Flock is the next game from the makers of Wilmot's Warehouse, Hohokum and I Am Dead, but ever since it was announced last year, I've been wondering about exactly what kind of game it is. The first trailer revealed lots of strange, whimsical environments, equally whimsical-looking beasties and a little person flying around on the back of a giant bird herding them around in delightful swoops and swirls. We also saw some sheep grazing in a meadow before they, too, started to fly alongside your wilder, more abstract animal pals. But the question of what you do in Flock remained unanswered - until last week, when developers Hollow Ponds showed us a little bit more of their creature collecting game during the Annapurna Interactive Showcase stream.
There, they revealed that we'll need to collect and charm these creatures to get them to join our respective flocks, and that we'll be able to do so in co-op with a pal. It looks intensely charming, but it still left me with lots of unanswered questions. So I spoke to devs Ricky Haggett and Richard Hogg to find out more. Naturally, there are some things they're not ready to reveal about Flock just yet, but they did tell me that you'll start on top of a mountain and will be wending your way down it with your flock of sheep.
Until recently, Gylt (look, stay with it) was confined to Google's cloud gaming platform Stadia, but Stadia doesn't exist any more, so this third-person stealth adventure is being unleashed on Steam. You play as Sally, a young girl whose even younger cousin Emily has gone missing. One autumnal evening, Sally gets lost and tries to take the old mining cable car back home - only to discover herself in a weird mirror version of her home town, derelict and abandoned save for shadowy monsters, the likes of which you'd find as models in Forbidden Planet in a cabinet labelled "From The Mind Of Tim Burton". Sally has few defences save creeping around and shining a powerful torch at the monsters, who don't like strong li- hey, now my title makes sense!
There are games about being a weird little guy, and then there are games about being a weird little gal infused with the power of a vengeful demonic sword. Doomblade is both metal and kind of cute, and it's held my interest longer than the average platformer or metroidy castley oh my god do we seriously not have a better word for this yet.
The main thing marking it out, apart from its style, is that instead of stabbing monsters, you attack by hovering the cursor (actually the shimmery face of the sword's spirit) over them and clicking, which launches your little globby shadow man directly at them. You can probably already imagine that this is also a means of getting around the world.
Xiaomi makes great phones, but they also produce a surprising amount of PC peripherals - including the subject of today's deal, their Mi Desktop Monitor 27". This poetically-named model has a 27-inch 1080p 75Hz IPS panel with 100% sRGB coverage, making it a reasonable choice for gaming and a great shout for content creation duties at its newly-reduced £110 price point.
To get this price, you'll need to clip the £10 off new user coupon on the product page.
I don't need to tell you that Microsoft's Xbox Wireless Controller is one of the best PC gamepads, but what I should mention is that you can pick up one of these controllers in Shock Blue for £30.73 when you buy a "Used - Like New" model from Amazon Warehouse in the UK.
To get this deal, just visit the product page linked below, then click the button labelled "New & Used (45) from £37.99" to see other buying options. From here, find the model retailing for £38.41 and add it to your basket. Go to the checkout, and you'll see that 20% has been knocked off the price, bringing the controller to a tidy £30.73.
Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? If you're reading this, you must be. If not, hell, I must try to keep on living even if no one's observing. I've not seen my friend's cat in three days. I don't know if my friend has a cat anymore. I don't know if I have a friend anymore. All I know is that Twitter's collapse has accelerated. But this was once a weekly column highlighting attractive and interesting indie games from Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag, and maybe it still is, or maybe it will be again. For now, come check out these games, if you can.
Look, it might be a bit tired by now, but dammit if I'm not a fool for designs that are like "Space, but the 60s", or "Space, but the 30s", or even "Space, but the 80s", which by that point was basically just "space". You get my point. The future, but via a second-hand retro clothes store full of dungarees and big print. I'd hesitate to say Return To Grace, a gentle adventure about exploring an ancient complex that houses a long-dormant god-like AI, entirely meets the strict definition of "retrofuturist", but it's definitely "space but the 60s", and it looks bloody lovely.
I'm locked in here with you for the next RPS Game Club liveblog! From 4pm BST today, July 3rd, we'll be chatting about The Tartarus Key. Come prepared to talk about your favourite puzzles, the ones that stumped you, and the weird horror themes you liked best. I've thoroughly enjoyed making the team play a tough puzzle game, especially one that's intentionally retro and a bit spooky without being scary. So why not come and join in the discussion? Haha, that's a joke: you don't have a choice. As I said, you're locked in here unless you can find the Resident Evil-ass key I have hidden in here somewhere. See you at 4pm, when we'll be back to see how you're getting on.
To hell with anyone complaining about the turn in the weather. We need this rain. We've earned this rain. Have yourself an evening walk and enjoy the cool air on your face, the rich smell in your nose, and the damp flora regreening before your eyes. Lovely. But while you wait for that, what are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
Diablo 4’s latest patch recently buffed every class, but it seems that at least one class is doing just fine without the helping hand, thanks.