Target Acquired: Haunted Lands: Burial Grounds

Haunted Lands: Burial Grounds, from Alexey Goryachev, is a DOS-style shooter reminiscent of Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion. You select one of four characters as you blast your way through cultists and monstrous creatures, leaving blood and viscera in your wake. Each character has a different set of weapons and abilities, with the hunters using guns, the mage using electricity, and the beast ripping baddies apart with her claws. You explore a large environment with branching paths, traps, and treasures, and you can equip a number of buffs back at your home base to give you an advantage in combat... which you'll need, because this game is tough. Enemies are overwhelming in strength and number, bosses are powerful, and checkpoints are infrequent, requiring you to make the most of every tool available, and hold onto your special attacks for just the right moment.

The game is now available for PC via Itch. Check our coverage here.

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Target Acquired: Boneraiser Minions

Boneraiser Minions is the latest in a long line of chunky neo-retro actioners from Caiysware, the studio behind Spirits Abyss, Skelly Selest, and Straimium Immortaly. This is a wave-based auto-battling roguelike where you take on the role of a boneraiser who must (literally) raise an army of the undead to fight against the do-gooder heroes... and then use their bodies and souls to increase your power even further. But it's not all just minion management; you'll need to actively evade enemy attacks and collect the bones of your victims to unlock upgrades. Make use of big smashy skellies, bomb-tossers, and magicians to keep the king's crusaders from ravaging your crypt... but the tougher your enemy, the greater your army can become! And per this developer's tradition, there's a Clashful Cards collectible card game in there too.

The game is now available for PC via Steam

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New Blip: Fallen Tear: The Ascension

Fallen Tear: The Ascension, from Winter Crew (game tweets), is an action adventure set in the magical but troubled land of Raoah. You take on the role if Hira, a boy looking to uncover the mysteries of his past in a journey that pits him against monsters, villains, and eventually the world's corrupt gods. As you grow your bonds with newfound friends and make decisions about your path forward, you gain new abilities that help you further explore the interconnected world and learn how to restore peace and balance. You can also expand your combat abilities to make yourself a more effective fighter... and take advantage of the beast within. The game features lovely hand-drawn animations and backgrounds across numerous environments.

The game is coming to PC but does not yet have an announced release date.

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

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Target Acquired: Elderand

Elderand, from Mantra and Sinergia Games (game tweets), is a metroidvania set in a dark world inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The game features fast technical combat that requires skillful use of your weaponry, and where button mashing is a sure path to failure. You fight your way through terrible monstrosities as you trek across the world searching for treasures, solving ancient mysteries, and seeking out hidden passages. Skillful explorers will find money and items that can be traded to shopkeepers for better weapons and shields, and some may be found through exploration as well. Players may make use of swords, shields, whips, staffs, throwing axes, and bows and arrows, and they may equip armor and accessories and make use of health restoratives to aid them in their quest.

The game is now available on PC via Steam and Itch, and Switch via eShop. Check our coverage here.

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Target Acquired: 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 now available for PC and Mac via Steam, Switch via eShop, PS4 and PS5 via PSN, and Xbox One and X/S via Microsoft Store.

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