{"id":1852472,"date":"2026-03-28T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1852472"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T08:00:00","slug":"beat-based-dungeon-crawlers-card-battling-soccer-sims-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1852472","title":{"rendered":"Beat-based dungeon crawlers, card-battling soccer sims and other new indie games worth checking out"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Fnt6ZcdmBPv7lbxyrZYT4w&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD02NzU-\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/gridbeat_8155.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"article-d427098c-1380-406f-8423-5468d5718c46\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto flex flex-row justify-between md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px]\">\n<div class=\"min-w-0 flex-1 self-start\" data-i13n-boundary=\"true\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<nav class=\"relative mx-4 mb-4 border-b pb-4 md:mx-0 md:mb-6 md:max-w-[750px] md:pb-6\" aria-label=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<ol class=\"no-scrollbar overflow-scroll whitespace-nowrap text-battleship\">\n<li class=\"inline\">\n<li class=\"inline-block cursor-default last:pr-10 md:last:pr-20 font-bold\">Gaming<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<header class=\"mb-4 px-4 md:mb-6 md:max-w-[750px] md:px-0\">\n<h1 class=\"layout-h1 my-2 font-bold leading-tight\">Beat-based dungeon crawlers, card-battling soccer sims and other new indie games worth checking out<\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"rightrail-h2-subheadline my-2 text-[18px] font-light leading-5 md:text-[20px]\/[28px]\">Plus, an indie studio&#8217;s take on the Factions mode from The Last of Us.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"flex-col items-start lg:flex lg:flex-row lg:items-center lg:justify-between mt-6\">\n<div class=\"relative md:mr-[10px]\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex mr-2\">\n<div class=\"shrink-0 cursor-pointer inline-block size-[42px]\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt role=\"img\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full rounded-full object-cover object-center shadow-[0_0_0_2px_#ffffff]\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/KAmpaC2kDwlaab0GSBqF_A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTgwO2g9ODA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2023-12\/22e56d00-a0e5-11ee-9d5f-464f2df9bf13\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-block\">\n<div class=\"w-max text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] font-semibold flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col\">\n<div class=\"flex w-max items-center\">Kris Holt<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"font-normal sm:before:inline-block\">Contributing Reporter<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-[0.75rem] text-dolphin dark:text-shark md:text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] lg:pt-[5px]\">\n<div class=\"inline-block\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-28T11:00:00.000Z\">Sat, March 28, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ml-0 mt-4 flex items-center lg:ml-3 lg:mt-0\">\n<div class=\"ml-0 mr-2\">\n<div class=\"relative flex\">Add Engadget on Google<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"mx-4 md:mx-0\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-[[fullbleed-start_body-start]_minmax(auto,750px)_[body-end_fullbleed-end]]\">\n<figure class=\"relative col-body mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative overflow-hidden fig-image-round \"><img decoding=\"async\" alt class=\"object-cover object-center\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/r.MT8Kbzik08tgTFQ_Wrjg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD02OTk-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/uu\/api\/res\/1.2\/jdmjOhkQlTLe6TOnP6Ekmg--~B\/aD0xMDgwO3c9MTkyMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/gridbeat_8155.jpg\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-[0.875rem]\/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 mt-2.5 md:mt-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div><span>Ridiculous Games\/Acclaim, Inc.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Welcome to our latest roundup of what&#8217;s going on in the indie game space. As ever, we&#8217;ve got some new games for you to dive into this weekend, and a glimpse at some upcoming titles. But, first, a look at indie studio Albatross Interactive&#8217;s take on a multiplayer mode from a much-loved blockbuster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Terminal War <\/em>is a 4v4 third-person shooter and it seems like the small team of developers is trying to keep things grounded. Ammo and supplies are scarce, and there&#8217;s an emphasis on melee combat with the promise of &#8220;brutal executions.&#8221; The action is set in the late &#8217;90s, a few years after a global war, with three factions battling for control and survival in a collapsed version of the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Albatross Interactive isn&#8217;t shy about the inspiration behind <em>Terminal War. \u201c<\/em>They canceled <em>The Last of Us Factions 2,<\/em>&#8221; the team wrote on X. &#8220;So we&#8217;re building it [sic] our version.