Oh joy, it’s another Nintendo Direct, full of games I don’t have much interest in. In the past I’ve done brief takes on every game in a Direct, but I feel like this time I’d be reduced to either saying the same thing about many of them that I’ve said before, or else be forced … Continue reading "Notes on Nintendo Direct 6/9/26"

Continuing our coverage of the best games from Steam NextFest October 2025 edition. 00:00 Intro00:16 Wall World 21:51 Lyara3:32 Neverawake: Flashback5:08 Umigari7:51 Sisyphus is a Bug9:32 Skate Story11:44 Odd Town12:51 Relic Abyss14:02 One Rotten Oath

A Future Games Show 2026 entrou no calendário da Summer Game Fest 2026 com uma vitrine cheia de trailers, demos, datas e anúncios para quem acompanha indies, jogos AA e projetos fora do eixo dos grandes blockbusters. A apresentação aconteceu neste sábado (06) e reuniu novidades em sequência rápida. Apresentado por Troy Baker e Alix Wilton Regan, o evento trouxe deep dives, demos liberadas,…

This is more coverage from Steam Next Fest 2025 October edition. (Previous posts are here: Part 1 and Part 2.) 00:00 Intro00:16 Aerial Knight’s Dropshot01:49 Super Pinball Adventure2:55 This isn’t Just Tower Defense4:33 FlippUp6:02 Fatal Claw7:14 Re-activated8:25 Tower Lords9:39 Legends of Dragaea11:20 Fantasy Idle Dungeon12:48 Slimeward

It’s another website, this one a review ‘zine of small indie games coming out of Japan. It has slowed down in its updates recently but still sometimes brings news of a pile of interesting things to learn about, and maybe someday to play. Japanese AAA gamedev is nearly as by-the-numbers and uninteresting as Western AAA … Continue reading "Indie Tsushin"

We’re in the age of Reddit-style message boards and ubiquitious wikis. Concerning those wikis, those of Fandom are a huge scourge, of questionable morality, making thousands of pitiful wikis with very little information in the hopes that some clueless passer-by with community spirit will contribute their work to the corporate fold, and this magnify further … Continue reading "Qudzoo"

Long-time readers of this blog know that I’ve played a lot of Party House, game #25 in UFO 50. I’m not the best player at it, I’ve heard there’s some with a random scenario win streak of over 130, but I have gotten up to 25. I wrote a strategy guide for it that’s one … Continue reading "The Results of 65 Games of Party House"

Part 2 of my (Josh Bycer’s) favorite demos from Steam Next Fest October 2025 edition. EDITOR’S NOTE: is that a certain bobcat we all know in the preview image?

This is the first part of my (Josh Bycer’s) collection of videos of my favorite demos from Steam Next Fest, October 2025.

The weekly indie game showcases highlight the many games we check out on the channel. Please reach out if you would like to submit a game for a future one. All games shown are either press keys, demos, or games from my own collection. 00:00 Intro00:14 Voin01:50 Dimensionals3:28 Cairn5:09 Claire A La Mode6:33 Epiphany City8:33 Shady Knight

For this interview, I (Josh Bycer) spoke with David Peters who is the designer of Disaster Arms and a lover of modern retro games to discuss the game, being inspired by Treasure, and what it’s like to make challenging action titles.

This is the recording of our Debut Devs Showcase stream, focusing on first-time indie devs and student projects. If you want to sign up for a future stream, here are the rules and sign-up page 00:00 Intro and The Last Empire28:44 Basket Bots50:27 Climb out of Hell1:25:20 King Static

Neal.Fun makes lots of great games and game–adjacent amusements. Every one is a winner, and Cursor Camp is just the latest of the lot. When you load the page it’ll inform you that the page wants to take over your cursor. Let it, but remember that you’ll have to press Esc(ape) to get it back. … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Cursor Camp"

There’s a good chance, even if you’ve been nursing as heavy a Balatro addiction as I have, that you not even know that there’s a cutthroat competitive Balatro tournament that’s been running for three seasons, or even competitive Balatro at all. Balatro Multiplayer (homepage, GitHub), a.k.a. “Balaatro,” is a mod for base Balatro that adds … Continue reading "Major League Balatro Season 3 Grand…

NANDgame is one of those puzzle games that’s really an educational game in disguise. By hooking up wires and relays, then logic gates, then larger pieces of basic computing hardware, you construct a basic processor from first principles, step by excruciating step. Of course, the difference between a puzzle game and an educational game is … Continue reading "Gamefinds: NANDgame"

This is a review of Freeride played with a press key provided by the developer.

