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[Holammer]

GuardGrave was released today for PC, an arcade game taking inspiration from Burger Time & Don Doko Don. From Canadian Monster Bath Games, the guys behind Battle Princess Madelyn and the currently Switch exclusive Deathwish Enforcers. I'll grab it later.

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This came out of early access last week with a full PC release and a Switch version. From US dev Jaspel, it's a roguelike deckbuilder where you organize your inventory to win. Saw some good buzz about it.

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Small Saga is a turnbased JRPG and the result of a kickstarter four years ago. There's some clever ideas here, a berserker mouse swinging a Swiss army knife like a buster sword, a pyromancer with a dispostable lighter. This UK developed game seems to be a mainly one man project and it's currently very well recieved on Steam.

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Happymeal Inc's Final Exerion was released Switch two months ago and it had a PC release today. Based on a small series of games starting with Exerion from 1983. A Galaxian/galaga type game notable for having a bit of momentum in the controls and pretty sick graphics effects for the time.

 

[nkarafo]

OK, this isn't exactly Pixel Art, but like Cup-Head, it's one of the rare examples of a modern 2D game that looks clean without having that ugly Adobe Flash vibe:



While not as smooth as Cup-Head since it's not animated in "ones", it still looks great because it uses actual animation instead of the dreaded skeletal one. As a result, it looks like you are controlling an actual, HD cartoon.

 

[Sophist]

Found this program to convert image to pixel art.

SLK_img2pixel by Lukas Holzbeierlein

Convert images/textures to pixel art

captain4lk.itch.io

 

[Holammer]

Link's Awakening DX HD for PC released 10 days ago and I finally got around to try it out. It's a better than perfect port of the GBC version with widescreen support, a larger play area and having the entire map on screen is possible, high refresh rates (240 fps worked fine), subtle lighting effects from emissive sources, pixel perfect controls with analogue stick & general QoL changes. It comes with the source code and everything is easy to access. Art like sprite sheets are plain PNG files so an artist could easily drawover with a few more colors for detail & shading, without having to struggle with some strange pak files.



There's no ROM required so this is going to be taken down by Nintendo any second now, grab it now while you can. It did not recognize my DualSense controller, but add it to Steam as a Non-Steam game and it works. Itch.io is freaked out over the file as an unknown new user uploaded it without prior history on the site. I can't guarantee it's not going to mine bitcoins on your system, but I can vouch for it working. It also needs .NET 6.0 installed, windows will ask if you want to install it, so no biggie.

Link's Awakening DX HD by linksawakeningdxhd

PC Version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

linksawakeningdxhd.itch.io

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Cross Blitz is a deckbuilding roguelike RPG released on Early Access. It's reception on Steam is mixed and even I wonder if it really needed a pixel art aestetic? But in this thread we celebrate the pixel!

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Die in a Dungeon's title is a pun that hints as how it functions mechanically. You play using coloured dice with different functions rather than cards and upgrade individual die or find new ones as loot. It sounds bonkers at a glance, but it makes sense after just a few minutes. Coming soon on PC.

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This one is very well received on Steam with a 97% user score average. Available for Switch and PC. It goes in the wishlist and it's a perfect example of how a good publisher can help a game, the devs self-published another well recieved title with similar themes which seems to have failed to find an audiance.

 

[Holammer]

You might want to have Crystal Story: Dawn of Dusk on your radar. An action-Rpg taking inspiration and cues from everywhere. Earthbound, FF6 and it's robbing Undertale blind. In fact, it might lean too heavily into references from the little I've seen, but the art looks top-tier.

 

[Holammer]

Spanish developer MadgearGames's Kemono Heroes released for the Switch 2020 and is finally releasing on "all the platforms" Q3 2024. Previously published by NISA, now via JanduSoft.

