Tunche, from LEAP Game Studios, is a beat 'em up with roguelike elements that allows for 4P cooperative play. The game is based on a Peruvian legend about a shapeless creature called Tunche that confronts people with their inner selves, leaving the weak to die. A group of explorers are on the hunt for Tunche, searching for it in the Amazon rainforest and using a combination of melee combat and shaman magic to combat enemies and bosses. The game has an illustrative aesthetic, offering hand-drawn characters, animations, and backgrounds.
The game is planned for release on PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One, and it's arriving later this year. If you want to get a taste of the combat, you can check out Tunche: Arena, which is available for free on Steam.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Dark Raider, from the curiously-named Unreal Dark Stud (game tweets), is a hack-and-slash actioner set within procedurally generated dungeons. It is the time of the apocalypse and mankind must now face its vengeful gods, except each group of people has its own religion and its own gods... and they're all attacking at once. Still, hope remains in the form of monster-filled dungeons. For each dungeon that is overcome, humanity will be granted one additional day of life, and perhaps even earn its redemption altogether. The game features three playable characters - a warrior, a mage, and a barbarian - each with his or her own unique moveset. The warrior attacks quickly with a sword, the mage uses projectiles and up-close magic blasts, and the barbarian uses a slow but powerful hammer, and he can absorb more damage. Characters can perform combos, dash, and counterattack, and they can each be upgraded unlock new abilities and more powerful attacks.
Kunai, from TurtleBlaze, is a ninja-based metroidvania starring a character that's sure to get the game featured on Tiny Cartridge. You play as a robot ninja (inhabited by the soul of an ancient warrior, as these things happen) on a quest to destroy an artificial intelligence that has brought humanity to the brink of destruction. Action remains fast and furious as you slice up bad robots - and meet good ones - across cities, deserts, and airships. As you play, you unlock new weapons and abilities, including a katana that lets you kill enemies, slice bullets out of the air, and deflect missiles, along with a kunai-driven grappling hook that lets you swing around and cling to the ceiling, and twin Uzis that let you mow down rampaging androids and other no-good machines.
The game is coming to PC and Switch on February 6.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Yacht Club Games released Shovel Knight to much acclaim in 2014, and since that time, the studio has continued to put out expansions offering new playable characters and additional game modes... to the point where the already-substantial original game is just a small part of the whole package, now collected into Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. The latest expansion, King of Cards, stars King Knight on a quest to become the king... of Joustus, a popular new card game that has taken the land by storm. Players may opt to engage in card playing, or forego this altogether to focus on the action, battling baddies and bosses across a huge number of bite-sized levels. King Knight uses a shoulder bash to strike enemies, which causes him to pop into the air and do a pirouette, which can be used to attack enemies, break blocks, and reach new areas, and he also earns supplemental special abilities by completing challenge levels.
The game is now available as a standalone download on some platforms, or as part of Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove on PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, GOG, and Humble Store, PS4 via PSN, PS3 via PSN, Vita via PSN, Switch via eShop, 3DS via eShop, Wii U via eShop, and Xbox One via Microsoft Store.
Check our coverage of King of Cardshere. Check our coverage of Shovel Knight Treasure Trovehere.
Rune Fencer Illyia, from Nootbox Games, is an action-platformer starring the titular redheaded heroine as she traverses a lovely yet treacherous landscape packed with enemies, and the occasional friend. She had been travelling on an airship with her sister, Lilly, but the airship crashed and her sister is missing. As the title suggests, Illyia deals with her foes through swordplay, and as a "runist", she is also able to make use of runic magic to add to her offensive repertoire. Her powers also assist her in environmental exploration, as she is able to stop time, bash through solid objects, and even run across the ceiling. The game offers an open world to explore, and secret areas to discover, along with numerous enemy types and huge bosses.
The game is coming to PC later this year.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Biomass, from finalscenedev, is an action RPG set in a world where the last remnants of humanity reside within a trio of towers that jut up from endlessly-flowing floodwaters, and a lighthouse standing over it all. You are able to explore the sinking city and encounter the various factions of folk who live in the towers, choosing to align with them, fight against them, or remain a lone wolf... You take on human enemies and biomechanical monstrosities using your choice of beam sabers or guns, and you acquire items and equipment that affect your stats, or enable new abilities such as stealth movement. And yes, your beam sabers can slice bullets out of the sky, as they should.
The game is coming to PC on February 25. A demo is available on Itch.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Creature Keeper, from Fervir, is a colorful action-RPG set in a land where a sickness is spreading, causing creatures to go mad and begin attacking each other and the nearby townsfolk. As in many classic action-RPG's, you take on the role of an adventurer who finds himself pulled into a grand quest. As it turns out, the legends of a lone hero saving the world are true, and you gain the ability to communicate with wild creatures, eventually raising them and having them join you in combat. You can increase their skills through training, crafting, and cooking food from your garden (that occupies a limited space inside your pocket), and you gain new abilities and stat boosts by studying the creatures you encounter. There's a heavy focus on the action side of things, as you dive into fast-paced combat, slashing enemies with various melee weapons, shooting them with your bow and arrows, whacking them with your boomerang, or bashing them with your shield.
The game is coming to PC, Mac, and Linux and is expected to release in March of 2021. A demo is available on Itch.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Wunderling, from Retroid, is a colorful platformer where you don't play the hero... instead, you control a henchman of the game's boss, and it's your job to stop the hero. You play as the titular Wunderling who has only recently learned the ability to jump, but he's a constantly-patrolling enemy, so he can't stop moving. He just keeps walking back and forth, and it's up to you to use his jumping ability to hop across gaps, avoid obstacles, and grab keys as you work your way through a dangerous spike-filled world. Along the way, you earn new boosting and wall jumping abilities to make you more agile as you try to catch up to the hero and destroy him.
The game is coming to PC and Switch in early 2020.
To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our Master List.
Akumanor Escape DX, by Michirin, is an expanded follow-up to Akumanor Escape, which was released as part of a GameBoy game jam. The DX version is in line with GBC specs, offering a limited color palette and an authentic chiptune score, while also expanding the game to include new levels, obstacles, and enemy types. Taking its inspirations from Castlevania and other gothic horror games, you take on the role of a girl who must escape a haunted castle, fighting bats, ghosts, skeletons and other enemies along the way, as well as several boss creatures. The game focuses primarily on platforming, as the player must search the castle for keys that open the way forward, with most keys found off the beaten path or in hidden areas, allowing for some nonlinear exploration. The game is short but challenging, and is meant to be completed in a single sitting.
The game is available to play in a browser or as a downloadable PC executable from Itch. Check our coverage here.
In MiniLAW: Ministry of Law, from Lasso Games, you take on the role of a law enforcement officer in the dystopian future city of New Babel (and let's face it, every city named New Babel is set in a dystopian future). As a Constable, you can opt to apprehend enemies using diplomatic tools or non-lethal force, or go in guns a-blazin' to blast baddies. Eliminating enemies grants you upgrade points that you can use to purchase new weapons and increase the movement and combat abilities of your exoskeleton, making you more effective and able to perform far beyond human capabilities, allowing you to sustain more damage, increase your strength, heal more quickly, etc... but your enemies have upgrades of their own, giving them access to powerful weapons and armored suits of their own.
The game is now available for PC via Steam and Itch.