Acorn Assault Rodent Revolution
Ever wondered what the French Revolution would have been like if it took place among the squirrel population? No? I would imagine not many had, but it hasn’t stopped High Tale Studios from coming up with Acorn Assault: Rodent Revolution.
Taking place in an “historically inaccurate” French Revolution the game blends strategy and match 3 gameplay across a story mode through 5 unique bosses, or in supported online or local multiplayer.
Acorn Assault Rodent Revolution is due later this year
ALL THINGS GO BOOM!
ALL THINGS GO BOOM! is a multiplayer, tank battle arena title from Double Bomb Interactive that claims to feature “more destruction than a Michael Bay movie” allowing you to destroy literally everything on each map. Picking up items will allow for a huge amount of weapon customization on the fly and some crazy combinations such as shotgun rockets or machine gun shotguns.
The debris created as players level the map can also be used in specific modes to achieve victory. The Nuke Race mode for example allowing players to collect scrap from the destruction and deliver it to their base in order to build a nuclear missile for an ultimate victory. Missiles can be attacked during construction to slow or even reverse the build with the scrap for them being able to be collected too.
Couch co-op for 4 players is certainly in while Double Bomb are considering ways in which to make online co-op a possibility.
Beyond Flesh And Blood
Beyond Flesh and Blood by Pixelbomb Games takes places after a global war has left Earth in ruins. With society split between the Tree of Life, an orbital station controlled by the U.G.R (United Global Remnant) and surface scavengers hostile to the U.G.R. Tensions further increase as a meteorite smashes into Earth bringing with it an “unthinkable threat.”
Taking control of a Tactical Combat Frame, a mech, players will be utilize it’s ability to slow motion run and gun, use advanced rapid movement and it’s stealth camouflage to access re-imagined real world environments that have become desolate landscapes.
Through visceral, fast paced combat, Beyond Flesh and Blood is an unabashedly gory romp through Manchester, shooting, smashing and hacking through waves of scavengers and robots.
Buildanauts
City builder fans, have you ever wanted to be more hands on with how your towns take shape? Ever wanted to physically shape it by being on the ground rather than from a high bird’s eye view and zoning while the AI builds the buildings for you? Buildanauts by TouchTilt Games may well be for you.
Channelling your inner Bob the Builder, Buildanauts allows you to shape a vast open landscape into the town of your choosing. Starting as an apprentice and working your way through the building career ladder you can shape the world in the way you want to. Hands on road and house building, using the heavy machinery directly and even designing the buildings yourself with the custom building tool. Once you have some residents it’s then up to you to cater to their needs and make sure they stay.
As it stands at the moment there will be local co-op on consoles although this may extend to online at release.
Cashtronauts
Cashtronauts by Simon Préfontaine is a twin stick shooter taking place in an alternate universe ruled by vicious, capitalist dinosaurs. Your overall aim? Make as much money as you can and as fast as possible.
Reminiscent of Asteroids with it’s top down visuals and shades of Elite as the method in which you make your money, Cashtronauts is all about choice. Whether it’s mining mineral belts, scavenging, piracy or vigilantism or a mix of everything the way in which you make your money is up to you. As you progress you will also open optional modifiers that work as a risk vs reward system. For example you can add new ores to mineral belts such as gold, which will spawn in civilian mining ships to compete with, or illegal ores that will attract the attention of the game’s police.
A central “safe” (in relative terms) zone allows you to sell your scavenged parts, refuel your ship, resupply your ammo or upgrade, if you have the parts. Even with an upgraded engine and more fuel, or better weapons Cashtronauts will be a balancing act of whether going the illegal route is worth the risk and if you can squeeze that little bit more cash out of each journey by pushing a little further out for a little longer.
Featuring 1-4 player splitscreen, new modes and options on the way Cashtronauts’ style, including a soundtrack from Patrice Bourgeault, captures that old school gaming feel but with a glossy modern kick.
Chronology
Chronology is a 2014 mobile and PC platform puzzle title from Osao. Where you take control of an inventor and his sidekick snail.
With the world ended and the inventor explaining he is partly responsible he soon stumbles across a device that allows him to travel between the past and present and sets about correcting the mistakes that caused things to change.
Time manipulation is key to success as the inventor’s ability to shift between times will add things such as overgrown foliage that will create platforms that don’t exist in the past or restore machinery back to working order in order to progress. The snail companion introduces new options like freezing time completely to help you navigate traps and wall climbing that will turn his shell into a makeshift platform for the inventor.
Chronology is set for a holiday release this year on Xbox One
The Little Acre
The Little Acre is a point and click adventure from Pewter Games. Meticulously hand draw with voice acting from Irish gaming Youtuber “Terroriser” The Little Acre centres on the story of Aidan and his daughter Lily.
Finding himself transported to a strange fantasy world Aidan’s part of the adventure is displayed in an isometric view while Lily and her Irish wolfhound in the “real world” are presented in a standard 2D fashion as the game transitions between the two.
Beautifully drawn with seemingly bags of character The Little Acre is set for a 2016 release
The Living Dungeon
The Living Dungeon by Radiation Burn is a tactical board game being brought to life on Xbox One and PC. Describing itself as being “Made of 1 third luck, 1 third tactics, and 1 third messing with your opponents,” it switches hit and saving dice rolls with dice rolls of choices. Players are then given 2 minutes to decide how to use them. Rather than a static playing area parts of the board can be flipped and rotated making for a game that is constantly throwing curveballs at you and making the game feel as organic as it’s name suggests.
With support for up to 9 players with or without a “Games Master” and ways to tailor the experience to be quick 10 minute sessions up to multiple hours of cutthroat gameplay it certainly seems to be one for board game fans to keep an eye on.
Magnetic: Cage Closed
First person physics puzzles are the name of the game from Guru Games’ Magnetic: Cage Closed. Armed with a magnetic gun you can create either positive or negative electromagnetic fields to either repel or attract small items or use larger items to propel yourself around each room.
From the game’s own site “You are a prisoner trapped in a strange facility, filled with deadly traps and whispered secrets. At first the facility and its inhabitants all seem like a mystery to you, but soon you begin to understand: Your only chance to survive is to master the Magnet Gun and stay out of harms way. If you make yourself useful they will let you live a little longer, and sooner or later you will get your chance. As the Warden keeps on telling you: “There is always a way out…”
Polychromatic
This summer will see the release of Brushfire Games’ physics based twin stick shooter Polychromatic. A top down, fast paced, geometry art styled shooter, Polychromatic is aiming to capture the feeling of classic arcade shooters while striving to be unique. Integrating 3 modes, leaderboards and target scores, players will need a keen eye and sharp reflexes to work your way through wave after wave of targets and come out on top.
RymdResa
RymdResa by Morgondag is a proceedurally generated space exploration title.
From their own site;
” Resources are sparse. The world is infinitive and unknown. The universe is lonely, open and unforgiving.
You’re drifting, in a big, empty and silent space. Searching for a new home. You know a few coordinates to some random locations; but this is the only information you got.
RymdResa is a challenging and evolving space adventure, based on randomness, with some RPG elements. Abstract poetry and art are expressed throughout a lonesome and calm journey in space.
Travel through a mysterious cosmos, deep and beyond. Discover the solitude of space! Customize your ship, explore and survive in the retro stylized world of RymdResa.”
With the emphasis on exploration without the need of combat, a game that by it’s nature will be different for each playthrough and over a hundred text based missions it certainly seems to bring something unique to the table
