Quite a few big and high-quality projects came out this year, like Elden Ring, God of War: Ragnarök, Stray and Horizon II: Forbidden West. But besides them, games were released without huge budgets and bright advertising, while they can still drag you out for many hours of enjoyable gameplay. In this text, we will talk about a few such projects that you might have missed this year.
signalis
A little gloomy game for the pre-New Year’s selection, but still. Signalis brings together the gameplay from the very first Resident Evil games, the mystique of Silent Hill, and the visual style of Blade Runner. You play as a replica – an android girl who has lost her commander and is desperately trying to find him. Your ship crashes on a snow-covered planet next to a mine, where some kind of devilry happened and many of the replicas turned into nightmarish monsters. And the deeper you dive into the infected complex, the more mysterious everything around becomes.
The gameplay of Signalis is closer to Resident Evil: you walk around the rooms, collect items, solve puzzles and open doors with different access cards and keys. Along the way, you find weapons to fight monsters, but ammo, as always in such cases, back to back. There are also only six slots for items, which means that you often have to either run to a room with a personal warehouse, or remember where an item is. But even despite this, Signalis draws you in with its style, atmosphere and mystery. The game is available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox via Game Pass.
Midnight Fight Express
It makes no sense to describe the plot of Midnight Fight Express, because it has almost no meaning. This game is about dynamic, fast and brutal fight “one against all”. You, like John Wick, scatter the enemies around you not only with your fists, but also with improvised items like bottles and chairs. There is also a firearm, but it comes across less often.
But Midnight Fight Express can rightfully be called a “modern beat ’em up” because you don’t just hit the enemy with a single button: your hero has a variety of choreography and moves that can be unlocked. And in general, the game focuses around a creative massacre – fast and accurate passage of levels is rewarded. And in terms of difficulty: if you have not mastered Sifu, then you can easily figure it out in Midnight Fight Express. The game is available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox via Game Pass.
Dome Keeper
The main idea of Dome Keeper looks as simple and banal as possible: you protect your dome from waves of enemies while simultaneously extracting resources from underground. But the authors of the game cleverly combined a variation of the ancient Missile Command and the more modern SteamWorld Dig, thanks to which a very sticky formula was born.
So, your dome base lands on the planet and is attacked by gradually increasing waves of enemies. You play as an astronaut with a jetpack, and your task is to drill underground and find a special artifact there, pulling it into the main dome, you finish the level. In the process, you collect special resources that unlock upgrades for your current outing. And since Dome Keeper is a rogue-lite, every time you arrive on the planet it randomizes – the location of bonuses, resources and improvements changes, making each run unique. When you complete a level, you will receive currency that you can spend on buying new weapons and a dome.
The main disadvantage of Dome Keeper is that the game has no plot or some kind of goal – after you go through several levels and open most of the weapons, interest in the process fades. But until this moment – the gameplay does not let go, and I want to try again and again. Dome Keeper is currently only available on PC.
Against the Storm
Another game that coolly mixed mechanics. Against the Storm is a mixture of economic simulation, real-time strategy, and all this with elements of rogue-lite. You have a global map divided into sectors. Each sector is a small, randomly generated map where you have to complete tasks to satisfy the queen’s requests. Managed to do everything – go to the next sector, did not have time – angered the queen and lost. Tasks usually involve collecting and crafting certain resources.
The core gameplay is a real-time strategy where you mine for resources, build houses and move deep into the mist-hidden forest. Initially, you do not know what awaits you on a particular lawn – useful resources or an evil monster. But in addition to building buildings, you need to monitor the condition of your inhabitants: each race has its own needs and characteristics. For example, lizards are great foragers but require work near sources of heat, and beavers are excellent lumberjacks and will not refuse a mug of ale. If living conditions are bad, then the inhabitants will leave your settlement, and this is minus the working hands. And despite the fact that Against the Storm was released in early access, it is still very addictive with its gameplay. The game is only available on PC.
Urbek City Builder
Another city-building game, but more relaxed. In Urbek City Builder you have to build a city, but not just riveting houses left and right, but pumping it, taking into account the conditions of each building. For example, to transform wooden village houses into a more modern suburb, amenities like a market or a hospital should be built nearby. Some areas require the absence of any buildings to improve – all this must be properly planned. Each building has conditions for progression and transformation into steeper areas that bring more resources. And if it seems to you that you understand everything and Urbek City Builder is too easy, then you can try playing on more challenging biomes, where resources will be limited. The only thing that remained a mystery: what does Urbek mean in the title of the game. Urbek City Builder is only available on PC.
Dorfromantik
Unusual relaxing puzzle city builder. You have a stack of randomly generated hexes with different biomes: houses, fields, forests, rivers and railroads. You are given them one at a time, and you collect a beautiful landscape from them, trying to connect the same edges. In general, everything is the whole gameplay. Sometimes hexes appear with tasks like connecting a number of flattering blocks, for the completion of which five hexes are added to the general deck. The more you can hold out, the more points you get, plus there is the opportunity to unlock new types of tiles. Dorfromantik is a very soothing and addictive puzzle game, and if you don’t like the restrictions, then there is a free mode where you can almost endlessly sculpt your map. The game is available on PC and Switch.
Ooblets
Another quiet game that combines Stardew Valley and Pokémon. You arrive on an island where you have a small piece of land. Naturally, you have to grow different plants on it and equip your house. The local town is filled with different residents with whom you can chat and build relationships. But the island is also filled with cute and funny animals – Ooblets. They can also be grown in the garden, and then pumped and fought. That’s just it will not be brutal fights to the death, but dance battles! Each ublet has its own abilities on the dance floor, which you activate with cards. And they can also choose all sorts of hats and glasses. In general, everything is very positive, friendly and sticky. The game is available on PC, Xbox and Switch.
PowerWash Simulator
Probably the most chill game in the collection. In PowerWash Simulator you need to wash items. It can be a car or a garden in the backyard and it seems that there is nothing interesting in this process – another “simulator of something out there”, of which there are a bunch. But the magic of PowerWash Simulator is in the process itself: the items to be washed are usually very dirty, just a thick layer. And you are operating not with a rag and a sponge, but with a powerful jet of a high-pressure apparatus.
It is difficult to put into words, but believe me, when a jet of water knocks off dirt and leaves behind a clean strip, under which the washed surface shines with paints, it brings incredible satisfaction. Naturally, the game is not limited to this: by completing tasks, you get money and buy new nozzles, more powerful sprayers and detergents that clean different surfaces faster. It’s amazing that a virtual car wash can bring so much peace and relaxation. The game was released on PC and Xbox, including Game Pass, and was also announced for PlayStation and Switch.
We remind you again that this is not a top, but just projects that definitely deserve your attention. And if there are any games that you remember this year, but few people know about them, then write in the comments. And as always, we wish you more interesting projects in the new year!