New game releases.
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Shining Resonance Refrain is Now Available on Steam!
Play as Yuma Ilvern and stop the Empire from exploiting the power of the ancient dragons, including the soul of the Shining Dragon within you. With the help of your friends, realize your destiny, save Astoria, and unleash the strength you’ve always had locked away.
09 Jul 2018
There’s no time like the present to pick up the turn-based tactical robot shooter Steamworld Heist. It’s currently on sale in the App Store for 50 percent off, at £4.99/$4.99.
We’ve talked up Steamworld Heist here before, and that’s because it’s one of the most enjoyable XCOM spinoffs to emerge since Enemy Unknown showed up way back in 2012. Here, the action is side-scrolling 2D, but the turns play out just like XCOM’s – you control a party, and each one has two moves to spend each turn. You can move, take cover, perform an action, and fire as you move your steampunk robot crew through ships controlled by greedy raiders.
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Steamworld Heist’s biggest joy, however, is in pulling off trick shots that knock hats off your robot cowboy enemies (or pull your squadmates out of sticky situations). Instead of dice rolls, you do the aiming yourself, and you can arrange it so that bullets ricochet off ceilings and walls in order to hit targets behind cover. It’s all very charming and surprisingly deep, and you can read more in JP Marr’s four-star review.
You can find Steamworld Heist on the App Store.
Today we are rolling out a bunch of improvements in how we show you upcoming games on Steam.
In the past, the Steam homepage included an Upcoming tab that showed customers a complete list of everything that was coming to Steam. This was a pretty simple feature — it was literally just a chronological list of upcoming titles. It didn’t do anything to build a list of games suited to anyone’s interests and just wasn’t doing its job. Hundreds of new games are coming to Steam every month, but customers weren’t using this list to find new things to play. It was a feature that needed work.
Therefore, as of today the Upcoming tab will be a smarter, more tailored list called Popular Upcoming. This list will take into account the pre-release interest in a game — that is to say, data we gather through wishlists, pre-purchase, and a developer’s or publisher’s past titles. We believe Steam does a good job of taking early customer interest (even if that interest isn’t enormous) and helps a game amplify that interest through connection to quality customers. This smarter list on the front page aims to do just that.
Furthermore, when you click on “see more Upcoming Releases” at the bottom of that tab you’ll be taken to a dedicated Upcoming Releases page. This page will make suggestions based on your unique interests and show you what’s coming to Steam in a much more digestible format.
If you follow a developer or publisher with a new game coming out, the Upcoming Releases page will feature those games. If you’ve wishlisted a game, it will appear here as well. If you’ve shown Steam some of your interests, we’ll be taking that into account as you browse through games that are coming to Steam. Conversely, we won’t be populating this page with things you’ve willfully said you’re not interested in or with DLC for games you don’t own.
We also recognize that some of you do want to see the complete list of releases in one place — you don’t want us or our silly computers doing any work for you; you prefer a raw, unrefined deluge of new games. Well, on the Upcoming Releases page you can view a totally unfiltered list of everything that is coming to Steam, and while looking through that list you’ll know that as you add games to your wishlist or share them with friends, you’ll be helping Steam make it discoverable for everyone else.
We think these changes are going to help connect you towards games you’re excited about and make browsing all the new games coming to Steam a more enjoyable and productive experience. Making Steam more useful is never an exact science so we’ll be maintaining and adjusting these new features as more and more of you use them to find games you want to play.
Upcoming Games on Steam Q&A
Q: Can’t you replace this tab with something else? I have an idea about that, actually.
A: We spend a lot of time listening to customer feedback on improvements to the store, so please, let ’em fly. This change is in direct response to feedback and data from both customers and partners on the usefulness of Steam’s front page.
Q: I’m a developer and in the past I knew that my game would be in that unfiltered list on the front page, at least for a little while. Doesn’t this make my new game even harder to find?
