Sephiria Review: The Bunny Bites Back

The first thing we noticed after naming our bunny Fluffy wasn't the combat or the colorful pixel art. It was the music. The cheerful soundtrack immediately put us at ease, and watching the wind gently sway the trees only reinforced the feeling that we were about to embark on some cozy little adventure. Since we went into Sephiria completely blind, we genuinely believed we were in for a relaxing platformer with a few light action elements.

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Dragonsword Giveaway & 5 Hard-Earned Lessons From Game Devs (#2)

Welcome to the second edition of the Dev & Play Media newsletter. Before we get to the games, I just want to say thanks. Over at Linkedin, we crossed 100 subscribers this week! Watching this list grow so fast has been great, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. Our small team wants to celebrate the occasion, and what better way than with a game?

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Midnight Moments Review: A Tiny Sandbox with a Big Atmosphere

Midnight Moments is all about building miniature worlds with a cyberpunk vibe. Coming from Happy Volcano, the studio behind the wonderfully chaotic You Suck at Parking and the narrative adventure The Almost Gone, this isn't what we expected. Nothing is challenging our reflexes here or telling another story. The devs have created a tiny cyberpunk sandbox where the goal is simply to build, experiment and relax.

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OMEA review: AI-powered Narrative Game

The first thing we did in OMEA was try to break it. After creating a viking and landing on a deserted, windy beach, we ignored whatever objective the game had in mind and simply started typing the first ridiculous thing that came to mind. There are no dialogue wheels or buttons marked "Lie" here. Instead, we described exactly what our character wanted to do and waited to see how the AI Game Master would react.

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Interview: Mastering the Cozy Chaos of Book & Horn

At first glance, Book & Horn looks like a relaxing fantasy retreat. Wrapped in warm pixel art and gentle audio, it promises a charming adventure featuring a cauldron, a witch, and her half-demon apprentice. Scratch under the surface and you'll also find a engaging hybrid that mashes together lane defense, roguelite progression, and real-time crafting. It seems like a fun title where you gather raw materials on the fly and brew specific potions to fend off escalating waves of enemies.

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Lessons from the Frontlines #1

The past two weeks have been incredibly busy for us, and we've had the privilege of sitting down with developers from all corners of the games industry. From solo creators working on their first title to experienced teams with ambitious new projects, every conversation offered a different perspective on what it takes to make games. One thing quickly became clear: while every developer has their own approach, they all shared valuable lessons about creativity, overcoming challenges, and bringing ideas to life.

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Codename CURE II Review: Dumb Fun with Dead Ends

After the success of the free-to-play game Codename CURE, Raptor Byte is joining forces with indie.io to bring a sequel meant to build upon everything that made the first game a fun co-op zombie FPS. Let's find out if it actually succeeds. Since we haven't played the first Codename CURE, we jumped blindly into the second one. It feels like a simplified version of…

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MineGeon: Renegades Review – Digging for Fortune One Run at a Time

Mining, roguelites, bullet-hell combat, and co-op aren't exactly a rare combination these days. Plenty of games mix those ingredients together, hoping they'll stumble onto something memorable. MineGeon: Renegades looked like another one of those games when we first booted it up. After spending several hours descending into the depths of PAIMO, though, we found something that separates it from the crowd.

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Reap and Rush Review: The Right Kind of Chaos

We've played plenty of survivor-style roguelikes over the past few years. For a while now, it has felt like if we've played one, we've played them all. We love this subgenre, and we've been jumping from one title to another, hoping we'll come across something that's just a smidgen different. Reap and Rush sure caught our attention. The mythology doesn't just act as window dressing.

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DragonSword: Awakening Review – The Gacha-Free RPG We Always Wanted

We have a strange love/hate relationship with games like Genshin Impact. We love the vibrant worlds, memorable casts, satisfying combat, and the simple joy of wandering off the beaten path just to see what's over the next hill. What we don't love are the gacha mechanics. After spending more than 400 hours and far more money than we'd like to admit chasing characters and weapons, we eventually accepted that no matter how enjoyable those games can be, they always leave you feeling like you're missing out, unless you're willing to keep opening your wallet.

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Forging DragonSword: UE5, Anime Worlds, and Action

For the development team behind DragonSword: Awakening, building a new open-world action RPG meant heavily modifying Unreal Engine 5. The game pairs a bright, anime-inspired aesthetic with a 19-character tag-team combat system, all set across a massive map. In this recently released game, we follow a boy named Lute across the Continent of Orbis. It's a game that we love a lot.

