Tag: Software

The Romans have an insatiable need for stone. Even while the city has too much wood to actually use and five charcoal makers running at all times, the quarries are struggling to extract enough humble stone for all my needs. The people really want more baths, which means more reservoirs, which in turn requires an expansion of the aqueduct system. While my building material reserves replenish, I decided to focus on wine production, planting more vines, and building another winery. I already have enough for my population, even if the now-empty apartment buildings get filled with newcomers. But I want an extra 100 to deliver a sacrifice to Neptune and sell for a decent pile of gold. Nova Roma is developed by Lion Shield and published by Hooded Horse. I played a preview version of the game on the PC via Steam. The title mixes classic city building with some light survival elements. The story setup is light on history, high on abstraction. Rome has been in decline, and o...

Becastled has been one of those games that used early access rightfully, it entered that state years ago, and it continued getting more and more updates until it finally released late October this year. The question is, does Becastled manage to surpass city building/survival games like Banished or not? Let’s find out. At its core, Becastled has a very simple premise. You have to build your castle during the day and then during the night you have to fend off the attackers. Naturally, the more you play, the more challenging the attackers you become. That’s why you need to accumulate as many resources as you can, build new buildings and grow your castle as much as possible. Upon playing this game, the most important thing for me was to expand the city, while keeping it safe. The city building experience is similar to the aforementioned Banished, but also Stronghold, especially since it has great medieval music. The fact that you need to have a running economy along wi...

The duck warriors are starting to get annoying. They insist on lobbying arrows my way, safe because my spell attacks can really reach them. So, after some exploration of their lands that involves a mysterious conversation with a masked character, I decide to return to the peanut lands and find a way to get further into the ruins. I’ve taken down one boss so far, after three tries, and I don’t feel ready for another. As Blue is running around, zapping enemies, and dodging attacks, I want to get more magic currency. This, in turn, will allow me to trade for a powerful item. It would also be nice if my hero could pick up another spell, and maybe a way to launch more attacks before his mana reserves drain. Scrabdackle is developed by jakefriend, with publishing handled by Fellow Traveller and jakefriend. The game is in Early Access on Steam at the moment. The title delivers an innovative take on 2D action adventure, with some Souls-like elements. The story starts insi...

Moonlighter was one my favorite indie games when it came out, because it brought a unique blend of owning a shop and acquiring items in combat. Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault manages to take that to the next level, with a great roguelike spin that helps revitalize the series. You get to enjoy a stunning world with various combat styles, great visuals and, of course, tons and tons of loot. Although the game is in early access, the premise is that you eventually have your own shop, and you need to run it, but also find the items to sell in it. And that’s where the adventuring part comes into play. You will enter different dimensions, each with their own different paths through which you can take. Those can either take you to enemies, a shop, bosses and so on, so you get to carve your path towards the end of a very large level. Each one of those smaller levels has different enemies, for the most part, and you have to eliminate them in order to move forward. There ar...

As someone who enjoys playing ARPGs and who is a huge fan of the Gothic series, I was excited to see Of Ash and Steel being announced. Not only was this touted as a modern version of that series, but it also wanted to bring some great, new ideas into the mix. And all of that sounded amazing, but did Of Ash and Steel manage to deliver? I would say they managed to do so, more or less, although this is not a perfect package. The story within the game is actually quite fun, since you are a cartographer who needs to chart Grayshaft along with a team. But due to unfortunate events happening at sea, you, Tristan, are the only one left alive. That means you need to start exploring the island, complete your mission, while also helping locals. And, naturally, that also validates the reason why we don’t have a map in the game. There are 3 difficulty levels in the game, but I think that the lack of a proper map makes the game quite difficult to begin with. It’s a double-edged ...

The Nazis have a lot of tanks. And enough air assets to strike at artillery and tanks, even when I use all my fighters to protect them. The better approach might be to gang up on individual fighters to take them down, even if that leads to a slowed operation pace and more prestige spent on replacements. The bigger problem is that I’ve spread my forces thin on too many fronts, making it harder to punch through German defensive lines. A KV-1 can take down a Panzer IV, especially one softened by an airstrike. But taking ground is difficult when the German armor can retreat behind infantry supported by anti-tank guns, reinforce, and then strike back at a weakened armored spearhead. It might be a good idea to restart the battle, placing all my best units in one group for rapid advance while the others just keep the enemy engaged. Panzer Corps 2: Elite - 1st Guards is developed by Flashback Games and published by Slitherine Ltd. This downloadable content pack focuses on ...

Tormented Souls 2 tries to build upon the predecessor who on its own was a decent indie venture in the Resident Evil genre. And while the game itself picks up from the previous one, it definitely works well as a standalone experience. You can watch a quick recap of the previous game, and you will be good to go. I find that great, because it adds a unique approach to gameplay, while still being very engaging and fun to play. You play as Caroline, and your sister Anna goes missing without you knowing what happened. You will go into different places searching for clues, ranging from a school to the cemetery, sewers and processing plants, among others. I like that Tormented Souls 2 manages to add some new locations into the mix, and it definitely tests your abilities every chance it has. And that’s because they are bringing a unique array of ideas here, especially when it comes to puzzles. There are a lot of those actually, and the game certainly doesn’t shy away from ...

The sequel to Outward, one of the most polarizing action RPGs, is just around the corner. Developer Nine Dots plans to release Outward 2 in early access sometime next year, but fans of the series will be happy to know that an alpha version will be playable this month. Outward 2, just like the original game, is very different than most of the popular RPGs out there because it offers a grounded adventure rather than a fantasy experience. You play as a regular person doing mundane things, at least until something bad happens and you’re forced to leave one of the game’s main cities. In the alpha version of the game that I recently played there’s a lot of lore to discover as soon as the intro cutscene ends. Although nothing is voiced in this particular build, the game will be fully voiced. Outward 2 is one of those games that won’t hold your hand, so you’ll have to figure out what your next step should be. There’s a lot of detective work involved at the beginning of the game,

Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is a game where our favorite Nicktoons characters like Jimmy Neutron, SpongeBob, Timmy Turner or Katara are playing an off-brand Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but it’s becoming too easy. Timmy Turner goes to his parents to help him, and his friends play such a campaign for real. You have all these great characters in a top-down ARPG where the stakes couldn’t be any higher. It’s nice to see that Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is an action RPG, but it’s not as complex as something like Path of Exile or Diablo. I would say it’s more of a child-friendly version of those games. It certainly has skill trees and items you can find as you play, but it’s not very deep. I like the fact that you can play as 9 different characters, and each one of them has their own attack, skillset and weapons that fit their play style. You will have a party of 3 characters, and what I like is that everyone shares XP, so even if you favor playing SpongeBob a

Capping munition and fuel nodes at the start of a match is more important than going for victory points. It makes it easier to bring in squads and absorb some losses. To make things easier during the early game, I chose the Polish Cavalry battlegroup for my British force, enabling a squad to get Vengeance for 50 munitions. The 25% attack speed boost allows them to hold off, from some nice green cover, two enemy squads at once, while I use my engineers to flank and eliminate one. I also call on some Polish Lancers that give me even more anti-infantry punch, and I decide to go after one victory point to make sure my deficit does not grow too fast. If the Wehrmacht shifts to armor quickly, I can use one upgrade point for Tulip rockets, and if the tank problem continues to grow, a three-aircraft strike can be very useful if they congregate in one area. Firing all these cool abilities depends on having a solid munition supply, something I’m failing at, with 4 out of 6 a...