Author: Sally Mettson

Described as an “arcade ball acrobatics game”, Acroball, from indie game developer Funcraft Games, will be released on the iOS App Store April 26th for both iPhone and iPad.

Acroball – Flashy Neon Looks

While it looks incredibly simple, it must be said that there’s no telling what will take off on the App Store these days. In fact, the title has that combination of simple, yet addictive gameplay that could prove to be very popular with gamers on the go:

The arcade game features “flashy” neon looks and, according to the developer, ‘deep’ gameplay mechanics. You have to juggle the ball by moving and rotating the level – without dropping it. The ball must, naturally, hit all of the lines to win.

I look forward to trying it out on my tedious morning commute, then! Acroball will set you back $1.99, or in the UK, around £1.40. Although knowing how prices translate over here, that’ll be £2 please.

Indie dev Evocat Games has revealed that Nemesis Realms, the sequel to Nemesis Perspective, is stepping out from Steam Early Access into a full launch for PC and VR.

Nemesis Realms – Forget Being Isolated in VR

Nemesis Realms aims to reinvent the local multiplayer experience by pitting a team of heroes, playing on PC, against a boss, controlled by a player in VR on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or Windows Mixed Reality. Sounds pretty cool, right?

“It brings out the multiplayer party side of the seemingly isolated VR experience,” said Leevi Pääkkönen, CEO of Evocat Games.

“Coming out of Early Access the game is more optimized and polished, and gives players an additional action-packed stage. Based on community feedback during Early Access, we’ve also added in a pool of custom variables and power-ups so players can scale the scope and length of their battles the way they want.”

Nemesis Realms takes players through different environments, with different gameplay mechanics, where they can use custom variables and power-ups to strategically swing the battle in their favour:

The first environment, for example, transports players to a fantasy mountaintop with a lake and waterfalls. Using straightforward VR mechanics, the boss must punch and smack the heroes swarming around from every angle, while they hack and slash back at it.

You can pick up Nemesis Realms on Steam right now for £7.19.

Supposedly Wonderful Future is a sci-fi narrative game created by one person, in four years, with zero budget. If you believe those sort of constraints are the key to true creativity, read on.

Supposedly Wonderful Future – A Dark Path

Supposedly Wonderful Future was born out of a fascination the developer had with video games as a storytelling medium. It’s a project with a singular focus: to tell a ‘meaningful, thought-provoking, and emotional story’.

A cross between a point and click adventure, a text-heavy RPG, and a visual novel, SWF sees a young man invited to skip his own death by relocating to the year 2048. The catch? He has to complete some work for the world’s biggest corporation first. And we’re guessing they’re corrupt… It wouldn’t be a leap of the imagination now would it:

Here’s everything the game has to offer, with some pretty amusing features from the developer:

• Supposedly Wonderful Future contains a word count of around 125,000. The estimated play time is 4 to 8 hours.
• There are 5 chapters and a prologue.
• It has UI customization options to keep the text as readable as possible.
• Modest system requirements (a decade-old PC should do).
• There are enough jokes to forget about the daily horrors of the human condition. For a bit. Maybe.
• There are some choices, but they don’t really matter. Or do they?

If that sounds like your type of thing, you can pick it up from the 18th April on PC, via Steam, for $9.99 – around £7.

With The Council, indie studio Big Bad Wolf had the ambition to offer something new, something fresh to the narrative adventure genre. That’s something we like to hear at Nitchigamer.

Episode 1 Out Now – PS4, Xbox One And PC

Released earlier this week on March 13th, the first episode of the story-laden game has received a warm welcome:

It begins in 1793, with you taking on the role of secret society member Louis de Richet after his invitation to a private island off the shores of England – from the enigmatic Lord Mortimer.

The Council promises to have a deep and ‘captivating’ story, featuring intricate characters and smart writing. The developer hopes the title will push the narrative adventure genre beyond its boundaries with meaningful choices and impactful consequences. Make a decision and you truly have to live with it, that’s the core idea anyway.

The first episode of The Council, The Mad Ones, is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC. If you’re as intrigued as I am, then you may just have the weekend plans sorted.

It’s worth noting that the full season comprises five episodes to be released across 2018 – the release dates for these will be announced at a later date.

With so many games being released on a weekly basis these days it can be hard (see impossible) to keep track of them all. On that note, INSIDIA may have been one you missed last week.

The Launch Of INSIDIA

INSIDIA is an online, turn-based strategy game from Italian indie dev Bad Seed and it’s out on Steam now. After six months of development in Early Access, the release rounds off months of dialogue between the team and the INSIDIA community, who provided their feedback and, excitingly, shaped the final game.

Here’s the release ‘trailer’ – if you can call it that:

There are also a few updates to the official release of the game, including:

• A definitive version of Coma, the game’s newest Champion
• An in-game news system
• New skins and poses
• The all-new Wastelander’s Pack

Bad Seed‘s CEO, Jacopo Musso, had this to say:

“INSIDIA is a rare type of strategy game in which we’ve managed to marry tactical depth and extremely fast-paced battles, and provide our players a quick and thrilling experience.

“INSIDIA features a unique combat system based on simultaneous turns and a flexible combo system. With a simple order, given within a handful of seconds, all the heroes on a team can join forces to create spectacular results!”

INSIDIA will feature regular tournaments on FaceIT, a platform for online competitions with over 10 million users – there are even prizes for those who are able to rise to the top. Sweet!

The spectacularly named Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st], a fighting game published by the talented Arc System Works, is out today.

The Missing Link: Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st]

Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] is developed by French Bread, the creators of Melty Blood, a classic fighting game that’s been a staple of Japanese arcades for years, and is often considered the missing link between traditional 2D fighter gameplay and the over-the-top madness of anime fighters:

Taking place in a fictional modern-day Japan, the game presents a world to us where a mysterious event called ‘Hollow Night’ occurs and spreads terror on a monthly basis.

“Encounter shadowy organizations who have their own plans regarding the mysterious events.”

During the Hollow Night, shadowy creatures called ‘Voids’ appear and attack innocent people from the shadows. Survivors of these attacks sometimes develop special abilities and become known as an ‘In-Birth’.

If that sounds of interest, you can pick up Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and even PlayStation Vita right now.

Wild Buster: Heroes of Titan, from developer Nuriworks, is free this weekend on Steam – the 26th to the 28th of January.

Wild Buster: Heroes of Titan: Hack ‘n’ Slash Mayhem

Wild Buster itself is a sci-fi action MMOARPG (massively multiplayer online action roleplaying game, categorised enough?) with fast-paced hack and slash combat. It requires strategic teamwork, the clever use of special abilities and an appreciation for over-the-top weaponry!

What’s more, Jon St. John, the voice behind Duke Nukem, has teamed up with Insel Games. Duke, alongside Serious Sam, is one of the thirteen playable heroes:

And here’s Sam looking sort of serious, as you’d expect:

In addition, Insel Games is offering a 33% discount on the “Founder Edition” of the game. Nothing planned this weekend? Wild Buster: Heroes of Titan is available on Steam now…