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Sunkissed City got a Steam page the other day. If it looks familiar, it's made by Arthur Lee (Mr. Podunkian) a guy that helped out with updates to Stardew Valley.
Aiming for a PC release Q4 2024 "and hopefully consoles soon thereafter".
The video is 11 month old demo showing some enviroments and not repressentative of its current state, check out his Twitter for more up-to-date clips & info.

https://twitter.com/MrPodunkian

 

[Holammer]

Japanese indie dev RETSUZAN's seven 'Game Buddy' games previously released on Switch two+ years ago got Steam releases with a new publisher. They look and sound similar to a Gameboy and borrow popular themes & mechanics from a few famous games. You can probably tell which ones just by looking at the title screen images.

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Swedish developer Pixel Ferrets's Secrets of Grindea left Steam Early Access just a few days ago. It's been worked on for 13 years and started as a student project back in 2011. It already sold a couple 100k and is favorably recived on Steam with a 90% user rating.

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Miracle's Hop Top is a fusion/mashup of Galaga and a platformer. This vertically scrolling arcade game seems to have been a fun side project for the developer which is currently working on an 80's anime styled Puzzle game called Dreamshot Fantasia.

 

[Holammer]

Devil Blade Reboot got a Steam store page and is releasing for PC 2024. From what I can gather it's been under development as a solo developer project since 2018 when the developer released a prototype. Art is greatly improves since and it should be, because it's made by Shigatake [an ex-vanillaware illustrator].
Developed with Shooting Game Builder.

 

[Holammer]

Hebereke Enjoy Edition was recently released. Since the original was a late 1991 NES release and considered too cutesy for most regions, it only ever saw release in Japan and Scandinavia, where it suffered a little bit of stupid localization and was released as Ufouria: The Saga. It's a proto-Metroidvania which features many of the now common tropes of the genre, there's a map, you unlock new characters and abilities for them as you explore the world. While it's unknown in the west, the series continued on the SNES with wildly different games like puzzle & racing.
Out now on PC/Steam and Switch.

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Tezcatek, a Texas based developer finished & released their Kickstarter project just a few days ago. An action platformer which smash & grabs a lot from Castlevania IV and Castlevania: Bloodlines. It borderline looks like they might have overdrawn the sprites, but it does look good and for some reason it includes the name and likness of Bela Lugosi.

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Korean dev Maetdol Games's Nightmare the Lunatic, a roguelike action platformer came out of Steam Early access. Where it seems to have been largely forgotten without making any waves. Someone needs a publisher!

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As one Korean game leaves Early Access, another one enters with Magic Boutique of Royal Blue, a cutesy RPG with monster girls. It's not Kkangto Studio's first rodeo as they released a similar game with Alchemist of Pipi Forest back in 2021.

 

[Holammer]

Canari Games, the creator of Lunark is working on Link's Awakening clone.

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Point & Pixel Adventures just released its Monkey Island inspired point and click adventure game. The Spanish developers last game was a Maniac Mansion clone called The Castle so I sense a theme.

 

[CamHostage]

So, this one dates back to 2021, but we were talking in a different thread about the future of the development team handling Dead Cells, the actual new game from the lead designer (who left the company to start a one-man-dev operation) and I found that perhaps this game had never have been brought up before on GAF. (Maybe I'm wrong on that? Either way, enjoy if you missed it.)

Nuclear Blaze, by Sébastien Benard, is a 2D firefighter platformer/exploration game. Available on PC, PS4, and Switch.

 

[VeganElduderino]

 

[Holammer]

Beyond the Ice Palace from 1988 is getting a pixel art metroidvania sequel for PC and Consoles. In the works by French developer STORYBIRD Studio. The guys behind Aggelos and most recently Ganryu 2.
Afaik the original game started development as a Thundercats license and was later pitched to Capcom as Ghost & Goblins: Beyond the Ice Palace, but Capcom was working on Ghoul's & Ghosts, so they had to put it out there without a license attached.

Ironic to see a game which failed to score a big name license getting pawned off as a somewhat recognizable IP 36 years later.

 

[mild sriracha]

Ending sequence of Willow (arcade game) has very good pixel art, considering it was released in 1989.

I feel slightly guilty for posting this one, but please bear with me.

Full screen pixel art of character portraits really are something else.

