Halloween is barely a month away and the Maw hoots and hiccoughs, demanding that I fill it up with original low-budget horror games, but I have no time for such things, because my thoughts are full of bread. Bread! There is nothing so horrible, and nothing so seductive. I'd like to cut back on the stuff to minimise middle-aged corpulence, but there's a place down the road that sells this amazing, tearable sourdough, and I can't get enough of it. Fortunately/unfortunately, there don't seem to be any bread-themed PC games out this week. Here's our round-up.
On Monday 30th September, why not take a tour of Zoochosis - don't sweat the wall-giraffes, they're meant to do that, I promise. Alternatively, set course for Starfield's Shattered Space DLC to engage in some reportedly "back-to-basics" Bethesda role-playing, or piratical venture Rogue Waters if you like turn-based broadsides and boarding actions. On Tuesday 1st October, oh wow, an Endoparasitic sequel. Who knew having three limbs pulled off would make for such a bankable premise. On Wednesday 2nd October, tinker with timelines to dissect triffids in Tarnished Blood. Or slam tilt the metroidvania in Pinball Spire. Or stick it to Satan's legions in Kill Knight. On Thursday 3rd October, the delayed delivery of bike courier sim Parcel Corps. Also Gnomes And Knights, a low-poly dark fantasia which merrily describes itself as "A REAL opportunity to FINALLY find the gnomes" whose "Low price matches the level of content's quality". On Friday 4th October, finally, the chance to kill off an entire cabin of vexingly photogenic youth in Until Dawn, or hole up in the garden shed with Grunn, which sounds amazing.
You can read of more novelties and curiosities in our weekly liveblog below. If there's a novelty or curiosity we've overlooked, let us know in the comments so I can purse my lips and seethe impotently. Look at that, I went a whole paragraph without thinking about bread! But it is too late for me. There is a shop-fresh bag of Hovis multiseed in the kitchen, and I can hear it whispering to me yeastily through the plastic. Please share any great-looking games we've missed, and have a good week.
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood devs have turned their game's Tarot card creation element into a physical card game with stickers. I guess you could always draw or paint your own, though.
Ara: History Untold has received a patch that addresses balance problems and techo-calamities, like the game crashing when you mouse-over the army panel.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Black Myth: Wukong's DLC won't be with us for a long time, according to Game Science CEO Feng Ji.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: "Something secret". It can only be Garfield Kart Furious Racing 2.
Rumbled! I have an interview with Artefacts founder Pascal Enigmé at 3pm - please let me know your questions.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The Sims 4's Life & Death expansion, out on 31st October, is big, busy and morbid. It adds funerals, wills, vocations such as undertaker and Grim Reaper, a selection of ways to grieve, an afterlife-to-rebirth loop greased by "unfinished business", and a new region, Ravenwood, where the new features get a chance to strut their stuff. Here's the announcement blog.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
As reported by MP1st, Outlast developers Red Barrels have been hacked. The devs say no player data has been stolen but "the hit on our production timeline has been significant." Citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the alleged ransomware group responsible, MP1st claim that 1.8 terabytes of data have been stolen, including HR information and full source code for Outlast 1 and Outlast 2.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Star Wars Outlaws has been patched with an emphasis on the "overall stealth experience" and stopping you falling off your bike. Here are the full patch notes.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
ENDING ON A HIGH-DAY
In my case, that's "high" as in "about to fly somewhere to see something secret". In the hour before boarding, there is yet time to FEED THE MAW.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
No longer will you be forced to choose between playing sudoku and checking the weather forecast.
If you're more into queer horror games than the taking of turns, this Itch.io bundle might appeal. (Disclaimer: queer horror games involved may involve the taking of turns.)