A: We’ve spent a lot of time looking at data about how folks find and buy games and are certain that isn’t the case. The previous iteration of Upcoming was just too unfiltered for most customers to use it effectively. A piece of data for you: the old Upcoming list was only clicked on by less than half of one percent of customers whereas Top Sellers is clicked on by almost four percent. It’s clear to us that a brief (and sometimes very brief) spot on Steam’s front page isn’t useful if your game is shown to a random set of customers — what’s best for everyone is if your game is shown to the right customers, ones who have shown that they might like your game. If you’re building a great, entertaining product with a store page to match, these improvements will facilitate connections to those customers in a higher quality way.
Q:So let me get this straight, if me and all of my pals wishlist a game, we can help it get to the front page of Steam via the Popular Upcoming tab?
A: Yes but probably no. We spend a lot of time writing code and monitoring these systems so they aren’t manipulated. Now, if you love an upcoming game and wishlist it or even pre-purchase it and we identify that this is a natural trend across Steam’s diverse customer set, we will start suggesting it to other folks who may feel the same way.
Q: I have another question, you can’t predict me with your flimsy Q&A.
A: Please share it below and we’ll try to address it if it’s thoughtful and well-meaning.
Today we are rolling out a bunch of improvements in how we show you upcoming games on Steam.
In the past, the Steam homepage included an Upcoming tab that showed customers a complete list of everything that was coming to Steam. This was a pretty simple feature — it was literally just a chronological list of upcoming titles. It didn’t do anything to build a list of games suited to anyone’s interests and just wasn’t doing its job. Hundreds of new games are coming to Steam every month, but customers weren’t using this list to find new things to play. It was a feature that needed work.
Therefore, as of today the Upcoming tab will be a smarter, more tailored list called Popular Upcoming. This list will take into account the pre-release interest in a game — that is to say, data we gather through wishlists, pre-purchase, and a developer’s or publisher’s past titles. We believe Steam does a good job of taking early customer interest (even if that interest isn’t enormous) and helps a game amplify that interest through connection to quality customers. This smarter list on the front page aims to do just that.
Furthermore, when you click on “see more Upcoming Releases” at the bottom of that tab you’ll be taken to a dedicated Upcoming Releases page. This page will make suggestions based on your unique interests and show you what’s coming to Steam in a much more digestible format.
If you follow a developer or publisher with a new game coming out, the Upcoming Releases page will feature those games. If you’ve wishlisted a game, it will appear here as well. If you’ve shown Steam some of your interests, we’ll be taking that into account as you browse through games that are coming to Steam. Conversely, we won’t be populating this page with things you’ve willfully said you’re not interested in or with DLC for games you don’t own.
We also recognize that some of you do want to see the complete list of releases in one place — you don’t want us or our silly computers doing any work for you; you prefer a raw, unrefined deluge of new games. Well, on the Upcoming Releases page you can view a totally unfiltered list of everything that is coming to Steam, and while looking through that list you’ll know that as you add games to your wishlist or share them with friends, you’ll be helping Steam make it discoverable for everyone else.
We think these changes are going to help connect you towards games you’re excited about and make browsing all the new games coming to Steam a more enjoyable and productive experience. Making Steam more useful is never an exact science so we’ll be maintaining and adjusting these new features as more and more of you use them to find games you want to play.
Upcoming Games on Steam Q&A
Q: Can’t you replace this tab with something else? I have an idea about that, actually.
A: We spend a lot of time listening to customer feedback on improvements to the store, so please, let ’em fly. This change is in direct response to feedback and data from both customers and partners on the usefulness of Steam’s front page.
Q: I’m a developer and in the past I knew that my game would be in that unfiltered list on the front page, at least for a little while. Doesn’t this make my new game even harder to find?
A: We’ve spent a lot of time looking at data about how folks find and buy games and are certain that isn’t the case. The previous iteration of Upcoming was just too unfiltered for most customers to use it effectively. A piece of data for you: the old Upcoming list was only clicked on by less than half of one percent of customers whereas Top Sellers is clicked on by almost four percent. It’s clear to us that a brief (and sometimes very brief) spot on Steam’s front page isn’t useful if your game is shown to a random set of customers — what’s best for everyone is if your game is shown to the right customers, ones who have shown that they might like your game. If you’re building a great, entertaining product with a store page to match, these improvements will facilitate connections to those customers in a higher quality way.
