Cycling with ghosts, malware attacks, and Overwatch in space

Hello everyone! Once again, it has been a long while since I was able to find the time to do a dispatch. It kinda breaks my heart a little bit. Being a new dad and working a new job is really taking all of my free time, so by the time I get a few hours in the evening to get some things done, writing a blog post somehow falls to the bottom of the list. I really want to change that however, so I guess I can promise you all that I’m going to try?! That’s about the best I can do.

Life, as it does for us all, threw some interesting curveballs these past two months. The good news is that we finally announced the game that I am working on at 17-BIT during Summer Games Fest, and we showcased it at BitSummit last weekend here in Kyoto, so it’s been two months of long, sweaty nights, as the team banded together to showcase our game for the first time.

AWAYSIS is a revolutionary, physics-fueled throwdown where you’ll jump, slide, and collide in a cooperative dungeon brawler with a competitive spirit. It features a full campaign for 1-4 players, with local and cross-platform online. Alongside that it also has a pretty neat PVP mode where you can beat up you pals in a variety of game modes and stages. It’s set for release early next year, and I am super excited for people to get some hands on with it later this year.

The bad news that hit us this month was that my wife was let go from her job unexpectedly while on maternity leave. A very cool development that makes me super excited that I took a pay cut to drop back into the historically stable games industry. So if you have ever considered dropping a tip into our Ko-Fi cup, now would be the time folks.

Anyways enough about me, let’s get to the games.

And what came out this week?

Wheel World

Developer: Messhof
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

Nidhogg, Nidhogg 2, and Flywrench have long been absolute favourites of mine. Many a night have been gleefully spent yelling at screens while playing the intense and memorable action that Messhof have delivered time and time again. While those games are very visceral, providing deceptively simple base mechanics that have impossible skill ceilings to create fun, the studio’s new game looks like a wild departure that seems to create a cozy but competitive cycling game in Wheel World.

Now I am a cyclist myself, so I this hits me in a particular way. Cycling mixed up with strange visuals, a beating synth soundtrack, and from one of my favourite indie developers of all time? Of course I am on board here. But even if cycling isn’t your jam, Wheel World looks to have a bright and intriguing world to explore on two wheels, blending the looks of Sable with a little Risk of Rain 2 to create some strange goth punk aesthetic mixed with some Tour de France.

While racing is a big part of the game here, you are encouraged to roam around the open world to find magnificent vistas and hidden secrets, and unlock the legendary bike parts needed to perform The Great Shift ritual that will save the world.

I am very much looking forward pedalling this one whenever I get a chance.

s.p.l.i.t

Developer: Mike Klubnika
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

A hacking game with terminals that use real commands? You folks know I worked on Hacknet right? I am basically obligated to cover this one.

s.p.l.i.t is a short narrative horror game that puts you in front of a screen as you try to cooridnate a malware attack with your IRC buddies. Featuring a fully diegetic UI interface, this looks incredibly neat and just the right level of spooky to make you question your actions if you start playing in a dark room.

The store page mentions several times that it is short, so it’s great to know that you can get it done in a weekend and have some fun.

Pile Up

Developer: Remoob
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page

Pile Up is a neat little city builder when you need to place and manage buildings on a small island to make beautiful and functional cities. The cool thing is you are often building upwards, which creates a fun verticality challenge as your cute bouncy cities really start to come to life. Think Dorf Romantik meets Against the Storm, with building synergies and placements that will keep your strategies changing as your city develops.

There is a surprising amount of production put into this game, which was put together by a team of highschoolers from Turkey, which is an incredible achievement. If you are looking for a chill strategic game to bring some calm this weekend, this is the one for sure.

The King Is Watching

Developer: Hypnohead
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

The King is Watching is a roguelite kingdom builder with tower defence elements where players will need to decide how they manage their resources wisely to survive the threats to their court. Do you double down on resources to power your armies and Tesla towers? Do you train a stronger army to fend off your foes? And how will you adapt your strategies to handle the unpredictable challenges that await? Oh, heavy is the head and all that I guess…

It has a charming look and looks to have quite a bit of strategic depth. If I had a guess, I would think our boy Blue from Pixels for Breakfast would be interested in this one. He just finished up marathoning his way through OMD, and he does love a good tower defence. Maybe I can ask him to write a little something about this one. There’s a demo on the Steam page if you do want to check it out before you drop some cash on this one.

Wildgate

Developer: Moonshot Games
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

What do you get when you start a new studio filled to the brim with ex-Blizzard developers under the stewardship of a publishing / developer house run that was founded by a former Blizzard co-founder? You get Wildgate, a competitive PvP shooter with fun characters, lots of colour, and a distinct whimsical vibe that feels very Overwatch-esque… in a good way.

The setup is that you and your crew of Prospectors are on your neat little space ship. Each round you arrive at The Reach, a procedrually-generated map that features traps, obstacles, and sweet loot for the taking. You’ll be fighting off other players while you’re at it, and the key is to actually board their ships while they are out looting and wreak havoc so that they don’t stand a chance.

Everyone is searching for The Artifact, and the first team to snatch it and get out through the Wildgate will reap the rewards. While it doesn’t say Extraction Shooter anywhere on the steam page, it sure sounds like an extraction shooter, just without the standard PvE elements. The reviews so far are glowing, and there doesn’t seem to be any kind of weird F2P stuff going on as it is a priced product, so high hopes that this one can maintain a player base and turn it into something fun and long-lasting.

And that’s a wrap

Thanks so much for reading. If you can, a tip in our Ko-Fi cup would go a long way at the moment. I’ll also happily put some of it towards Wheel Word and write up some words. Hell, who knows, maybe I could even swing a video review?

Thanks again, and if you can share the newsletter with a friend. It really does help!