 

[mild sriracha]

Beyond the Ice Palace from 1988 is getting a pixel art metroidvania sequel for PC and Consoles. In the works by French developer STORYBIRD Studio. The guys behind Aggelos and most recently Ganryu 2.
Afaik the original game started development as a Thundercats license and was later pitched to Capcom as Ghost & Goblins: Beyond the Ice Palace, but Capcom was working on Ghoul's & Ghosts, so they had to put it out there without a license attached.

Ironic to see a game which failed to score a big name license getting pawned off as a somewhat recognizable IP 36 years later.

Hey I think I'm starting to see a color swapped version of Lion-O in a Ghouls & Ghosts style 2D platformer. Wow.

 

[Sophist]

Random find

Sean.cm → Sean.fun

Was Batman the prettiest game on NES? Those are raw pixel screenshots. The game being played on a CRT TV:


Here a comparison (notice how the pipes look different on CRT):

 

[Panajev2001a]

Random find

Sean.cm → Sean.fun

Was Batman the prettiest game on NES? Those are raw pixel screenshots. The game being played on a CRT TV:


Here a comparison (notice how the pipes look different on CRT):

Dear Lord we need proper CRT shaders. I think 4K + HDR would allow for the kind of CRT shaders we deserve even on moderate 800+ bits TV’s like the LG C9 and the like.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

Dear Lord we need proper CRT shaders. I think 4K + HDR would allow for the kind of CRT shaders we deserve even on moderate 800+ bits TV’s like the LG C9 and the like.

I really liked the shader options in the original Blasphemous. It's a shame they removed them from the sequel.

 

[Holammer]

This was just released, a Blackjack & roguelike deckbuilder in the style of Balatro. Developed since 2022 and from what I can gather it's mostly a single solo developer project by a Kiwi.

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I have never played a Five Night's game nor had a Five Guys burger, but FNaF: Into the Pit released yesterday and it's selling very well and reviews favourably on Steam. It seems to be based on the first book in a series of FNAF stories from 2020 aimed at teen audiences. The developer, Mega Cat Games has been around since 2015 are they are shockingly productive with tons of games and lots of retro NES & Genesis games, but most of them flew under the radar, except for this one.

Console versions are in the works and will release soon, with physical editions.

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Project Terra is got an name and trailer, it is now called Alabaster Dawn. GAF thread with more info here.

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Outrider Mako is an action adventure that has been in development since 2019 by Asamado Games, a Japanese solo developer. The protagonist is a girl lost in the strange world of Japanese ghost'n goblins and Gods. Just like in Spirited Away, she needs to work get back. Here was a courier for a delivery company.
Expect a 2025 release on Steam.
The key art on the video is drawn by Kantaro, a former HAL Labs artist and somewhat famous for Pokemon TCG illustrations.

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Nitro Express is another Japanese game developed by Grayfax Software, in development since 2020 and it seems to be another solo job. A sidescrolling run'n gun shooter where you as a police special forces fight robots & drones gone rogue across Tokyo. Your standard Japanese anime nonsense.

There should be a Store page on Steam, but it's experiencing technical difficulties. Game releases 2025 on PC.

 

[TheAssist]

Narita Boy is already a classic to me although it just released this year. I had so much fun with that!
Looks and sounds crazy good. Controls are a bit floaty but i got used to it.

Wow that game looks like some serious vibes. Thanks for the tip. The game is 90% off on Steam right now and I just bought it.

 

[Holammer]

Boss Team Games announced a new game based on the Halloween & Evil Dead movie franchises. It seems to be developed by Wayforward and I'm glad to see them doing pixel art again. Will release on everything October 18'th this year.

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X-out along with Katakis are famous early R-Type-likes on the 8 & 16bit micros. A remake of the underwater themed X-out is in the works by ININ Games & Ziggurat Games (which owns Rainbow Art's IPs). The remake is based on the Amiga version and includes updated graphics with new parallax fields, more colors, particles and lighting effects. The original composer Chris Huelsbeck returns with a an updated score and three new tracks (suppose this means additional stages?).

Releases on every current-gen machine known to man.