Q: So let me get this straight, if me and all of my pals wishlist a game, we can help it get to the front page of Steam via the Popular Upcoming tab?
A: Yes but probably no. We spend a lot of time writing code and monitoring these systems so they aren’t manipulated. Now, if you love an upcoming game and wishlist it or even pre-purchase it and we identify that this is a natural trend across Steam’s diverse customer set, we will start suggesting it to other folks who may feel the same way.
Q: I have another question, you can’t predict me with your flimsy Q&A.
A: Please share it below and we’ll try to address it if it’s thoughtful and well-meaning.
Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. It’s a holiday week in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some good gaming options for you to peruse as you head into the weekend.
Excellent solo card game One Deck Dungeon keeps getting additional content. A recent update added a new hero, Witch, to the mix. The Witch is equally skilled mixing it up with weapons or magic and has an awesome heroic feat and starting skill to let you roll extra dice. This is on top of Caliana, a maxed-out-on-magic fairy, and Fanatic, an angelic smiter of all things evil, introduced in a prior update. We’ve also got access to a brand new dungeon, the Cinder Plains, where the Hellhound awaits. All three new characters are $1 via in-app purchase. New content or not, if you haven’t tried One Deck Dungeon and enjoy dungeon-delving, roguelike-style games I highly recommend it.
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Tim Fowers, maker of great tabletop games that eventually become great digital games, is at it again. This time Hardback has reached the digital world. Hardback is a prequel to his popular word game Paperback and features similar gameplay. You’re a 19th century writer trying to pay the bills. You do this by playing words from letter cards in your deck. Successfully doing so earns you coins with which you can purchase new cards to improve your deck, build better words, and earn even more coins so you can…well, you get the idea. There are special abilities to mix things up and you can draw more cards to press your luck. There’s single player, pass-and-play, and online asynchronous multiplayer. Hardback is largely the same game as Paperback, though there are several changes sprinkled in to make it feel a little more unique. Rather than buying victory points it’s a race to a set score and the ability to make any card wild could significantly alter your strategy. If you enjoyed the original, or word games in general, you can safely assume you’ll enjoy having Hardback on your mobile device.
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A combination puzzle/exploration game, Minaurs has you explore the galaxy to discover new worlds, gain new knowledge, acquire rare materials, and rescue other minaurs who proceeded you and became trapped. Your ultimate goal is to reunite all of the lost souls of the Minaur Nation, though there’s quite a bit of paths to lead to that end. There’s a wide variety of expeditions to undertake, quests to fulfill, challenges to best, advantages to obtain, failures to avoid, animals to find, stuff to loot, abilities to learn, and knowledge to acquire. Expeditions are all about coaxing your minaur to go where you want it to by sculpting the ground to limit options. You have to avoid hazards and accidentally trapping it in a very small area. It plays out a lot like an action puzzle. Success opens more options, including the discovery of new planets to explore. Minaurs may actually have too much going on, at least at first, and it’s kind of difficult to sort it all out, but there are definitely some cool ideas at work if you have patience for a learning curve.
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Demon’s Rise 2 by Wave Light Games was our RPG of the year back in 2016 and you can check out why in my four-star review. The original game is very nearly as good given all the love and updates it has gotten over the years. Both are on sale for a buck at the App Store and you should grab them if you’re a fan of tactical RPGs.
First sale for hostage-rescue sim Hostage Negotiator on mobile and it’s a big one, 75% off on both stores.
A tactical RPG in the same vein as the great Templar Battleforce, Heroes of Steel is also by the Terese Brothers and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.
Well before Fortnite, Epic Games had the Infinity Blade games on the App Store. Now, the old-school battlers are each just a buck.
The classic story of Ben Throttle and the Polecats was remastered and brought to iOS about a year ago. It’s three bucks off right now.
Rebuild 3 might be the best colony management and zombie survival game on mobile. You recruit, manage, and level up a team of survivors who must to do all the things needed to survive: grow food, scavenge supplies, kill zombies, and construct shelter. It’s normally $5.99 and is currently three bucks off. Get it.