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_25gb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">In September 2019, nine months before the game\u2019s eventual release, Naughty Dog confirmed <em>The Last of Us Part 2<\/em> wouldn\u2019t have a multiplayer mode. At the time, it told players &#8220;you will eventually experience the fruits of our team&#8217;s online ambition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">That still hasn\u2019t exactly come to pass. The studio formally announced <em>The Last of Us Online<\/em> in June 2022 and canceled it 18 months later. As such, the Factions mode in 2014&#8217;s <em>The Last of Us Remastered <\/em>for PS4 remains the franchise&#8217;s only remaining multiplayer mode.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Albatross Interactive, which says it&#8217;s building <em>Terminal War <\/em>from scratch, plans to reveal more gameplay soon. The game is slated to hit Steam in early access as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The team expects <em>Terminal War<\/em> to remain in early access for around 12-18 months, though it noted that &#8220;we&#8217;re a small studio and we&#8217;d rather take the time to get it right than rush to a finish line. The timeline will ultimately be shaped by community feedback, the scope of content we deliver, and the standard of quality we hold ourselves to.&#8221; The studio plans to bring the game to consoles as well.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-mb col-body heading-text-style font-bold charcoal-color\" data-jump-link-target id=\"new-releases\">New releases<\/h2>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">I\u2019m into the current iteration of Acclaim as an indie publisher (albeit one with a plan to revive its own historic franchises). Its latest title, <em>GridBeat <\/em>from Ridiculous Games, is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler in which you&#8217;re trying to escape from a corporate network after pinching a trove of valuable data. Malware and security protocols are on your tail. Navigating the mazes, interacting with objects and boss battles are all synced to a beat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2dgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>GridBeat <\/em>is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch. It typically costs $20, but there&#8217;s a 10 percent discount on Switch until April 2. It&#8217;s 15 percent off on Steam until April 9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Given how much time I spent playing <em>Football Manager 26<\/em> last year, <em>Nutmeg <\/em>is right up my alley. Getting veteran commentator Jim Rosenthal to pitch the soccer management sim in the launch trailer certainly doesn&#8217;t hurt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This is a card-battler take on soccer management and it\u2019s set in the &#8217;80s and &#8217;90s. You can start out in the lower divisions and can work your way up to the top of the English soccer system. You&#8217;ll hire and fire staff, and select your team and formation before taking on an opponent. Completing challenges and doing well in training will earn you more card packs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The trailer reminds me of collecting Panini stickers as a kid as well as the smell of my friends\u2019 Subbuteo figures. I would have said my favorite thing about this is that everything takes place at an era-appropriate desk with a TV that shows results and standings in the style of Teletext and an old computer that has some retro mini-games you can play. However, Sumo Sheffield and Publisher Secret Mode are donating a small portion of every sale of <em>Nutmeg <\/em>to charity, which is a nice gesture.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2jgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Nutmeg <\/em>is out now on Steam. It&#8217;ll usually cost you $25, but there&#8217;s a whopping 40 percent discount until April 2.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2mgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Devil Jam<\/em> is a metal-themed spin on the roguelite formula that <em>Vampire Survivors<\/em> popularized with a dash of <em>Hades<\/em>-esque characterization mixed in. It&#8217;s been out on Steam since November and it hit consoles this week. It costs $8 on PS5 and Switch, and $7.59 on Xbox Series X\/S.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">You&#8217;ll wield a cursed guitar as you battle demonic enemies and bosses. As ever with this type of game, it&#8217;s all about finding fun, powerful builds by synergizing abilities. You can put those together in a 12-slot gear system. I dig the art style and animation in this game from Rogueside too. I especially love that one character dashes by powersliding on their knees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">A couple of months after its debut on Steam, <em>Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator<\/em> landed on Xbox Series X\/S for $20 this week. The latest game from prolific studio Strange Scaffold is a stock market simulator in which you speculate on the &#8220;simulated lives of babies&#8221; and how successful (or not) said alien sprogs will be in the future. It takes aim at real-life prediction markets where people can gamble on everything from the <em>Time <\/em>Person of the Year to nuclear tests.