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
In case you missed it, Steam are having a turn-based RPG festival. Some quick highlights: 40% off The Colony Ship, which Sin liked, and Darkest Dungeon for Around The Price Of A Cup Of Coffee.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Who's up for a "Kafka-esque" hellscape you can access from your browser? No, I don't mean RPS. I mean Pager, whose demo was recently updated. Thanks, Warpdoor.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Corporeal is "a photographic paranormal-mystery where you piece together a cursed family photo album, set in mid-90s New Zealand". I consider "cursed family photo album" a tautology. Steam page here.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
11 bit's wheely clone factory sim The Alters has been delayed into 2025 "to polish each phase of the project, delivering results that surpass our prior projections".
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
IT IS THUWURSDAY
How has your week been going? Mine has mostly involved being off work with a head cold and waking up at 4am with horrifically mangled imagery of vintage Warhammer art in my head. Feed the maw, but please, don't shout.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Tarnished Blood releases today. "If you'd told me back in 1999 that a rudimentary grasp of sound editing software would stand me in surprisingly good stead as a strategy game player, I'd have asked you who the hell you are and what you're doing in my house," was Edwin's reaction.
– Nic Reuben
Moving Houses released yesterday. It's a "silly little physics-based game about moving on", but also the developer mentioned House Of Leaves as an inspiration.
– Nic Reuben
Some screenshots from Sims adjacent Project Rene appear to have leaked, via PC Gamer.
WizKids can eat my left buttock with these prices. A set containing Baldur's Gate 3's origin characters and Withers isn't too terrible, but $25 for a single, randomised, made-of-the-worst-plastic-you've-ever-touched mini is the start of my Dark Urge origin story. Edit: Ah. It's four minis, not one. Still, I offer my left buttock.
– Nic Reuben
Insider Gaming have unearthed a bit more context around Assassin’s Creed Shadows Delay. Happily, it at least partly sounds like it's a case of upper management actually listening to the pleas of developers.
– Nic Reuben
Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda has spoken to Automata about how the game's herds will change the way you hunt - letting you lure monsters away from herds or have to contend with whole packs at once.
– Nic Reuben
Zoochosis - the only game brave enough to honestly depict the slumbering evil buried in the hearts of all giraffes - will have "23 storylines that lead to different endings", although each will only take you a few hours, via GamesRadar.
– Nic Reuben
IT IS AMUSE-DAY
It hungers.
– Nic Reuben
As reported by Kommersant and passed on by PCGamer, Russian regulators appear to be psyching themselves up to ban Discord.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
The launch trailer for Starfield's Shattered Space expansion.
FF14 boss Naoki Yoshida has suggested that in the event of Square Enix remaking Final Fantasy 9, it would be a multiple-release project, as with Final Fantasy 7. "The one that I would like to make myself would be Final Fantasy 3, I think," he told SI. "Of course, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy 9 to be made, but when you think about Final Fantasy 9, it’s a game with huge volume. When you think about all of that volume, I wonder if it’s possible to remake that as a single title."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Technotopia is out 16th October on Steam. This is the one where you're an AI running a city whose various factions are trying to control you.
Hunchback says: "Fortunately/unfortunately, there don't seem to be any bread-themed PC games out this week."
Au contraire. I believe Grandpa: Bread Adventure could be dropping any moment and the week after that the imaginatively titled Bread is loosed upon the world.
Maw regulars may have noticed that I'm trying out actual game screens for the header image this week, rather than ancient etchings of beasts. This is mostly because I'm running out of monster words to type into Wikimedia Commons.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
In I HATE MY LEGS you are a turtle who would probably have found his missing father already if it wasn't for his large, human legs. Be warned, they're calling it "Foddian".
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
"The Thing is going to be the most graphically impressive remaster from @NightdiveStudio," writes studio head Stephen Kick via Musky media. "Our goal was to bring this up from a PS2 era game to PS3 and fans of the movie are going to find TONS of Easter eggs and an insane attention to detail."
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here's a game we missed from the round-up: pagan party-based RPG Banquet For Fools, in which you learn custom spells by etching runes on trees.
– Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
Here's Jack Black to show you how a crafting table works in the Minecraft movie.