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The Siege and the Sandfox is another pixel art metroidvania, but there's a new twist on the concept and this is platforming & stealth focused. It's been developed by UK based Cardboard Sword. By the looks of it, it's been developed on and off for at least six years, probably because the devs have done a bunch of contract work (it pays the bills).
This should be their first full game and it releases 2024 on PC.

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D-pad studios, the Norwegian guys behind Owlboy are currently working on this beautiful arcade style game. It was announced in 2022 and is still in the works for PC and presumingly consoles too. I mostly mention it because I came across this proof-of-concept or just-4-fun video for a Chip'n Dale game made by Simon S. Andersen, one of the artists and CEO of D-pad.

 

[Holammer]

Halloween themed Stacy Sharp and the Night Of Too Many Monsters by French artist Mante (he was previously involved with Dead Cells), released a seemingly simple arcade rogue-like similar to Tribute's Curses 'n Chaos. There's surprising amounts of work put into it and it kept surprising me with new unlocked areas. It's free on Steam and developed with Construct.

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Vengeance Hunters is a Neo Geo game developed by Nalua Studio. A scrolling beat 'em up with shooter sections for variation. The cartridge costs a minimum of 349€ and it went out of stock quickly, but the game is also available digitally on Playstation, Switch and PC.

Nalua Studio |

www.naluastudio.com

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind by Digital Eclipse got a date and releases December 10th on all the formats. This might have some of the best pixel art after Tribute's Shredder's Revenge. But they go the extra mile by adding authentic looking Super Scaler effects of the like we haven't seen for the past 30 years.
In this interview with one of the developers tells some interesting titbits about how they got the license and how Hasbro is interested in farming out their IP. Also how they set out to make a game which looks and feels like a 90's arcade game.

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Former Dawn is an ongoing kickstarter for a NES RPG with a PC version too. They have two weeks left and haven't reached the funding goal yet.
If it sounds and looks a little bit too SNES'y, that's because it's planned to feature one batshit insane Memory Mapper with eight channels of PCM audio and is capable of displaying 4 colours per 8x1 block, compared with the 4 color limit for an entire 8x8 tile on vanilla hardware.

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Silent Planet is a recently announced Metroidvania is the works slated for a 2026 release on PC. I try not to judge, but that trailer is 100% cringe. I checked the Canadian developers, Vertex Zero's home page and I almost died from cringe. There's a non-cringe trailer on the steam page which includes a fun homage to SotN.

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Lovish by Labs Works, the Canadian developers behind Astalon is working on a new 8-bit'ish platformer which looks rather plain, but features 150 random events with references to games, anime & pop culture. The Dragon Half reference really aged me when I figured nobody below 30 will recognize it.
One to look out for and it releases q1 2025 for PC.

 

[Killer8]

Dragon Age Veilguard performance mode.

 

[Trilobit]

Animall Well - with built in CRT-filter:

I'm so happy that the developer provided the option for a CRT-filter as I feel like the game was designed with it in mind and makes the game look very good and atmospheric. I wish all pixelart games on console would do the same as I really don't enjoy certain pixelart games without a shader. Tails Noir would have benefited from one for example.

 

[Holammer]

Here's a video by David Haywood, a looooong time MAME developer showing the progress of the driver for VG Pocket handhelds from 2007'ish. A line of simple handhelds pre-loaded with a few dozen games each. Five different models exist, this video starts with the Classic Max Pocket with its vertically oriented screen. They often came with a couple licensed arcade games, but most of them are clones of existing game.
The quality? It's actually surprisingly good with colourful 16-bit look compared with the recent UFO50. They could release this stuff on PC and consoles today and make a few bucks, but it's guaranteed to be a rights/license nightmare.

Picture via 12-bit Museum.

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Super XYX, a vertical shooter drawing inspiration from many classic arcade shmups released on the consoles. Developed by Team Grybanser Fox, a small indie developer with a couple of similar shooters in its repertoire. PC version on Steam has been around for some time.