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-mb col-body heading-text-style font-bold charcoal-color\" data-jump-link-target id=\"upcoming\">Upcoming<\/h2>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Here&#8217;s another game you can actually check out this weekend, as a playtest is taking place on Steam until March 31. <em>Salvation Denied<\/em> is a co-op construction sim\/tower defense game from Firevolt and publisher Digital Vortex Entertainment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2ugb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">You can get together with up to three friends to build experimental structures at the behest of a foreman who looks like he&#8217;s stepped right out of <em>Team Fortress 2<\/em>. You&#8217;ll have tools like a gravity gun, foam gun and jetpacks on hand to help you form these structures, along with heavy machinery that can move or recycle sections of the build. Coordinating with proximity voice chat could be critical as you and your buds deal with natural disasters like acid rain and meteor showers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">I&#8217;m almost always going to be on board with a game that&#8217;s all about chaos, so I&#8217;m interested in checking out <em>Salvation Denied<\/em>. It&#8217;s set to hit Steam this fall before landing on PS5 and Xbox Series X\/S in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Someone has stolen the sun. Reclaiming it is your goal in<em> Light Dude<\/em>, which is from solo developer Ramy of Dergham Games. It&#8217;s an action game in which the lights go out when you move, so you&#8217;ll need to figure out your approach to each level and how to avoid hazards before moving forward. There&#8217;s a first-person mode here too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Light Dude <\/em>is slated to hit Steam sometime this spring. A demo is available now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_35gb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Solo developer Mateo Covic (aka ZoroArts) is looking to follow up on the success of <em>Paddle Paddle Paddle<\/em> with another friendslop game. Covic said it took just four weeks to create <em>Cool Story Bro.<\/em> Up to four players each have five minutes to write a short story that includes four words. These are picked at random or taken from a pool of player suggestions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Special items appear throughout each round, such as a revolver, which can take another player out of the game for 10 seconds, and one that swaps everyone&#8217;s stories. If you&#8217;re the first player to type an item&#8217;s name, you can use it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">After everyone has finished writing their story, players take turns to read theirs out for the rest of the group. The others vote on whether they liked the tale. If you really hate someone else&#8217;s short story, you can blow them up with a rocket launcher. If only I had that option at some of the poetry readings I\u2019ve been to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This seems fun and silly, and the kind of thing that could easily blow up on Twitch (there&#8217;s an integration that allows viewers to suggest words). <em>Cool Story Bro<\/em> is slated to hit Steam sometime in April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Fittingly enough, it&#8217;s been a long time since Third Shift announced its debut project, <em>Forever Ago<\/em>. Six years, in fact. The game re-emerged this week during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase. Publisher Annapurna Interactive is bringing it to Xbox Series X\/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox on PC, Steam and Epic Games Store this fall. It&#8217;ll be available on Xbox Game Pass (and Xbox Cloud) on day one.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_3cgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This is a road trip adventure in which you take on the role of Alfred. Following a personal tragedy, he ventures north in his minivan to seek redemption. With an instant camera in hand, Alfred will meet new people and explore forests, deserts and mountains. It&#8217;s another narrative-heavy game from Annapurna, which appears to be leaning heavily into nostalgia this year given that <em>Mixtape<\/em> is only a few weeks away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\">\n<div class=\"commerce col-body\" data-pw=\"disclosure\">\n<div class=\"mb-7 flex items-center rounded-lg p-3 p-5 w-fit flex-col md:flex-row\">\n<p class=\"text-[12px] text-battleship dark:text-gandalf md:text-[13px]\">If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"hidden flex-none md:block ml-8\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full flex-col flex-nowrap\">\n<div class=\"flex-auto\">\n<div class=\"sticky flex flex-none\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_sj7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mx-auto md:px-10 md:max-w-[1220px]\">\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\">\n<div class=\"no-scrollbar col-body mx-4 mb-8 mt-2.5 overflow-x-scroll whitespace-nowrap md:mx-0 md:max-w-[750px] md:overflow-x-visible\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto max-w-screen-sm\">\n<ul class=\"inline-flex text-xs md:text-sm\">\n<li class=\"mr-6\">About our ads<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Welcome to our latest roundup of what&#8217;s going on in the indie game space. As ever, we&#8217;ve got some new games for you to dive into this weekend, and a glimpse at some upcoming titles. But, first, a look at indie studio Albatross Interactive&#8217;s take on a multiplayer mode from a much-loved blockbuster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Terminal War <\/em>is a 4v4 third-person shooter and it seems like the small team of developers is trying to keep things grounded. Ammo and supplies are scarce, and there&#8217;s an emphasis on melee combat with the promise of &#8220;brutal executions.&#8221; The action is set in the late &#8217;90s, a few years after a global war, with three factions battling for control and survival in a collapsed version of the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Albatross Interactive isn&#8217;t shy about the inspiration behind <em>Terminal War. \u201c<\/em>They canceled <em>The Last of Us Factions 2,<\/em>&#8221; the team wrote on X. &#8220;So we&#8217;re building it [sic] our version.