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Blood in the Snow: A Review of Grim Dawn – Fangs of Asterkarn

It has been a long time since we first set foot in Grim Dawn. Over the years, Crate Entertainment has expanded this rich universe in meaningful ways. With Fangs of Asterkarn, the studio is asking veteran players to return once again. This isn't an expansion that stands on its own, either; it requires both Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Gods, making it very clear who this adventure is aimed at.

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How OFFBEAT Hides a Working DAW Inside a Tycoon Game

For decades, the digital audio workstation—or DAW—has been a major roadblock for aspiring musicians. While modern music software offers limitless creative potential, staring down a dense interface packed with digital dials, endless menus, and complex routing pathways is enough to scare many beginners away before they ever record a single note. Ed Sibley, Studio Head at Whetstone Games, wants to fix that with…

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Halo: Campaign Evolved Review – The Remake We Always Imagined

Everyone has a Halo story. For us, Halo: Combat Evolved was the reason we invited our crush over after school, stayed up far too late on weekends, and argued over who got to drive the Warthog. Twenty-five years later, those memories still run strong, making it one of the hardest games to remake. Everyone remembers the core game a little differently, and any attempt to modernize it risks upsetting those memories.

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Lifted Review: A Memorable Adventure

We have a soft spot for adventure games that aren't afraid to wear their inspirations on their sleeve. Every now and then a game comes along that reminds us why we fell in love with these kinds of stories in the first place. LIFTED immediately gave us that feeling. From its opening minutes, it channels the spirit of classic '80s adventure films, mixing treasure hunts, impossible escapes, quirky characters, and time travel into something that feels strangely familiar while still carving out its own identity.

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Inside Wilds: Turning Doodles Into 3D Heroes

The developers at Night Zookeeper have built their reputation on fostering childhood creativity across books, television, and educational web platforms. Now, they are bringing that same ethos to the video game space with Wilds by Night Zookeeper, a multiplayer title that asks players to draw their own characters from scratch and watch them spring to life in three dimensions.

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Tears of Metal Review: Bagpipes, Blades, and Beautiful Carnage

In some games, all you need is a sword, a few dozen loyal soldiers, and hundreds of enemies foolish enough to stand in your way. Tears of Metal embraces that idea from the very first battle, throwing us into large-scale skirmishes that feel somewhere between Dynasty Warriors and a roguelite. You're usually thrown onto a battlefield with your army, where you need to clear a set of objectives.

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CULTIC Review: Explosive Bloodbath

After watching a couple of videos about CULTIC, we kinda expected another retro-inspired shooter that borrowed the best parts of classics like Blood. We got some of that, but, more importantly, we found something that feels familiar on the surface before gradually revealing its own identity. CULTIC delivers the fast-paced action we hoped for, but the shooting is just a prelude to something even greater: the freedom to approach every encounter however we wanted.

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Mega Interview about Rebuilding Star Trek Online’s Legacy

Sixteen years is an eternity in the world of live-service games. For the development team at Cryptic Studios, keeping Star Trek Online thriving has meant constantly balancing the demands of a massi…

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From God of War to Sharks: Interview about Forging Swordcery

Swordcery is an upcoming hack-and-slash roguelite ARPG launching in Early Access on August 11th. Behind this wonderfully chaotic world of Armorial is Temple Door Games, a two-man indie studio based…

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Hatchery Games on Building the World of Voidling Bound

It feels like monster-taming games are shifting right now. The folks at Hatchery Games are trying something really fun with Voidling Bound. They are mixing fast-paced, third-person shooting with a …

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Learning to Fly Solo: A Chat With Matthew Broitman of Barrel Band Games

Starting a new chapter in the games industry is never a small decision, especially at a time when studios are facing tighter budgets and shifting expectations in a market that’s increasingly …

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Hell Clock: Cursed War: Great DLC!

Last year, Hell Clock took us by surprise with its fast-paced blend of action RPG and roguelike mechanics. Now, Cursed War returns with a fourth act that gives us every reason to step back into its…

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Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced: Good Game Becomes Better!

Some games refuse to stay buried. Some games are remembered because they pushed technology forward. Others because they told unforgettable stories. There’s also a third group: games that we k…

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Voidling Bound: A Fresh Take on Creature Collecting

The creature collector genre has been one of our favorites, and it’s safe to say we’ve caught plenty of them across various games over the years. Voidling Bound is the latest addition to the bunch,…

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Denshattack Interview: Rigging a Train to Kickflip

We’re big fans of the arcade sports genre and we love to see how the devs they tackle skateboards, BMX bikes, and snowboards. What we haven’t seen is locking the player into a multi-ton commu…

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