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Recently learned about this RPG game which hit Steam's Early Access last year. It's very well received on Steam and tells the story of an investigative journalist getting framed for a crime. Developed by a Chinese studio called Metal Head Games. They spent 4 years on it before they launched it.

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Maiden's Extreme Fist: "Bun-ga-rua" is a Japanese indie dev's more modern take on Konami's Yie Ar Kung-Fu II, Developed for MSX hardware with some new mechanics like a map and room challenges.

The game is in active development and you can try the game with this [rather slow] online emulator.

MSXdev 2024 - Maiden 's Extreme Fist Bun-Ga-Rua - Play this MSX game online on File-Hunter.com!

The MSX Game MSXdev 2024 - Maiden 's Extreme Fist Bun-Ga-Rua. Play this and your other favourite MSXdev Games ONLINE! No need to install anything, just click & Play.

www.file-hunter.com

 

[Holammer]

KaleidoGames's Slam and Roll has been in Early Access for a couple of months and finally got a full release on Steam & Switch today. Releases tomorrow on Xbox and Playstation TBD. The game is an arcade platformer drawing inspiration from games like Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and more importantly from Snow Bros, where it lifts the snowball mechanics and have you pelt the alien invaders with hockey pucks, tennis or pingpong balls instead.
Stages are a mix of single screen with vertically and horizontally scrolling areas to mix it up. Looks pretty damn good IMO.

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British developer Robust Games's Loco Motive got a November 21'th release date. Clearly drawing inspiration from all the classic Lucasarts Point & Click adventure games and the pixel art style oft associated with them is spot on. Notably they have a put in a massive effort on voice acting and it features 23 voice actors with many industry veterans among them.

Releases on PC & Switch. Also give them a hand for a clever title.

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Divine Dynamo Flamefrit, an action-adventure by Inti Creates also got a Nov 21'th release date. Releases on PC and all the consoles. Looks a little generic, right? But Inti's stuff is generally decent.

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Puerto Rico based developer Pichon Games's The Bunny Graveyard recently got a Switch version. An Action-adventure with horror elements where you play as a computer cursor hand sucked into another world? A trippy premise to be sure. It released on PC last year and that version comes highly recommended by gestalt mind that is Steam's user reviews, with an Overwhelmingly Positive 96%. The developers were inspired by GBA and NDS, it shows.

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Neo Junk City is an in development Point & Click adventure for PC by Starblade Games, they previously worked on Nefarious.

This modern day Maniac Mansion is planned to release Q4 2025.

 

[Holammer]

Absolutely gorgeous looking puzzle game developed by China based YiTi games. Releases Nov 22'th on Steam with no word on console versions.
Funded with a Kickstarter back in 2022.

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Here is a fusion of action hack & slash with deck building mechanics. Developed by Sunny Syrup Games, a Thailand based developer. Releases on PC, PS5 & Switch Nov 22th.

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Released earlier this year on consoles, Cybertrash STATYX finally got a PC version. There's an obvious Amiga action/platformer vibe to it.
Note to developers, don't try to hide. At least have a Twitter account and Youtube. It's the bare minimum you can do for marketing.

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Super Alloy Crush is a sequel Super Allow Ranger from 2022, a pretty decent Chinese developed Megaman clone. Looks like Mushroom Alloy will give it the Megaman-X treatment & co-op gameplay. Planned for a 2025 release on PC.

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Shiny Byte Studio is a small developer and their Knights of the Road nails the NES aesthetic by staying close to its hardware limitations. For that they have my admiration.

 

[BlackTron]

It's subjective, but I think the old Advance Wars is much more asthetically pleasing than the new.

It's so bad to look at that when my friend bought it and challenged me to a duel I changed the TV input to the GBA version. Aside from being ugly I also felt it was just easier to discern different unit types in the 2D version. I found myself squinting for differences of mech units and trying to get used to it. Like the above pic is two different unit types matched up, now figure they're both orange. I didn't have to pay that much attention to make sure I didn't confuse any sprites before. Yeah you could get just used to it, but why when it's so ugly lol

 

[Holammer]

Here's one for the wishlist, Everdeep Aurora by Spanish studio Nautilus Games. Similar to Steamworld Dig where you have to work your way down while meeting various quirky NPCs.
It was meant to release this year, but is now expected to release for PC & Switch in 2025.

