New Release: Cannon Dancer - Osman

An enhanced edition of a bombastic arcade actioner, from Mitchell Corporation and ININ Games

New Release: Hazard Saviour

An open world platformer inspired by Crazy Taxi, from Sinclair Strange

New Release: Ginsha

An open world action-adventure that takes place across multiple planets, from PolarityFlow

New Release: Haunted Lands: Burial Grounds

A tough and bloody DOS-style shooter, from Alexey Goryachev

New Release: Curse of the Sea Rats

An open world action-adventure featuring 2D animation and 3D environments, from Petoons Studio

October 9, 2022

New Blip: Planet Cube: Edge

Planet Cube: Edge, from Sunna Entertainment, is a run and gun platformer that takes place on a cube-shaped planet (called Planet Cube). You take on the role of a similarly cube-shaped engineer named Edge who uses a prototype photon blaster to fight his way through a subaquatic weapons lab to thwart a planetary invasion. Speed an agility are key as you take on room after room filled with dangerous foes, many of whom fire projectiles of their own. To aid in your mission of shooty-scooty-shooty, you can perform air dashes and butt stomps, allowing you to avoid enemy fire while delivering the hurt in multiple directions. And the fact that you're in an underwater facility means you'll need to do a bit of swimming through flooded areas when the walls are breached. The game offers a GameBoy-style color palette with very un-GameBoy-like crisp environments and smooth animations.

The game is coming to PC and Mac in 2023. A demo is available on Steam.

To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our 2D Watchlist.

October 8, 2022

New Blip: Lucid

Lucid, from The Matte Black Studio, is a neon-infused action adventure that offers an open world to explore and puzzlish dungeons to overcome. You take on the role of Oenn, one of the last remaining sentinels that stands guard over a world that was nearly destroyed by the Lucid Giant in an event now known as the Great Fall. You must explore the dark depths of the world, ascend to its greatest heights, and traverse the many ruins as you speak with NPC's, discover secrets, and fight your way through enemies and bosses. Combat and maneuverability go hand-in-hand as you string together midair slashes and dashes to reach new heights and close ground on enemies to deliver devastating combos, with new movement and combat options unlocked as you make progress.

The game is coming to PC and consoles in 2024.

To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our 2D Watchlist.

October 5, 2022

New Blip: Astronite

Astronite, from Dume Games Studio, is a lo-fi metroidvania starring an astronaut whose ship has crash landed... but rather than landing on some mysterious alien world, you are on your own home planet. An ancient being known as the Entity resides in the center of your planet, and while the people knew of this being and even studied it, the Entity remained inscrutable. But one day, the Entity commanded an army of nasty critters to the surface, which is now overrun. You must explore, grow your strength, and gain new abilities to take down enemies and bosses. As you explore, you'll be able to make use of a jetpack, swim underwater, and dash in order to reach new areas, and there are plenty of secrets for intrepid explorers to find along the way.

The game is coming to PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox X/S on November 30.

To find more promising 2D games currently under development, be sure to check out our 2D Watchlist.

October 3, 2022

Target Acquired: Gigabuster

Gigabuster, from Waller, is an actioner heavily influenced by the Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero series, and stars Liz, a blonde-haired scarf-wearing fighter who is taking down CEO's one-by-one to stop them from funding "Happiness". You must break into nine different companies - offered in blocks of three that may be played in any order - using your ability to grapple, climb, dash, wall jump, and grind rails to make your way to the CEO offices to give them the beat-downs they deserve. Along the way, you slash enemies to build up a combo meter that lets you unleash a huge laser, and you can acquire upgrades, armor, and a number of melee weapons to help you in your fight.

The game is now available for PC via Steam.

October 2, 2022

Target Acquired: Unichrome

Unichrome: A 1-Bit Unicorn Adventure, from Super8bitRafa, is a platformer-shooter set in a glitchy world and starring a cute rainbow unicorn named Itchi. After she and several other animals awaken from stasis, the power-hungry Century steals a set of color-coded gems, thereby draining color from the world. Itchi must blast her way through TV heads and other enemies as she makes her way to each of Century's minions to defeat them and collect their gems. Along the way, she must complete platforming challenges while avoiding spikes, dashing over bottomless pits, and swinging through the air with her grappling hook... but most of her problems are solved with guns and sass. Throughout the game, Itchi finds an array of weapons, including a shotgun, machine gun, and flamethrower, each of which can be upgraded individually, allowing her smart-aleck mouth to write checks that her feisty ass can indeed cash.

The game is now available for PC via Steam and Itch, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store. Check our coverage here.