I’ve said it more than once: what’s the use in having a blog if you don’t use it to tell people the things you like? Here’s what I’ve been enjoying lately on my Switch 2. These are store links, but we get no affiliate or advertising dollars from them, they’re provided just out of convenience. … Continue reading "Favorite Switch Games: April 2026"

Não esperava que Mouse: P.I. For Hire fosse me oferecer uma experiência tão incrível assim. Desde que ele foi lançado, minha expectativa era de que se tratasse de um jogo em um formato modesto, apesar de sua apresentação ter me impressionado bastante logo em seu anúncio, em maio de 2023. No geral, Mouse: P.I. For

The post Mouse: P.I. For Hire mistura noir, jazz e tiroteio em grande estilo…

For this episode of the perceptive podcast, I spoke with Jake Houston who is a solo developer working on his rhythmic RPG Game Over. We spoke about working on the game, RPG design and more.

Some time back, I don’t remember how long, I made a Metafilter post about Nickireda’s weird and fun mixup game Return to Castle Monkey Ball, free on itch.io. In a place like Metafilter, it’s not always obvious what will work and what won’t. Presentation matters for a whole lot, and there is also a random … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Return to Castle Monkey Ball"

Get Info made a substantial post on a couple of significant pieces of Japanese gaming ephemera, a four hour long program that aired overnight on March 14, 1987 that was basically 100 segments on a variety of games (and other things really), and a book that was released later that was an encyclopedia of gaming … Continue reading "Get Info on TV’s TV and TV Games Encyclopedia"

Another one, so soon! I feel like I should post these as I find out about them, or else they’ll fade in memory, and in importance. I want to get them out to you immediately, while the bytes are hot. Yet also, with this one, I sort of want you to discover what it’s about, … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Trees Hate You"

One of the best puzzle games out there is Noumenon Games’ colorful, fun, and challenging Snakebird, its easier sequel Snakebird Primer, and their combined version on Switch Snakebird Complete. But even Snakebird Complete costs $15. What if you just want to dip your toe in and find out why the snakebirds are the snakeword(s)? Try … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Snekburd"

There are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of quirky little games and things on itch.io. Lots of them are worthless, some are mere cash-ins, and a few are really nice, but good luck finding them with the towering piles of meh blocking view of the horizon, or indeed anything else. So it’s nice when … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Conservation of Bass"

MARCHintosh is almost over, so here’s a short doc (13 minutes) on one of the most misunderstood games for pre-OS/X Macs, Dark Castle. Why is it misunderstood? Because it received several ports to other platforms around the time it was popular, they all lacked the special something of the original game, and in more recent … Continue reading "Classic Mac Gaming’s History of Dark Castle"

Please reach out if you would like to submit a game for a future Showcase. All games shown are either press keys, demos, or games from Josh Bycer’s own collection. 00:00 Intro00:14 Windswept1:32 Sacre Bleu2:45 Stand Alone EP.O4:09 Nairi Rising Tide5:29 Boyce the Voice6:25 Poradora vs. Monsters of the World

Expedition Sasquatch is a homebrew Gameboy Color rom that can be played on itch.io in your browser for free, or you can pay five bucks to download the rom image to support the makers and play it wherever you like. It’s a short game that’s like Pokemon but without the battling. You go out and … Continue reading "Gamefinds: Expedition Sasquatch"

This is a video review of Cultic Chapter 2 played with a press key.

This is a review of Beyond Sunset played with a press key.

Less a game than a puzzle, and not so much runnable software than a website, enclose.horse is a very nice thing to spend a few minutes of your day, each day, on. Every puzzle is a map of a field, with an arrangement of lakes and a horse somewhere in it. You have a number … Continue reading "Gamefinds: enclose.horse"