’s just new to me or brand new to everyone. What I’m saying is… I have many games to talk about.
In the last few months, I’ve amassed a lot of games that I feel strongly positive about, and I thought now would be a good time to share them, if only to spread the word on some good games that you may not have heard of. This year is already set to be rife with new, solid releases, but many that we’ve heard of coming down the pipeline are larger titles that you’re going to hear about. These are some smaller games that perhaps flew under your radar.
Without further ado, let’s get to the list…
World of Horror
I honestly can’t say enough good things about World of Horror. When I first saw it, as most people probably did, the visual style struck me with a lasting impression. Heavily inspired by the work of Junji Ito, World of Horror takes inspiration from both his work as well as the work of Lovecraft to weave dark, enrapturing tales that players consume in small bites as they progress through the game. At its core, World of Horror is a roguelite meshed with a text-based RPG, and I never knew I needed it until I was a few hours in. The main character of the game is given 5 random stories, or cases, to investigate within the town of Shiokawa, all while trying to maintain your sanity and your life. I found myself craving more of the stories with each playthrough. Each one felt like I was reading something from an SCP or Creepypasta forum, or even a book of Lovecraft-inspired short stories… which, I suppose, is exactly what World of Horror is in essence. Despite there only being a handful of stories to work through at this time, it has endless replayability potential – and this game is still in *early access*. I can imagine people coming up with their own custom-built stories to add to the universe, and I’m interested to see where the developer chooses to expand upon things in late-game scenarios. With full mod support coming down the road at some point, the future of World of Horror is anything but bleak.
Purchase World of Horror today on Humble Bundle
Curse of the Dead Gods
I recently played this days after I tried out Hades – another great game that could have made this list, had it not first made its appearance to gamers in 2018. Curse of the Dead Gods feels similar at first glance, but is a much different game the further in you get. Another roguelite, the game puts you in the world of an explorer, seeking untold riches, eternal life, and divine powers – you know, that old chestnut. The setting already had me excited, because of a deep-seated love for the Indiana Jones franchise, as well as Tomb Raider. The game brings a bit of a Darkest Dungeon feel with its bold and stylistic artwork, as well as some of the difficulty spikes – as you plunge deeper into every map, the inevitability that you will carry curses, or debuffs, rises, and some of those curses can be particularly brutal to your playthrough. I received a curse during one run that disabled my entire UI every time I got hit for a couple of minutes, which made it impossible to fight bosses and stay alive. Curse of the Dead Gods has never made me feel so good about being so bad at a game. I can’t wait to dive back into this one soon.
Purchase Curse of the Dead Gods today on Humble Bundle
The Longing
The art of this game is what initially drew me in to give it a whirl. The Longing is perhaps one of the most interesting games in this list, if only because I feel like it breaks the mold of the genres it claims to be a part of in a most pleasantly quirky way. The Longing‘s Steam description starts off by stating it’s “an unusual mix of adventure and idle game,” and this is to no exaggeration. The game starts by placing you deep within the center of the earth, cast as a servant to a king who must sleep for 400 days to regain his strength, and until the day that he wakes, you must look after his palace. From here, you’re dropped into a room where you are probably left to wonder what exactly it is you are to do. The UI has an interesting time clock centered at the top, and as you begin to shuffle through your quaint little bookshelf, you realize that each title – books like Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Moby Dick – are placed in this game in their entirety. It is with this slow realization that you finally get the premise of The Longing: you’re *actually going to be waiting 400 real days*. Of course, you are free to leave your room and explore the palace, or you can sit and enjoy a book by the fire. Honestly, it’s up to you – the game will count down these 400 days regardless of whether or not you’re playing it. Hats off to developers Studio Seufz – I love this concept from top to bottom, and if I have anything in spades to spend at this current juncture, it’s time.
Purchase The Longing today on Humble Bundle
Yes, Your Grace
Publishers No More Robots have been heavy hitters in the indie space for the last year or so. They’ve put out favorites like Not Tonight, Nowhere Prophet, Descenders, and the wildly popular Hypnospace Outlaw (play that last one if you haven’t already – it’s incredible). Yes, Your Grace is the latest to come from them, and it makes perfect sense given the previous lineup of amazing titles. The game touts itself as a kingdom management RPG, where you play the role as the king of an old civilization on the brink of potential war. As the king, you must work to help the people of your kingdom as they come to you with different problems – this includes family, allies, and enemies – ideally maintaining a peaceable balance while you prepare for what feels like an unavoidable threat. Each character that comes in has its own unique story attached to it, and there will most certainly be recurring plots to follow as each day passes. Furthermore, you must keep the peace within your family, as you are a father of 3 daughters, none of whom really seem to get along that well. Fans of Not Tonight are going to love this, because it feels the same in many ways to the progression chain in that title. Fans of grander strategy games like Civilization or Crusader Kings may even like this title, as it takes a more focused and casual approach in a similar setting. I was only able to play a small portion of Yes, Your Grace, as I sampled an early pre-release preview, but I can’t wait to get back to the kingdom and see what’s in store, and more importantly, how badly I will attempt to handle it.
Purchase Yes, Your Grace today on Steam
Stoneshard
Stoneshard will not hold your hand, nor will it apologize for how difficult it truly is. Nor does it have to, or should it be expected to. Games like this need to exist, because they’re a stark reminder of how the games of yesteryear used to play – very blind, very difficult, and very unforgiving. The differences are in the details – games of yesteryear were often obscurely difficult because their releases were THE ONLY release they were going to get. No day-one patches, no DLC updates, no hotfixes: the game was what it was, like it or not. It’s also a nice reminder that we live in the day and age where all of those things exist, as well as the ability to create a gorgeous looking game that plays exactly like you want it to. Such is the case with Stoneshard, a turn-based RPG with old school flavor but ALSO with all the modern conveniences of a new game built in – and I mean that in the best way, truly. Stepping into the role of a mercenary, players will travel across the land in an open world setting, where the biggest goal is simple on paper, but anything but: survive. I struggled to get past the tutorial boss (I still haven’t), but I loved every second of trying to do so. Stoneshard definitely brings the flavor of Darkest Dungeon to an older style of gameplay, with a fantastically detailed pixel-art style to compliment the dark and twisted fantasy realm that will most certainly try to kill you every step of the way. It’s a roguelike, so kill you it most certainly will, time and time again. Get used to it. Additionally, you have to manage your hunger, thirst, and health with hyper awareness, and strategize your moves so as not to overextend yourself and get into hot water. I’m so used to playing games that allow me to go in, full brute force, and wipe everything out, that Stoneshard forces me to play more tactically. That’s a great feeling, and I can’t wait to return to it soon.