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Under the Island is an old school Zelda-Like by Slime King Games, a German studio with Miyoko Takaoka composing the music, she was mostly active during the 90's and her music should fit the "90s fantasy" world of the game. It's been worked on for six years and the developers mention Alundra & Gravity Falls as inspiration. Another wishlist IMO.

Release date is TBA with only a PC version for now, but console versions will be announced later.

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This Early Access project launched yesterday and is a Pokemon style JRPG with a gladiator theme with a Gameboy aesthetic. Developed by a two man team.

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Theropods is a Lucasarts style Point & Click adventure coming Jan 21, 2025. The game is an ongoing Kickstarter project from 2019 by Lost Token. Releases on Switch & PC.

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*No trailer because the developer and publishers are muppets, it's also imposible to embed the Steam trailer, enjoy a picture*

Guidus Zero is a turnbased-ish roguelike by Korean developer izzle. It's based on a 2021 mobile game for Android and IOS, but the art is substantially improved in this new Steam Early Access version. Looks like there are some surface-level similarities to Crypt of the NecroDancer.

 

[Holammer]

Sea Fantasy is an actual JRPG with a fishing theme, as in it's actually developed by a Japanese three man team called METASLA. It looks like a hodgepodge of ideas with Y's 3 style platforming action, overhead view fishing and timing based stuff. They previously worked on android/iOs games and this is the first PC game. They earned a for having tons of info easy to find.

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Released today for free, Escape from Castle Matsumoto is a 2.5d Spy Vs Spy clone with a ninja theme. Find the treasure and make a getaway while avoiding or fighting your rival trying to do the same.
The titular castle is a real Sengoku era castle.

Matsumoto Castle - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Neko Odyssey is a 2.5d exploration game where you photograph cats. Developed by Thailand based SECRET CHARACTER.

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Forgotten Fragments is a puzzle platformer and the first game by Spanish developer Binary Phoenix. Releases on PC 2025 with a Switch version coming later.

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Threads of Time is a "we got Chrono Trigger at home" JRPG by Canadian developer Riyo Games. Coming to PC with no realease date announced, this was their TGA trailer.

 

[Holammer]

This was released today, a simulation game with an interesting premise based on Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth. Where you have the run the town/cult by socially managing its villagers and get them to interbreed with deep ones.

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Here is a in-progress port of the SNES Batman Returns for the Megadrive. With increased resolution, additional on-screen enemies, 2p co-op.
I have no idea if it's going to be a full port or remain a technology demonstration. Check out Pyron on Twitter.

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Dungeons & Ducklings is a Pacman/Flicky-esque roguelike where mama duck needs the rescue the chicks and fight bosses. It's a real mash-up on genres.
By Minnesota based Bear Belly Games and it releases Dec 16th on PC.

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Another PC release today, a game where Doraemon runs a Dorayaki shop. The Switch version released back in August.
The game is made by Japanese dev Kariosoft and it's a skin they apply other similar looking isometric management games they churn out on Mobile & PC. At least they put in some effort and the various Doraemon characters ARE recognizable despite the chunky pixels.

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Maki Paw of Fury releases for PC & Switch Dec 12'th. Developers are Argentinian Bacord Games.

 

[VeganElduderino]

 

[Sophist]

Has this one been posted already? i don't know much about this game, i was searching for the Tales Of rpgs (Namco) on steam and saw this

 

[Holammer]

Has this one been posted already? i don't know much about this game, i was searching for the Tales Of rpgs (Namco) on steam and saw this

Nope and it's a great addition to my wishlist. If you are unsure, try the search function or just post anyway, there's no rules here. Personally I do a quick check every time before I post about a game as a dementia check.
We have an embarrassment of good pixel art games these days and I have a pile of 40+ (constantly growing) games in my inbox here that I dole out periodically in this thread.

 

[Holammer]

Lemme go over a bunch of games released in 2024 that got left behind.




