Core Reviews Archives

Sundered is the second release from indie studio Thunder Lotus, who we have met on several occasions over the years. Their previous game, Jotun, knocked our socks off with its extremely detailed visuals and giant boss combat. Does Sundered clear the bar that Thunder Lotus has set with Jotun? Read on to find out in our Sundered review!

Galaxy of Pen and Paper is the latest release from Brazil-based Behold Studios, makers of fine entertainment software like Knights of Pen and Paper and Chroma Squad. We first met Saulo Camarotti at SxSW a few years back, where he was showing off a beta build of Chroma Squad. Saulo graciously provided us a review key of GoPaP prior to release, and I've been zipping around the galaxy questing like a crazy person since. Find out what I learned in our Galaxy of Pen and Paper review!

You may recall that Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun took home our coveted "Best in Show Overall" award from SxSW Gaming 2017. Cons are a great place to get a quick demo of a game, and maybe a few impressions. Really, though, sinking your teeth into the full experience is the only way to truly know if a game is good or not. Luckily, with the console release of Shadow Tactics on the horizon, developers Mimimi Productions were nice enough to provide me with a review copy! Let's see if it lives up to my hype - read on for our Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun review!

After decades of cheesy "bad guy steals girl, good guy saves her" tropes in our video games, I think it's safe to say that we're in the mood for something... fresh. Nefarious dropped in our lap during PAX South, and it promises to finally break us out of our rut and poke fun at video game history along the way. It's tricky to spin a tired concept and find a fresh angle - does Nefarious manage to nail biting satire or go directly to jail? It's time to find out in my Nefarious review!

Inklings is a physics puzzler released this week by Applepine Games, and is the studio's debut game. It combines elements of physics puzzle games, Portal-style portals, and Lemmings inspired gameplay, with a few Incredible Machine twists to boot. It's bold and artistic, but is it good? Find out in my Inklings review!

Star Vikings is a sort of turn-based strategy game developed by Rogue Snail, a Brazilian studio helmed by Mark Venturelli. Mark has been active in Brazil's indie scene for several years, and worked on Relic Hunters as well as WOTS-favorite Chroma Squad. Star Vikings pits the titular spacefaring nordic heroes against a legion of relentless space-snails, with a mysterious artifact in the center of their conflict. It's billed as "casual," but just how casual are we talking? Find out in my Star Vikings review!

Burly Men at Sea is a charming, story-focused adventure game from the husband and wife team that calls themselves Brain&Brain. Inspired by Scandinavian folklore, Burly Men at Sea follows three bearded fishermen who find a magical map that leads them to great adventure.

Four Sided Fantasy is a puzzle platformer developed by Ludo Land, following a successful Kickstarter campaign back in May 2014. Two years and four months later, the game has been released on PC and PS4 with the help of our friends at Serenity Forge. The sent me a key last week to check out, and I'm happy to report this game is awesome! Find out why in our Four Sided Fantasy review.

tinyBuild has published quite a few games so far this year, and the latest in their unstoppable train of releases is this week's The Final Station, developed by Do My Best Games. The apocalypse is upon us once again, and it's up to a plucky train operator tasked with carrying mysterious cargo to save the day. Can he survive the zombie hordes and beat back the darkness? Or should we just leave this one for dead? Let's find out in my The Final Station review.

Recently I got a chance to check out Redactem - an indie puzzle platformer with rockets, gravity bending, and time rewinds. It was an interesting experience that I may have nightmares about, but I'm undecided as to whether that is a good or bad thing.