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_25gb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">In September 2019, nine months before the game\u2019s eventual release, Naughty Dog confirmed <em>The Last of Us Part 2<\/em> wouldn\u2019t have a multiplayer mode. At the time, it told players &#8220;you will eventually experience the fruits of our team&#8217;s online ambition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">That still hasn\u2019t exactly come to pass. The studio formally announced <em>The Last of Us Online<\/em> in June 2022 and canceled it 18 months later. As such, the Factions mode in 2014&#8217;s <em>The Last of Us Remastered <\/em>for PS4 remains the franchise&#8217;s only remaining multiplayer mode.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Albatross Interactive, which says it&#8217;s building <em>Terminal War <\/em>from scratch, plans to reveal more gameplay soon. The game is slated to hit Steam in early access as soon as this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The team expects <em>Terminal War<\/em> to remain in early access for around 12-18 months, though it noted that &#8220;we&#8217;re a small studio and we&#8217;d rather take the time to get it right than rush to a finish line. The timeline will ultimately be shaped by community feedback, the scope of content we deliver, and the standard of quality we hold ourselves to.&#8221; The studio plans to bring the game to consoles as well.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-mb col-body heading-text-style font-bold charcoal-color\" data-jump-link-target id=\"new-releases\">New releases<\/h2>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">I\u2019m into the current iteration of Acclaim as an indie publisher (albeit one with a plan to revive its own historic franchises). Its latest title, <em>GridBeat <\/em>from Ridiculous Games, is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler in which you&#8217;re trying to escape from a corporate network after pinching a trove of valuable data. Malware and security protocols are on your tail. Navigating the mazes, interacting with objects and boss battles are all synced to a beat.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2dgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>GridBeat <\/em>is available on Steam and Nintendo Switch. It typically costs $20, but there&#8217;s a 10 percent discount on Switch until April 2. It&#8217;s 15 percent off on Steam until April 9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Given how much time I spent playing <em>Football Manager 26<\/em> last year, <em>Nutmeg <\/em>is right up my alley. Getting veteran commentator Jim Rosenthal to pitch the soccer management sim in the launch trailer certainly doesn&#8217;t hurt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This is a card-battler take on soccer management and it\u2019s set in the &#8217;80s and &#8217;90s. You can start out in the lower divisions and can work your way up to the top of the English soccer system. You&#8217;ll hire and fire staff, and select your team and formation before taking on an opponent. Completing challenges and doing well in training will earn you more card packs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">The trailer reminds me of collecting Panini stickers as a kid as well as the smell of my friends\u2019 Subbuteo figures. I would have said my favorite thing about this is that everything takes place at an era-appropriate desk with a TV that shows results and standings in the style of Teletext and an old computer that has some retro mini-games you can play. However, Sumo Sheffield and Publisher Secret Mode are donating a small portion of every sale of <em>Nutmeg <\/em>to charity, which is a nice gesture.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2jgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Nutmeg <\/em>is out now on Steam. It&#8217;ll usually cost you $25, but there&#8217;s a whopping 40 percent discount until April 2.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2mgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Devil Jam<\/em> is a metal-themed spin on the roguelite formula that <em>Vampire Survivors<\/em> popularized with a dash of <em>Hades<\/em>-esque characterization mixed in. It&#8217;s been out on Steam since November and it hit consoles this week. It costs $8 on PS5 and Switch, and $7.59 on Xbox Series X\/S.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">You&#8217;ll wield a cursed guitar as you battle demonic enemies and bosses. As ever with this type of game, it&#8217;s all about finding fun, powerful builds by synergizing abilities. You can put those together in a 12-slot gear system. I dig the art style and animation in this game from Rogueside too. I especially love that one character dashes by powersliding on their knees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">A couple of months after its debut on Steam, <em>Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator<\/em> landed on Xbox Series X\/S for $20 this week. The latest game from prolific studio Strange Scaffold is a stock market simulator in which you speculate on the &#8220;simulated lives of babies&#8221; and how successful (or not) said alien sprogs will be in the future. It takes aim at real-life prediction markets where people can gamble on everything from the <em>Time <\/em>Person of the Year to nuclear tests.