Fishing the Abyss may have a pixel art aesthetic, but it's not the usual fare for this thread. This is an idle game meant to be played on a long vertical window on your desktop. The developer is Japanese Umaaaaaa Studio. The guy is also freelancing and currently involved with black Finger Jet.

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Veritus is an Link's awakening inspired action RPG by Texan developer Colorgrave, with a Gameboy Color style presentation. In fact, their previous two games, Curse Crackers & Prodigal also share this very specific low color style. Only available on PC for now.

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Quest Master by Apogee Entertainment (yeah, THAT Apogee!), launched its Early Access back in may 2024 and is a Zelda: Link to the Past-like with *very* similar mechanics and art (Nintendo Ninjas investigating as we speak). It's more of a Mario Maker style editor with a campaign if you're not the creative type. It had a few updates over the year with new dungeons and content, should reach full release in 2025. It is very well regarded with a 98% Steam User score.

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Bloomtown came out in September and is a JRPG with turn-based battles and pretty damn good graphics. It's out on all the consoles and PC.

Check the GAF discussion here:

Bloomtown: A Different Story - Persona + Earthbound + Stranger Things

Wanted to give this game a shout out since it seems like it’s really going under the radar. Available for PS4/5, XB, PC and Switch. Currently on sale at most online shops Bloomtown is a narrative driven, turn based RPG that takes elements of the Persona series (socializing, time management and...

www.neogaf.com

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Iron Meat is a Contra styled game released back in September by Retroware, the guys behind a lot of pixel art games, including the Angry Video Game Nerd games.
On PC & Consoles and it reviewed favourably everywhere.

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Early access by a Japanese solo developed arcade style tank game in the style of early 80's shooters. No YT presence and I'm probably the only one to notice it, and now you know.

 

[Holammer]

SAU: Citypunk 2011 released today, a typing/visual novel by U0U Games, a Chinese Indie dev.
Story takes place over 9 days as the architect protagonist chats with various clients, there seems some degree of branching paths and different outcomes in the narrative.

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Leilani's Island is a platformer borrowing elements from Mario, Wario and other Nintendo platformers.
Its' been under development since 2016 and there haven't been info since 2022, twitter and the TIGSource thread are quiet. So here's hoping it's still being worked on, because it looks amazing.

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Zlime is an action roguelike by Thailand based developer Duo AB. Launched on Steam Early Access back in April 2024.

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Stand-Alone by Japan based indie developer Lifuel Games is slated for a 2025 release. A roguelike action game with a sheep taking revenge on technologically degenerate wolves judging by the trailer. Developer is active on Twitter and has a dev blog (in Japanese).

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Nitronauts is a bomberman party game clone, ah yup...

 

[Holammer]

Released today for PC. Unless is a precision platformer with speed focus by Toronto based Bellwood Studios.
The use of dithering tickles a pleasure centre in my brain.

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Red Blue Cell is another game released today. A shmup by LKK Games, a solo indie dev with other shooters in its repertoire with a distinct Famicom/PC Engine style.
This game is a pixel art take on Ikaruga with the polarize mechanic.

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Detective Dotson might be the first indian game I've seen. Predictably the story involves a detective with dreams of becoming a Bollywood Star taking on cases.
Releases on PC this April.

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Kemono Teatime by Studio Lalala is a chill lifesim on sorts where you run a cafe, interact with guests and brew tea. Releases 2025 for PC.
Unusually the game is co-produced by Kotori Koiwai, a pretty famous voice actor with plenty of anime and video game credits. The list of contributors seems to include a lot of hip up and coming artists and heavy hitters like NOCO, an illustrator that worked on chara design for the Atelier series & Fate/Grand Order.

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The Crimson Diamond is an old school EGA style (old 16 color PC standard) released autumn 2024. A point and click adventure game with a text parser like the old Sierra games.
A solo developed game by Julia Minamata, a professional illustrator. She found out about Adventure Game Studio, an open source toolset and set out of recreate a game in the style of her old favourite games and mystery novels.
There's a beefy GAF thread with more info here.

