Just a Shadow Game (Steam Preview)

Just a Shadow game is an upcoming ritual deck builder from publisher Neon Doctrine that is planned to release sometime in 2026. They were kind enough to toss me an early demo, and I have to say, this is another title on my list of games that shows a ton of promise. The good news is that by the time you read this, you can play that same demo.

The concept is pretty simple. You get a deck to start with, and with each area you win, you can upgrade it with new cards. Each card represents a sort of building or tower that summons fighters for you or attacks the other side for you. Each turn will see your little ritual summoner traverse your section to activate towers to send your forces to kill your enemies’ captor; in turn, you must protect yours. The first side to kill the other’s captor wins.

This sounds pretty easy and straightforward, but the amount of strategy needed is very real. The controls are also very nice, and graphically, the game does an amazing job of making everything look sinister without simply drowning everything in unneeded darkness, which I think is a mistake far too many companies make.

This is another title you should be trying the demo out for and keeping a close eye on. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Long Live My Lady! Tavern Simulator Demo

Every so often, I get an email from a company, and they say, “Hey, why don’t you check out my game demo?” This weekend I am at work just chucking axes at a wall like I do, because I teach people to throw them, and I get an email from Sudo Eat Cake Games telling me about their game Long Live My Lady over on Steam.

Of course, I am instantly drawn to the cute graphics and the idea of what appears to be a garden gnome slinging beer to goblins. It just screams something my D&D friends got drunk and came up with on a Friday night. I had to try this game out, and I am so glad I did.

The demo isn’t long; you can play for an hour and get into a great rhythm of what’s going on. You will be building tables, brewing beer, and serving goblins in no time. There is an overarching story that I won’t spoil for you; it is rather interesting, and I hope to see where it goes later in 2025 when it releases. For now, definitely check out the demo, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sintopia Preview

Sintopia will be releasing into Early Access soon over on Steam, and Team 17 was nice enough to let me check out an early demo version of the game. There is also a demo you can check out over on Steam as well so definitely check that out.

The gameplay loop is very simple: you guide your people into living their lives so you can harvest sin and reap the profit and keep your hellish empire running. You then return those people to the surface to relive their sinful lives. Rinse and repeat. It is a nice combination of management and city builder.

The demo is far from complete, so obviously this isn’t a review in the classic sense, but the gameplay flows nicely and the humor is great. You quite literally get the job because nobody else wants it. The first-ever succubus guides you through your work and promises not to bite you, unless you ask nicely, with the entire reason for her helping you being that the person who was supposed to manage you was taking off to answer a phone call.

Building new ways to encourage sin and then make sure that people meet an untimely demise is more fun than I expected, and is definitely worth checking out the demo for. I, for one, can’t wait to play the full version. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

RPG / sim crossover announced! Road Truckers: New Beginning

Just a quick announcement from my friends at Movie Games: the RPG/Sim game Road Truckers, featuring Truck Driver, has been announced and is now open for wishlist on Steam and PS5. Check out the trailer below. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Curiosmos Steam Demo Preview

Curiosmos is a cute demo sent to me by Céline Veltman & The Silly Stars and is essentially a space sim that lets you build your own little star system. You will start out by slamming dust and rocks together to form a planet, and once it is big enough, you can start messing around on the surface.

On the surface, you can do all sorts of things, like hit the planet with more asteroids to see what happens to the surface, form clouds and rain, or even just anger the planet and watch it spit lava everywhere. The planet does have feelings after all.

The demo is sadly rather short and cuts off when a black hole appears, leaving you at a sort of cliffhanger as the sun explains that there is a way to make the black hole happy and leave your newly forming solar system in peace. The demo does, however, do a great job of showing you how you and your new robot friend can collect materials to form new planets and how you can play with them. It is a fun little demo, and the game itself shows some real promise. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Endzone 2 Launches July 24

After 2 years, the long wait is finally over. Endzone 2 has an official release date of July 24th. Enjoy the trailer and some of the details below.

Key Features:

Multiple Settlements Across a Shattered World – Discover and develop isolated zones, each with unique resources and threats.
Dynamic Disasters – Face radiation storms, toxic rains, droughts, and other unpredictable environmental threats.
Trade & Expeditions with Vehicles – Deploy and upgrade your settlement bus, establish trade routes, and send teams on risky expeditions.
Revamped Settler Simulation – Smarter AI and refined pathing create thriving, responsive communities.
A Year of Major Updates – From electricity and education to traders, bulletin boards, and hunting systems, the game has grown massively since launch.

