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I don’t want to alarm anyone, but we are more than halfway through August. I know. I’ll give you a moment to take that in. Because I have something else to tell you: Gamescom is next week. We’re already awash with indies, but you can bet there’s a river of gold coming our way. Before all that glitter dazzles our senses, I want to make sure you don’t miss out on these spectacular indies.
Warning: If you boot up Spiritstead, you will spend hours in it. The game is so hard to put down with a never-ending compulsion to complete building quests and upgrade your village. It doesn’t help at all that it’s one of the most beautiful games of the year, with a heartening and saturated illustration vibe. The music is also tailor-made to keep you playing.
In the opening, I discover that man and spirit used to live together, side by side. Then, for whatever reason, humans began to knock down the shrines vital to the spirits’ existences. Luckily, I’m here to bring them back. After setting up a few simple huts in a dense wood, first. These dwellings grant me workers who can cut timber or grow food I can later collect. These workers need neighbors to upgrade the village and grant more resources. The objectives come in very handy for this, as they not only point to what to do, but keep my trajectory well-governed and ambitions growing. It’s not long before I can open a portal to the spirit world. Helpfully, the first little guy to pop out is a resource collector, so I don’t have to continuously scan my workers’ progress.
That taken care of, I turn my attention to gaining more and more unusual, supernatural friends. Another series of goals appears telling me to build a chicken coop and then hold one over a nearby bonfire. Expecting a juicy dinner, I instead get a red-hot poultry poltergeist. My handy journal, which I can pull up at any time, now has new entry. It turns out, there is an entire list of spirits that feels rather like a challenge to catch ’em all. Undiscovered specters show up as a silhouette and there is an ability to earn hints as to how to encounter them. But I have to keep this in mind as my village spirals out of its original space, requiring me to buy out and clear more swathes of forested land. As the numbers go up, so too does the game’s hold on me.
How many times can ruin come to our family? As many times as it damn well pleases. Because I will never pass up the opportunity to jump back in to the Darkest Dungeon series. In this case, it’s back to the original because I have a DLC to explore. And no matter how many times I’ve seen this title’s glorious opening scene, I’ll never deny myself the pleasure of watching it again.
Though it pains me to contemplate, there may be those out there who have never played this indie classic. Now is an excellent time to right that wrong. And veteran players will find plenty of good reasons to jump back in right now as well. The original game plays like an exquisite tabletop adventure from hell. My ancestor has delved into eldritch secrets that would have been better left alone. His meddling has caused the devastating downfall of our once grand house, and he has sent for me to come close the gates of the titular darkest dungeon. In so doing, I will restore our noble lineage and lock evil away from the world.
So, easy little quest. Ten years after Darkest Dungeon’s initial launch, its DLC is shedding a little more light on this dark mission, but you know what they say about playing with fire. To carry on the torch through deadly halls, the team is raiding the abyss and bringing two characters from Red Hook’s second title, Darkest Dungeon 2. The Runaway, full of fire and fury, and the Duelist, a figure of finesse, can now join your party in the Darkest Dungeon hamlet. The city center is better for their coming, as you can now unlock an Academie Duello, Craftworks, and
Archaeological Base Camp. Plus there are just a ton of interest-sparking little moments written in along with the characters. I urge you not to miss out.
I’d be happy too if my best friend was a frog.
While that seems unlikely in the real world, I can still fill my life with cheer in Woodo — and you can too since there is a demo up right now. I’d understand if you want to wait just a little longer for the game to come out on September 16, though. However, I have gone a little deeper into the game before launch and it’s just so delightful.
My latest wood-studded diorama comes in the form of a country kitchen bathed in morning light and animated with a gentle breeze. I know the protagonist is a city-fox at heart, but who couldn’t stand enraptured a the love-worn floorboards and mouth-watering breakfast? Honestly. I know the game is made of wood, but putting together a fanciful cupcake, building an abundant tower of apples, and fixing up a plate filled to the brim with eggs and sausages while freshly baked bread sits just off to the side on a cutting board made me real hungry. This is an experience you should give to yourself when it launches, especially if you’re in need of a little bit of light. And who isn’t these days?
Finding Polka is the kind of weirdness I am HERE FOR. Already released in its full glory, the game appears to be a kind of hidden object experience with personality-laden ballpoint art. And it is, to a degree, but it is also so much more, which I was not expecting. We begin on on outing on a beautiful day with my two lovely dogs. Jazz (a cute little Dachshund that sticks to me like glue) sits nicely by me under a tree. Polka (a slightly portly and rambunctious French Bulldog), on the other hand, prances happily some ways away. As I approach him, he spots a butterfly and can’t stop himself flying after it. The little yellow insect runs off into the distance with my dog in tow.
My first instict was to feel sorry for the poor creature being chased, but, y’all, that stupid fluttering creature does not deserve any sympathy. In an instant, I awake in my bed — the whole thing had been a dream — and Jazz lies happily next to me. However, one look out my window shows me the yellow butterfly, taunting me. There is no dialogue here, but you just know that little sucker is egging me on, talking a big game about stealing my canine companion. So, I leap into action, grabbing my clothes and running out the door. Jazz, the very best of boys, sticks to my side wherever I go.
For the moment, we follow the butterfly through a bustling cityscape. This is a deeply impressive scene that feels much like a page of Where’s Waldo come to life replete with odd and interesting characters. I notice one guy getting a little too excited looking through a telescope and another dude hits me up for some kind of canned beverage. I could take huge chunks of time just scanning the crowds for interesting details and I’d be having a great time. However, I don’t get that luxury as the butterfly tries to flee.
Flapping through the chaos, it leads me to my target: Polka. But before I can grab him, he’s running off again (not before leaving me a present to clean up though). This is where the tone starts to…go places. The butterfly glides suspiciously into a tunnel that, moments before, wasn’t there. Or was it? Its narrow pathway is tinted in a color quickly approaching blood and the dark stretches far longer than it possibly could. Nearing an entrance, I spot an unsettling sight. The butterfly is caught, struggling with all its might, in a web it won’t escape. Serves him right, but maybe he’s not the only one. Who knows what lies beyond the mundane seeming portal before me? You could, if you went and picked up the game now.
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