Boomer shooters, bros, and space princesses
A lot of cool news happened this week
When I started this newsletter last week, I wasn’t expecting the great feedback that was sent my way. It seems that a lot of you out there appreciate getting a concise feed of the new indie games you should consider checking out, and the number one feedback was “it would be cool if it included news too”.
That would be cool! But including both a stack of news, and a bunch of indie games for your consideration in the one newsletter feels like it would be a little unwieldy. So I think a happy medium is releasing indie news on Wednesday, and then a new feed of games on Friday just to bring in your weekend.
So welcome to the first news dispatch for this new project! Some of this news may be a little older (because I was scrambling to put this together), but I hope you find some cool information here that is of interest to you.
And before I go, please consider joining our Discord. We are a small but friendly community of game devs, creatives, and gamers who all join forces to have a good time! We would love to see you there.
What happened this week?
Caves of Qud announces version 1.0
Developer: Freehold Games
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/333640/Caves_of_Qud/
After a lengthy stint in early access, lofi science fantasy roguelike Caves of Qud has announced that 1.0 is coming… soon? The announcement comes with a new publisher for the project, Kitfox Games. Considering the success that Kitfox helped garner for the graphical release of Dwarf Fortress, it comes as no surprise that they are taking up the release duties for Caves of Qud which is very much playing in the same space.
No release date was announced for the full release of Qud, but now we are wondering if it too will get a “real” graphical interface like the full release of Dwarf Fortress received.
Amid Evil: The Black Labyrinth launching August 18
Developer: Indefatigable
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1852860/AMID_EVIL__The_Black_Labyrinth/
How do we feel about the term Boomer Shooter? Me? I don’t mind it. Mostly because I don’t think about a generation of folks who priced us out of any semblance of wealth, but because it makes me think of Quake, and rocket jumps. But I digress. Amid Evil was released to acclaim in 2019 invoking big Hexen and Heretic energy, and now we are getting a major standalone expansion later on August 18. Described as an “expansion pack style DLC”, The Black Labyrinth is billed as a full prequel to the original game, and will give you more of what Amid Evil was serving up, if that’s your jam.
Jumplight Odyssey enters Early Access August 21
Developer: League of Geeks
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893820/Jumplight_Odyssey/
FTL meets classic anime, blended with a bit of Two Points Campus is how I would describe Jumplight Odyssey, the next release from Armello developers, League of Geeks. After a lot of positive buzz from the most recent Steam Next Fest, the roguelike spaceship management sim is coming to Early Access on August 21 for PC. The vibes are strong with this one - I mean, who doesn’t love adorable space pigs?!
Broforce Forever marks the end for action game on August 8
Developer: Free Lives
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/274190/Broforce/
Remember Broforce? It was from that era of Devolver’s catalogue that really played the tongue in cheek humor hard, and at the time, riffed well on the Chuck Norris obsessed internet culture around action movies. Hard to believe it was actually first launched into Steam Green Light (remember that?) in 2012, before launching in 2015. Now Free Lives are taking a break from saving planets in Terra Nil to release one final update for the classic indie.
Broforce Forever includes six new bros: Burt Brommer, Desperabro, Demoition Bro, Seth Brondle, Broffy The Vampire Slayer, and Xebro: Warrior Princess. Best of all - it’s a free update!
That’s the news! Hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you did, please share it with a friend - let’s try to get to 50 subscribers.
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If you have any tips, or would like to get your game featured, please reach out to me (Steve) on either Mastodon, or Bluesky.