The missing link Baldur’s Gate game, Siege of Dragonspear, takes place between Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II and just came out back in March. It features a 30-hour campaign that explores new regions of the Sword Coast, within the long running Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting. It’s normally $10 and is on sale for its lowest price yet on iOS.
World-building sandbox Pocket Build has a huge quality-of-life improvement this week, cloud saves so you can work on your creations on any iOS device. There are also a bevy of performance and graphical improvements along with some nice lighting changes.
The 2.5 update for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition has arrived and it includes over 500 changes thanks to the 2.5 Infinity Engine update. You can check out all of the updates here.
06 Jul 2018
What do we have here? It’s a prequel – a ‘pre-quill,’ as the promotional material puts it – to Paperback, the deck-building word game about becoming a famous novelist. Hardback is now out for Android and iOS devices, and it adds a few new twists on the original formula.
As Penelope Quill, great-grandmother to Paperback’s Paige Turner, you’re once again racing to achieve fame as a novelist. This time, however, you’ll be able to use any card as a wild by playing it face down. That means you’ll lose the benefit from playing the letter on its face, but it gives you extra flexibility when forming words. Another new mechanic is four literary ‘genres’ for cards, each with its own additional traits that provide additional strategic options.
Created by Fowers Games, Hardback’s art (again done by Ryan Goldsberry) is lovely and nails the 19th century aesthetic with charm. It’s going for £4.50 or $4.99 on the App Store and Google Play.
Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy is Now Available on Steam!
Your favorite marsupial, Crash Bandicoot™, is back! He’s enhanced, entranced and ready-to-dance with the N. Sane Trilogy. Relive all your favorite moments in Crash Bandicoot™, Crash Bandicoot™ 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Bandicoot™ 3: Warped, now in fully-remastered graphical glory!
Plus, play the first-ever NEW level built for the original trilogy’s gameplay in almost 20 years. Drawing inspiration from the cut “Waterfall Level” from the first Crash Bandicoot game, Future Tense features several puzzles from the original level set in the futuristic setting from Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped.
The Steam Intergalactic Summer Sale continues! For the next two days, take advantage of huge savings throughout our store on over ten thousand games. You can also help unlock free games by playing our Summer Saliens Game.
Today’s Featured Deals include:
RUST – 75% off
Slime Rancher – 40% off
Batman: The Enemy Within – 40% off
Total War Franchise – Up to 75% off
ARK: Survival Evolved – 67% off
Serious Sam Franchise – Up to 90% off
Hyper Light Drifter – 60% off
and many more!
Along with the sale is the Summer Saliens Game. Team up with other Saliens to fight The Duldrumz on different planets and free the abducted games. Gain XP as you battle, level up, unlock new abilities, and win cosmetic items to deck out your Salien. Plus, get Summer Sale Trading Cards just for playing.
Choose to battle on a planet that piques your interest and you’ll automatically be entered for a chance to win one of its rewards when it’s conquered. The longer your Salien spends on a planet the higher your chances of winning! The groups with the most tiles when a planet is taken will get to plant their flag as conquerors, undoubtedly gaining Saliverse-wide fame in the process.
The Steam Intergalactic Summer Sale will run until 10 AM Pacific, July 5th. Complete information can be found HERE.
05 Jul 2018
There’s some new DLC to pick up for One Deck Dungeon, the card-driven roguelike that popped up just back in June. A warm welcome to The Witch, a new magic-user who Handleabra says is a bit of a “jack of all trades.”
Witches usually get associated with damp places like swamps and bogs, but in the lore of One Deck Dungeon, they seem to be pyromaniacs who all study their trade in a volcanic city called Inanidec. Syvir, our new Witch, is supposed to be “more anarchic than Mages, and more chaotic than Alchemists,” and she excels in both spellcasting and melee combat.
The Witch DLC just launched July 4, and she joins two new characters, the Fanatic and a faerie called Caliana, and two new dungeons, the Phoenix Den and the Cinder Plains, in One Deck Dungeon’s DLC lineup. Each can be had for 99 cents US or your local equivalent.
If you haven’t tried this excellent conversion of the tabletop dice game yet, check out our five-star review.