LumenTale: Memories of Trey Demo

LumenTale Memories of Trey is an upcoming monster-collecting RPG from Team 17 and Beehive Studios . They tossed me this demo to check out, and it is a demo from the early build, so this definitely is not a full review by any means. More a collection of thoughts on something they were nice enough to let me check out.

The story is rather interesting. For a long time, the world was peaceful. This peaceful emperor died, as often happens, a civil war broke out. There was a huge war until a very dedicated portion of the old king’s military decided to defend the people who lived in fear; this brought a new peace.

Who cares about that? We are here to catch monsters, in this world known as Animon. With 140 known types and 13 different elements, there are plenty of options to choose from, and with duels and 4×4 battles to choose from, there will be a ton of strategy to work on.

Before you get to all that, however, you will have to slog through an opening stealth section with a girl trying to find some fruit. I promise this is legitimately necessary for the story. It just wasn’t fun. The pacing in the early game feels pretty off to me. It isn’t bad or uninteresting, mind you, it’s just slow.

The designs for the Animon are as cute as you would hope in the early game, with some of them becoming creepy or more aggressive-looking as you would expect later on. The game looks great and plays fairly well.

My only other real issue is that the demo isn’t exactly optimized. My laptop heats up something fierce while playing, despite the fact that I am on relatively low settings and am well beyond what I would need to play the game. All that being said, the full release shows a lot of promise. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

A World of Keflings Steam Demo

A World of Keflings is an old city builder from the Xbox 360, developed by Ninjabee, and they were kind enough to send me a demo of the Steam version, which is coming soon. I appreciate this because I have a lot of fond memories with this game, I played it a ton with my daughter when she was a kid, She’s now 19 and she also played the demo to see how it held up. It is live on Steam, and you should do the same.

The concept is easy: you play as a giant that helps little people known as Keflings build their city. You can pick them up to move them, and they will gather resources, move them from place to place to create new objects for you, and you use these objects to put together blueprints that turn into builds.

This can range from small things like houses or lumber mills to massive things like castles. This obviously isn’t a full review, as the game isn’t out yet. What I can say is that the demo functions great. The controls are fluid, and the sound and graphics are better than they have ever been.

The game itself does show its age in some areas, for example, it is very basic compared to many other city builders. You won’t be micromanaging any sort of trade between cities or anything like that. This isn’t a bad thing to me, though. I am excited for the full release, and you should be as well. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Make dishes out of cards in a demo for Abra-Cooking-Dabra!

Hi, chef! Get ready to upgrade your culinary skills in Abra-Cooking-Dabra — a cozy cooking card game, coming in Q4 2025 with a demo available now!

After accidentally destroying a valuable cookbook you find yourself transported to Wonderland and sentenced to serve as a chef for the crime. Now you have to cook for eccentric guests and restore all the lost recipes!

The demo will include:

6 levels to play, including a secret endless one — grow ingredients, prepare dishes and serve eccentric guests!
multiple dishes to cook — figure out every single one from hints, received from customers!
multiple bizarre guests — some will try to mess with you!
meta-progression — players can buy new appliances and utilities between levels to improve their kitchen!

[Wholesome Direct] Sequel to townbuilder hit ‘Gourdlets’ announced with multiplayer ‘Gourdlets Together’

News Summary
Solo dev AuntyGames and publisher Future Friends (SUMMERHOUSE, Exo One, The Cabin Factory) have announced Gourdlets Together, a multiplayer sequel to their hit cozy sandbox game Gourdlets, in today’s Wholesome Direct showcase.

About the game
Welcome to Gourdlets Together, a relaxing building and fishing game set in the world of Gourdlets. Design your own island in an adorable, colourful world inhabited by cute little vegetable folks, and level up your fishing skills, all while you hang out, build and chat with friends online!

Spend your earnings from fishing on extra items and accessories, tweaking and building until your island feels like home. Visit your friends’ islands, build together, get inspired by their creations, and enjoy gourd vibes. Gourdlets Together!

Features

Fish on the tranquil shores of your little island home, and try and catch ‘em all!
Design a delightful little community for vegetable folks
Spend your earnings on super cute accessories
Invite your friends to visit your creations, build together, or go visit theirs!

About AuntyGames
AuntyGames is a solo studio founded by Preethi Vaidyanathan (she/her), a software engineer based in the United States. Her debut project, the citybuilding sandbox Gourdlets, launched on PC in 2024 to great acclaim. She’s now working on a multiplayer spinoff Gourdlets Together.

About Future Friends Games:Future Friends was founded in 2017 with a simple mission: help indie games get the love they deserve. Though initially focused on PR, the company has now branched out into publishing, publishing lovely titles like Exo One, SUMMERHOUSE, Gourdlets, The Cabin Factory, and many many more!