Sky Rogue
Steam Page
Released: August 25
Developer: Fractal Phase
Publisher: Fractal Phase
Price: $19.99 /
Here’s a retro-styled flight sim where the objective is to blow other planes out of the sky. The sleek, ‘90s polygonal aesthetic is spread across an “infinite number” of procedurally generated maps, and you can play competitively, cooperatively or against the computer. As far as the latter is concerned, this is a rogue-lite so expect some variation on the permanent death theme. Released last week, it’s already managed to rack up a “mostly positive” rating on Steam, so might be worth a look if aerial combat is your bag. It’s yet another Early Access project come good, by the way.
Robocraft
Steam Page
Released: August 24
Developer: Freejam
Publisher: Freejam
Price: Free
Released into Early Access in 2014, this free-to-play robo-combat game with a focus on customisation got a 1.0 release last week. It’s an enduringly popular game, with a Saturday morning cartoon art style and a neat combination of building and fighting, but it seems to have attracted the ire of recent reviewers on Steam due to heavy-handed monetisation. But it’s easy enough to install the game and see for yourself, and the concept is very sound indeed. Looks like there are still a tonne of people playing it, too.
Hyper Universe
Steam Page
Released: August 24
Developer: CWAVESOFT, Inc
Publisher: Nexon America Inc
Price: $15.99
To change things up a bit, here’s a new Early Access game which aims to bring the tactical team-based combat of a MOBA onto the 2D plane. It’s not the first time such a thing has been attempted (see: Awesomenauts), but Hyper Universe looks a lot more frantic and a lot more dexterity driven, for whatever that’s worth. It’s got the vibe of a superhero ensemble rather than anything fantasy based, which is nice but… maybe one day, can we have a MOBA set in a supermarket and the combatants are shelf stackers? That’d be nice.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
Steam Page
Released: August 23
Developer: SONNORI Corp
Publisher: PQube Limited, SONNORI Corp
Price: $29.99
Here’s a remaster of a 2001 Korean survival horror game set in a high school. Most people with even a vague interest in horror won’t even both reading this far (they’ve already clicked through to Steam), but for anyone unsure, a few things to know: this is reputedly one of the scariest video games ever made, and might still be even in a post-Alien Isolation world. Secondly, it was originally released in 2001, and horror games tend to age fairly poorly as far as user interfaces etc. But if you’re willing to take all that onboard (and look past the fact that it’s currently sitting on a “Mixed” Steam ranking), I reckon this is something you need to play.
MagiCat
Steam Page
Released: August 22
Developer: Kucing Rembes
Publisher: Toge Productions, Another Indie
Price: $7.99
Here’s a lovely 16-bit platformer starring a cat – a MagiCat to be precise – who, as the name implies, is magic. There’s not much about this game that can distinguish it from the bajillions of other retro-styled platformers on Steam, but as a died in the wool fan of the genre, I’m taken by the simple-yet-effective pixel art and, also, the fact that you play as a cat that has magical powers. Maybe one to consider next time you’re in the mood for running and jumping on a 2D plane.
These games were released between 8/13-8/27. The first page of this list is updated every Sunday and previous weeks are archived on the following pages. Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.
