Burning out on making Stars Beyond Reach, Arcen Games announced a few months ago they were putting the 4X strategy game to one side to focus on a roguelikelike they’d been toying with for a while. That game, named Starward Rogue [official site], is now here. It’s a top-down shooter with oodles of bullets to dodge and bosses to battle, about mechs exploring a mysterious structure stuck in the side of a star. It’s colourful!

Ooh, and to celebrate the launch, their 2013 tactical turn-based mech ‘em up Bionic Dues is free if you grab it now. Have you played it?

… [visit site to read more]

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

Bionic Dues [official site] is yet another Arcen game that I initially bounced off so hard it might as well have been a trampoline attached to a giant spring riding a pogo stick. It’s a…roguelike mech game? No. It’s a puzzle game? No. It’s Bionic Dues.

… [visit site to read more]

Arcen, purveyors of sundry indie oddities, sent a message by pigeon post in the early hours of this morning to inform us of their new game, The Last Federation. It has one of the finest single line pitches I’ve ever encountered – “The Last Federation is a Grand Strategy + RTS Tactics game” – and in honour of the good news that she delivered, the pigeon has now been promoted to Flight Lieutenant and provided with a suitable cap. TLF places players in the role of a mercenary leader in a procedurally generated galaxy, which contains eight alien races to menace and manipulate. The closest point of comparison may well be Soldak’s Drox Operative. Arcen’s pigeon also told us that the spiffing AI War is on sale this weekend, with the complete collection (five DLCs) available for $4.25 and the little blighter didn’t stop there. More news – and a couple of videos – below.

… [visit site to read more]

Five minutes of Bionic Dues was almost enough. I was attracted by turn-based tactical mech combat but swiftly repelled by confusion and comedy voiceovers. I quit. Later, just before bed, I decided to try again, reasoning that while Arcen may not be on a winning streak, their games are usually more interesting than this one had seemed. I never did make it to bed that night. Here’s wot I think. >

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Bionic Dues is “a tactical, turn-based roguelite with mech customization”, the story of which is that there’s been a robotic uprising in the city, which you must now put down, before your overlords pull the nuke lever. Arcen are really cranking out the games right now, and it certainly sounds like this one might be worth paying attention to, what with the opportunity to “Out-think wide-ranging tactical situations featuring robots with bad GPS, terrible aim, insecurity, a lack of focus, a tendency to backstab, and dozens of other maladies to exploit.” I’ve met those robots. Poor guys.

Anyway, the game is out on Steam – but why not go for the direct purchase? – and there’s a trailer, which your detection systems should be picking up any time now. (more…)