Renaissance buffoonery, insect uprising, and a look at history

The best games to forget the darkness in the world this weekend.

What a week, huh? Chances are no matter where you reside in the world, the mental stress of the US election has probably caused you some kind of anxiety. I may not be American, but I did live there for a stint, so I have many friends who are definitely hurting right now. From my own standpoint, the US dollar surge is making paying off my loans slightly harder. From realizing the current state of the world? That’s a topic I really cannot bear to face right now.

So my advice this week is to connect with your local community. Friends. Family. Gaming buddies. Sporting clubs. Whatever your “thing” is, make some time to remind yourself that you have a support network, and that together as people, you are bigger than any kind of overarching power struggles that are going on. Even if it is just for a weekend, I think we have all earned the right to check out and remember what it is like to be “happy” humans for a spell.

Speaking of great communities, you should join our Discord server. I don’t promote it enough, but we are an international gang of gamers, developers, and generally nice people. You could join us, and help us collect the nicest group of people on the internet.

Anyways, here are a bunch of a cool indies that can help you check out and have some fun this weekend.

What came out this week?

Death of the Reprobate

Developer: Joe Richardson
Steam rating: Positive
Store page

Ok, so r/trippinthroughtime is a guilty pleasure of mine, so to see something as unhinged as that in video game form fills me with so much joy. Death of the Reprobate is a period-piece point-and-click adventure game that is made up of real renaissance artworks spanning hundreds of years. As the last heir of Immortal John, who is actually dying, you are standing by to deal with the fallout. You will furiously point and click your way through this ridiculous world, and enjoy being a “nice lad”. What kind of things will you be doing? The Steam description suggests that there is a lady submerged neck-deep in a tiny pond, so I guess you know… normal stuff?!

If Pentiment from Obsidian is a history lesson, Death of the Reprobate is more along The Life Of Brian end of the scale. A tale inspired by history, filled with silliness. Absolutely going on my list this week.

Empire of the Ants

Developer: Tower Five
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page

RTS fans might want to put this one on their radar, because Empire of Ants looks to be a really interesting take on the genre. Instead of tiny little space marines or World War II soldiers, this game has you building up battalions of Ants and other garden buggos to wage war against the establishment. What’s even wilder is that there is a 20 hour solo campaign that tells a story of an ant warrior who is looking to explore the Federation and fight for it. And apparently it is based on a book?

Alongside the lengthy campaign, it also features a 1v1 competitive mode which I hope spawns some kind of hardcore audience that takes over Twitch, just because that would be truly fascinating. Interesting game that looks absolutely incredible, shame that I hate creepy crawlies, but I’m sure many of you out there would be willing to give it a look.

Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!

Developer: The Wild Gentlemen
Steam rating: N/A
Store page

I am a sucker for a good noir story (anyone a fan of Sugar here? Seriously, go watch it and get back to me around episode 6), but we don’t seem to get too many in the gaming space. Sure we have Max Payne, and I even had the chance to work a little on Genesis Noir, but it feels like a fairly underserved genre. Chicken Police was one of those cult successes a few years ago, and now they are back with a sequel that looks to be the ticket.

Sticking with the insect theme, detectives Sonny and Marty are on the biggest case of their lives, which will see them dive into the insect underworld and come up against their shadowy pasts.

There is no Steam ratings right now as it just dropped, but the few reviews on the page seem to indicate that it is more of what the original game served up, but with some deeper aspects which they appreciated. So if you want to drink some whisky and solve some crimes, add this one to your wishlist.

Sengoku Dynasty

Developer: Superkami
Steam rating: Mostly Positive
Store page

Ahh, it seems that we have entered into the “let’s make a city builder for every setting” cycle. Manor Lords kicked up a whirlwind earlier this year, Against the Storm brought some Roguelike elements to the mix, and this week Sengoku Dynasty is bringing in Japanese history to the field.

It’s exactly what you would expect, build up a settlement and start a dynasty in medieval Japan. You can decide if you want to create an economic powerhouse, or drive your village to war. Want to be a monk? Sure! How about a Craftsman? No worries.

The selling points here are that it takes place in Japan, it has great visuals, and you can play solo or up to 4-players together. It looks pretty decent, but it also looks like 93274983274 other builders out there. But if you love the setting, then here you go!

Enshrouded: Souls of the Frozen Frontier (Early Access)

Developer: Keen Games GmbH
Steam rating: Very Positive
Store page

OK, so technically this is a major update for an Early Access game, but it is a major update that put this game on my radar, so I wanted to share it with you. Enshrouded has been a smash hit (that I somehow missed) delivering it’s brand of co-op survival Action RPG gameplay to over 3 million players this year. Think Valheim but much prettier and with a much stronger focus on combat, and I think you might be there.

Well this week the team has rolled out a massive update that brings in entirely new biomes, crafting materials, dungeons, raids, and gear. By the sounds of it this is perhaps the most significant content drop for the game to date, and the community is extremely excited.

Which is how it came across to me. I really like the community aspects of these games, but I lack the creativity and drive to just build stuff. I am not great at that. Enshrouded looks to have some really decent combat and exploration elements that perhaps will give me the depth and excitement that I personally am looking for, but still some of that sandbox to explore with friends. Perhaps the sweet spot if you will.

The game is on discount right now to celebrate so perhaps grab a few friends, or even jump in our Discord and get some builds going.

Amazon Prime Gaming is dropping fire after new GOG partnership

I never really pay attention to my Amazon Prime membership. I rarely watch people on Twitch, and I basically have it as a perk for our household Prime membership because getting things delivered in Japan is convenient based on where I live. But lately the service has partnered with GOG, and ever since they have been dropping a tonne of amazing games that I feel a lot of people will be sleeping on.

Some of my highlights from my checks this week:

• Guardian's of the Galaxy (Epic)
• DOOM Eternal (Windows Store)
• Stray Gods (GOG)
• Cursed to Golf (GOG)
• Death's Door (Epic)
• Mafia: Definitive Edition (GOG)
• Killing Floor 2 (Epic)
• Monster Train (GOG)
• Greedfall Gold Edition (GOG)

Anyways if you happen to have Prime, or perhaps see a group of games on the list you would like to get, might be worth signing up just for a month to snag them all. You can see the page here.

MinnMax dig up rare Game Informer footage circa 2003

This week the folks over at MinnMax released some absolutely classic footage of the goings on at Game Informer during on the most interesting times in modern gaming. The story is that Dan Ryckert (formerly Game Informer, currently Giant Bomb) was working at GameStop at the time, convinced them that he could shoot a commercial, so he flew out and got a bunch of footage. The MinnMax crew worked with him to release the footage, and it is a great look at such a classic time for the industry and games media.

This clip is the commerical that Ryckert shot, but those who back MinnMax’s Patreon at the $10 a month tier can see the entire scope of footage and behind-the-scenes that he captured, which is an absolute treat.

I was lucky enough to write for Game Informer Australia for a year or so, and always dreamed of seeing what was going on at the US office, so this was a particularly cool thing for me. I also really love the content that MinnMax has been shipping out, and I feel that they don’t get enough love in my circles. So please at least subscribe to their YouTube or Podcast, both are really valuable resources.

Help us grow a little!

That’s another dispatch for the week. If you like the newsletter, please share it with a friend or three. If you really want to help us out, please consider a donation to our Ko-Fi page to help with server costs, and to purchase new games for content.

But also help us grow the community. Come join our Discord server, we really want to get that up and running filled with fun folks. I promise it will be a good time.

And as always, please take care of yourself, especially this week. I’ll talk to you soon.