The Crimson Diamond | Indie Adventure Game with Text Parser Interface (Released 8/15/2024)

Alright - I know it's niche, but hear me out if you like adventure games. First, a bit of preamble. So ever more I find myself interested in these modern gaming offerings that have the appeal of a retro title. As it stands, I play a lot of retro games actively, though I don't dismiss modern...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Holammer]

Nama Takahashi, the Japanese indie darling behind ElecHead is working on a new game releasing Q1 2025. Solve puzzles with a bomb laying caterpillar.

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Heroes of Hammerwatch II was released just recently, the fourth game in the confusingly named series of Rogue-lite games by Swedish indie dev Crackshell.
A modern day diablo'esque Gauntlet. No word on console versions yet, but previous games in the series had console releases.

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Earthblade is a metroidvania by EXOK Games (Extremely OK Games) the Canadian developers behind Celeste & Towerfall. It was announced two years ago and is listed as coming soon for PC.

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Japanese indie dev Hako Life's PIGGY ONE SUPER SPARK an action game with a very distinct art style should get a 2025 release.
The character designs first appeared in a 2019 artbook by Hanabushi (Watanabe Kodai), a famous illustrator & animator with an extensive body of work. He went freelance after a long career in anime in 2021 and this game is one of the projects he works on now.

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Momibosu, a metroidvania with focus on precision platforming by Japanese indie dev GCM was releases today. The result of six years of development.

 

[Holammer]

Picomix Nusan by french developer NuSan. It seems to be a mostly solo developed over eight years. It consists of 20 different games developed with the Pico-8 framework/virtual machine.
Released today on Switch & PC.

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Randomax by Japanese indie dev Astro Port also released today The developer has been around since 2009 and is very productive as this is their 12'th shmup on Steam and there's more never published on the platform.
The game is an old school style shooter without the bullet hell gameplay common today, instead something closer you'd find in the arcades in the late 80's, but with a twist. It's a rogue-lite with 70 different weapons and the obligatory waifus.

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Craftlings is clearly a fusion of Lemmings and Settlers (it seems to have been called "the settlings" early on). By German indie dev Ariano Games.
Manage resources and defend your settlers from monsters. Releases 2025 on PC.

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Discounty is an RPG/Life Sim/Management game where you run shop. by Crinkle Cut Games, a Danish indie dev.
Aims for a 2025 release on PC.

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Koboo The Tree Spirit by Toronto based Honest Rogue Games released in august 2024 without making a big splash.
A rogue-lite "roguevania" funded with a small kickstarter.

 

[Holammer]

Launched on Steam Early Access today. A roguelike deckbuilder heavily inspired by Balatro, one might say it's a clone but it's based on Mahjong to spice up the formula. Score hands, upgrade tiles and buy upgrades. The first game of an unknown developer called XO Cat, which appears to be part of XD, a Chinese publisher.

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Bounty Sisters by PiXEL, arrives on PC & Switch early summer 2025.
Does it look familiar or ring a bell even? The character designs are by Japanese artist Shuzilow.HA or Shûjirô Hamakawa. The guy that made the chara design for all the Twinbee games, who'could'a thunk it? Three ex-konami musicians are also involved with the game.

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Cyclopean launched on Early Access a few days ago. A CRPG with a deliberate monochromatic art direction. An Ultima style overworld and dungeons represented with a Dungeon Crawler perspective. It takes place in the Lovecraft Dreamlands setting. Developed by Schmidt Workshops, the Chicagoan solo developer behind Islands of the Caliph.

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Changeable Guardian ESTIQUE by Japanese indie devs Cat Hui Trading for the NES is for sale now, will be available for NES NTCS/PAL & Famicom. A shmup with top notch graphics for the system. Ships in February.

Changeable Guardian ESTIQUE - キャット・ホイ商事合同会社

Changeable Guardian ESTIQUE's web siteAll screenshots a

www.cathuitrading.com

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CODE Bunny is an action platformer released December last year. Made by Brazilian indie dev Team Seventh Star.