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!

Riot Control Simulator free to try now. It’s about duty, not power

“The free prologue of Riot Control Simulator, a unique game that puts you in the boots of a riot control officer, is now available on PC. In Riot Control Simulator: Rookie Day, players take on their first mission and get introduced to the game’s core mechanics. The full version is scheduled to launch on PC in the second half of 2025, with console versions coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026…”

At least that is what the press release from Ultimate Games tells me. If you want to give it a go, here is the link to the Steam page. Please enjoy the trailer below and remember, this is purely a work of fiction and not based on a real event. I was also told to note that. Because, sadly, there are some super stupid people in the world. Not us, we are cool, but others, super dumb. Anyways best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Console Wars The Card Game Hits Retail!

This is a weird one; we don’t normally cover tabletop games. Not because none of us play them, of course, I have been known to play some D&D myself. However, when I got an email about a tabletop card game about a console wars game, I knew I had to toss it out there in case anyone was interested in it. There is also a how-to-play video, and a link at the bottom where you can buy it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Console Wars The Card Game

Live War (Steam Preview)

Live War is a real-time strategy game that Mirage sent to me, and I have always appreciated it. I should also point out it is a preview version of the game, which means it is still being worked on, so I won’t be giving it a score as it seems unfair to grade unfinished work.

The game itself is easy to learn. You command your troops; each troop type has strengths and weaknesses. Don’t try sending a couple of foot soldiers after a tank, obviously. Also, maybe don’t send that tank after air support. This seems like common sense, but I tested it anyway. Do not do that.

It is also nice to see how easy it is to learn, but hard to master the game actually is. In the first couple of battles, you can kind of get away with just sending a ton of troops straight into the action. This is a quick way to lose the war, though. Also, the old school rope a dope doesn’t work. Sending a couple of troops forward to entice the enemy to chase you into an ambush rarely works.

Now, how does the game function? Well, I can play on my laptop just fine. I can’t imagine his will cause any real issues for anyone with a half-decent setup. I did have some mild slowdowns when there were a lot of explosions on screen, but this was very mild and very few and far between.

Real-time tactics fans are definitely going to want to keep an eye on this one, even the preview version I was sent is a ton of fun to play. Hell, I don’t even know what was missing from it.

Sintopia Gameplay Trailer

Sintopia is a fresh, spicy new title from PiraKnights that will tug at the nostalgia strings of fans of The Sims, Black & White, and Two Point Hospital. On the OVERWORLD, watch a silly civilization of chickpea people make their mark on the world and unfortunately for them, damn themselves by committing a host of sins. Punish those poor, dead, squishy souls, keep your receipts for expenses, and generate profit to help you build and sustain your Hellish empire.

The demo itself has been a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to try out the full game. The concept is quite original and is nice to see. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered

20 years after its original release, Oblivion has a full remaster, overhauled completely in Unreal Engine 5. The release date? It is already out. It contains too many quality of life updates for me to list, including fully updated graphics, all released add-ons, newly released voices for each race ( many original voices intentionally included because we love them) updated leveling system, and so much more. Available now on PC, Xbox Series S/X, and PS5 ( and yes, Gamepass both console and PC), Happy reliving one of the best Elder Scrolls games out there, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Wizard school management sim Spellcaster University lands on consoles in May

School is almost in session! Red Art Games is happy to announce that Spellcaster University, the hit PC wizard school management simulator, will come to Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and Xbox One consoles on May 2. Created by French indie studio Sneaky Yak Studio, Spellcaster University has been ported to consoles by Red Art Studios and will be published both digitally and physically by Red Art Games.

In addition to its digital release, Spellcaster University is also getting two different physical versions on Nintendo Switch, PS5 and PS4 (the Switch physical version will come out on May 23). While the Spellcaster University Standard Edition will be available from most major retailers upon release, the Spellcaster University Deluxe Edition is a RedArtGames.com exclusive. Limited to 300 copies per platform, the Spellcaster University Deluxe Edition comes with a wraparound box sleeve with alternate cover art, a poster and a keychain.

In Spellcaster University, you take on the role of the headmaster of a wizard school set in a colorful heroic fantasy world. Build your school, manage your budget, recruit teachers. Will you turn your university into a black magic academy where the best professors of necromancy and demonology teach? Or will you create a place in complete harmony with nature whose goal is to train druids and shamans? The choice is up to you.

Be warned that all of this won’t be easy. You will need to survive the ruthless attacks of the orc tribes and work around the strict control of the education authorities.

Spellcaster University’s console versions will include all the content and updates added to the PC version until now. It has also been totally reworked to make it fully playable with a controller.

Features

Create your very own university using an original magic deck mechanic
Each type of magic has its own deck
Pick the type of students that you want to teach to
Manage the wellbeing of your student… and discipline them if need be
Upgrade your school’s rooms with powerful artifacts
Use your school as a shelter for mythical creatures (dragons, pegasus, janitors…)
Your choices have both short and long term consequences
Fight the dark forces and find new allies to help you
Fully playable with a controller for the first time ever
Native 4K graphics on PS5 and Xbox Series X
Languages supported: English, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, Japanese, Polish