Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?!
In 2015, Singapore-based developers Daylight Studios released a weapon shop simulator game called Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?!. This turned out to be a great success for the studio and soon prompted the development of a sequel and thus Holy Potatoes! We’re in Space?! was born.
The sequel follows a pair of potato sisters, Fay and Cassie, as they journey through space in search of their Grandfather Jiji. You must build and mod an effective space ship which will keep them safe as they explore and come into contact with some alien veggies and other nasties. The game contains lots of turn-based combat, crafting elements, exploration, and adventure.
Inside the ships crafting room
It’s time to mod your ship in case you run into trouble
The game is currently available to buy via Steam where you can also buy the game’s predecessor in a joint bundle.
Phantom Halls
Developed by London-based developers Incendium, the game is a squad-based adventure shooter set in a haunted house and the aim of the game is to basically survive the night. In single player mode, you start off exploring the house on your own, killing anything monstrous that comes at you, until you find other characters. They then become part of your squad. The rooms are procedurally generated so you never experience the exact same room layout twice.
Ok, so you don’t normally notice easter eggs in games the instant you boot them up but when I was given the controls to Phantom Halls a smile instantly crept across my face. There, lurking in the corner of the character selection screen was the image of a splatter movie hero who is famed for his love of chainsaws. Yes, there was Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movies. Incendium have teamed up with the creators of Evil Dead 2 to bring you exclusive Evil Dead 2 content as well as being able to have Ash on your team! Groovy, huh?!
Ash. Boomsticks and all!
Rotate your squad to take advantage of members weapons
Phantom Halls is currently in early access on Steam for PC users only. This copy contains some free Evil Dead 2 content including an Ash specific quest called “Are you talkin’ to me?”.
Formula Fusion
Are any of you familiar with the old Wipeout racing games? Well if you are, you will love R8 Games homage, Formula Fusion. I’ve long been a fan of fast paced racing games and immediately got drawn in by the super fast graphics and clean anti-gravity racing craft.
Not only do you have to race around some pretty spectacular tracks but you also have to err on the side of caution because the crafts are armed with offensive weaponry with are used for only one purpose… to take you out. You do have defensive gear to soften the blow but it’s always best to get them out first.
Players have the choice of 5 different customizable craft belong to 10 different teams who are battling it out over 8 different tracks. Each track can be played during the day or night and in reverse so that really makes approx. 30 different tracks to race on overall.
A fine example of the anti-gravity craft - the VIXEN
Welcome to the Fiyah! Fury, Monument Valley track
Formula Fusion is currently on Steam in early access but is estimated to be releasing in full at some point during Q2 2017.
Figment
There are some dreams or nightmares that we have all had at one point in our lives and some of them we just wish would just go away and leave us alone. Danish developers Bedtime Digital Games have addressed some of these in their wonderful action adventure puzzler Figment.
You control the main character Dusty, the minds former voice of courage. He must venture his way through the world to combat the rising darkness and nightmares as well as solving puzzles to make things better again. Lots in the land of Figment are linked to something from the human mind whether it be memories, urges or thoughts so the landscape is a bit wild and a bit quirky.
I heard the game described as what would happen if you were to cross the TV show Adventure Time with the wonderful art style and musings of Studio Ghibli and I think that this is a perfect way to explain Figment.
Such a bright and fun of the mind
Spiders have always had their place in our nightmares
While there is currently no exact date for Figment’s arrival, we do know that it will be some time during Summer 2017 and it will be released on PC, Mac and most major consoles.
Ruby Rei
I don’t know about you but I loved learning languages at school! The only thing about it that I didn’t like was the boring exercise books and staring at the writing board at the front of the class as the teacher wrote out all the grammar stuff. The folks at London-based Wibbu Studio saw this and came up with a fun way of teaching languages without the monotony associated with classroom learning. Into the arena steps their mobile “edutainment” title, Ruby Rei.
You follow the titular character, Ruby Rei, as she must travel across an unknown planet to help find her friends and to get home. To get the most out of Ruby’s adventure, you must play the game in the language you are wanting to learn to get a truly immersive experience. As well as hearing the language you are wanting to learn, all the subtitles will also be in the language so you can learn both pronunciation and spelling. So that you can actually understand what is being said, you are able to click on certain highlighted words and phrases to get a translation.
On launch, the languages available will be Spanish for English speakers, English for Spanish speakers, and English for both European and Brazilian Portuguese speakers. There are plans to release the game in many other languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Arabic, and Japanese later on in 2017.
Ruby Rei is out now on all iOS and Android mobile devices.
An example of how the subtitles work
The underlined words can be translated
If I listed every game I played on day two you would get very bored. It was honestly a great day. Every game had its merits but these few struck a chord with me. Make sure you check out all my EGX Rezzed coverage to see what other gaming delights I found over the weekend!