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading-mb col-body heading-text-style font-bold charcoal-color\" data-jump-link-target id=\"upcoming\">Upcoming<\/h2>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Here&#8217;s another game you can actually check out this weekend, as a playtest is taking place on Steam until March 31. <em>Salvation Denied<\/em> is a co-op construction sim\/tower defense game from Firevolt and publisher Digital Vortex Entertainment.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_2ugb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">You can get together with up to three friends to build experimental structures at the behest of a foreman who looks like he&#8217;s stepped right out of <em>Team Fortress 2<\/em>. You&#8217;ll have tools like a gravity gun, foam gun and jetpacks on hand to help you form these structures, along with heavy machinery that can move or recycle sections of the build. Coordinating with proximity voice chat could be critical as you and your buds deal with natural disasters like acid rain and meteor showers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">I&#8217;m almost always going to be on board with a game that&#8217;s all about chaos, so I&#8217;m interested in checking out <em>Salvation Denied<\/em>. It&#8217;s set to hit Steam this fall before landing on PS5 and Xbox Series X\/S in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Someone has stolen the sun. Reclaiming it is your goal in<em> Light Dude<\/em>, which is from solo developer Ramy of Dergham Games. It&#8217;s an action game in which the lights go out when you move, so you&#8217;ll need to figure out your approach to each level and how to avoid hazards before moving forward. There&#8217;s a first-person mode here too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\"><em>Light Dude <\/em>is slated to hit Steam sometime this spring. A demo is available now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_35gb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Solo developer Mateo Covic (aka ZoroArts) is looking to follow up on the success of <em>Paddle Paddle Paddle<\/em> with another friendslop game. Covic said it took just four weeks to create <em>Cool Story Bro.<\/em> Up to four players each have five minutes to write a short story that includes four words. These are picked at random or taken from a pool of player suggestions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Special items appear throughout each round, such as a revolver, which can take another player out of the game for 10 seconds, and one that swaps everyone&#8217;s stories. If you&#8217;re the first player to type an item&#8217;s name, you can use it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">After everyone has finished writing their story, players take turns to read theirs out for the rest of the group. The others vote on whether they liked the tale. If you really hate someone else&#8217;s short story, you can blow them up with a rocket launcher. If only I had that option at some of the poetry readings I\u2019ve been to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This seems fun and silly, and the kind of thing that could easily blow up on Twitch (there&#8217;s an integration that allows viewers to suggest words). <em>Cool Story Bro<\/em> is slated to hit Steam sometime in April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">Fittingly enough, it&#8217;s been a long time since Third Shift announced its debut project, <em>Forever Ago<\/em>. Six years, in fact. The game re-emerged this week during the Xbox Partner Preview showcase. Publisher Annapurna Interactive is bringing it to Xbox Series X\/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox on PC, Steam and Epic Games Store this fall. It&#8217;ll be available on Xbox Game Pass (and Xbox Cloud) on day one.<\/p>\n<div class=\"col-fullbleed mb-4 bg-marshmallow pb-5 dark:bg-ramones md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\">\n<div class=\"flex\" id=\"_R_3cgb7b4ilfaiv5tilbH1_\">\n<div class=\"flex size-full items-center justify-center bg-marshmallow text-center leading-3\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color\">This is a road trip adventure in which you take on the role of Alfred. Following a personal tragedy, he ventures north in his minivan to seek redemption. With an instant camera in hand, Alfred will meet new people and explore forests, deserts and mountains. It&#8217;s another narrative-heavy game from Annapurna, which appears to be leaning heavily into nostalgia this year given that <em>Mixtape<\/em> is only a few weeks away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/gaming\/beat-based-dungeon-crawlers-card-battling-soccer-sims-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-110000472.html&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Fnt6ZcdmBPv7lbxyrZYT4w&#8211;\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD02NzU-\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/user-uploaded\/gridbeat_8155.jpg&#8221;] Gaming Beat-based dungeon crawlers, card-battling soccer sims and other new indie games worth checking out Plus, an indie studio&#8217;s take on the Factions mode from The Last of Us. Kris Holt Contributing Reporter Sat, March 28, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC Add Engadget on Google Ridiculous Games\/Acclaim, Inc. Welcome to our latest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,63],"class_list":["post-1852472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-engadget-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1852472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1852472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1852472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1852472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}