Deworming from home
Developers: Zach Northrop, Mason Sabharwal
Editor: Zach Northrop
Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac; Steam Deck verified)
Price: Usually $10, with 25% off until September 18
Sometimes games name themselves. I can’t imagine there is another viable option for the title of Deworming from home, a remote work simulator in which you play as a worm.
You’ll need to throw your invertebrate around the keyboard to type messages and complete spreadsheet tasks while trying to climb the financial analyst career ladder. You’ll sometimes have to answer the phone – I’ve heard something interesting happens if you dial 911 – and do a video call with your boss. Let’s just hope they don’t find out you’re not human.
There are life simulation elements to Deworming from home Also. You can work out, buy hats and flirt with colleagues.
I was impatiently waiting Deworming from home for a while, but I haven’t had the chance to delve into it yet, unfortunately. I’ve been too busy working from home and trying to convince the people I work with that I’m human. I mean…I’m definitely not a worm, I swear.
Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombie
Developer: Ocellus Studio
Publisher: Microids
Platforms: Steam (Windows; Steam Deck verified), Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Price: $30. A demo is available
I couldn’t wait to check Marsupilami 2: Salsa Palombie after enjoying the first game and this sequel does not disappoint. It’s a mascot platform game in the vein of the Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot franchises in which you play as the star of a long-running Belgian comic book series. In fact, you play as three of these characters. In each level, you can swap between any two of them to take advantage of their unique abilities, much like you would switch between Diddy and Dixie Kong on the fly.
I played about 90 minutes of Marsupilami 2 so far and I think it’s an improvement over its predecessor. The variety of abilities (for example, a character can roll into a ball to bounce and avoid damage from spike traps) and the clever, secret-filled levels keep me engaged. The gradual increase in difficulty also feels right.
This doesn’t seem like a particularly long game since I’ve already completed two of the four worlds. I’ll finish this and might be tempted to stay and play the bonus levels. If you like fun and colorful platform games, don’t sleep on this one.
The one who looks
Developer: Bobby Vanden
Publisher: Draknek and his friends
Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac; Steam Deck verified), Itch
Price: Usually $20, with 15% off until September 16
This chin-scratcher comes at just the right time ahead of next week’s Zelda-focused Nintendo Direct. This seems like a first-person version of the shrine puzzles of Breath of the Wild And Tears of the kingdomat least from an aesthetic point of view. Developer Bobby Vanden was inspired by Fez, Animal well And Tunicso it probably shouldn’t be surprising that The one who looks has a lot of secrets.
You can walk along the walls and ceiling and use a magical bow and arrow to solve puzzles. The arrow can activate switches and move blocks. It also serves as a grappling hook to help you cross gaps.
One thing I find particularly interesting The one who looks is its clue system. In each room you can solve a smaller puzzle. This goal is to help you understand the approach you need to take to solve the main puzzle without too much hand holding. Good idea.
ShipShaper: Chronicles of the Falconer
Developer: Tomas Sala
Publishers: Wired Productions, Gamersky Games
Platform: Steam Early Access (Windows; playable on Steam Deck; demo available)
Price: Usually $9, with a 10% discount until September 16
Tomas Sala (The Falconer) loves boats, so he created a game to help players design boats with more freedom. “He’s a boat designer married to experimental interfaces intended to simplify boat design,” Sala wrote on the site. Ship Trainer Steampage. “No 3D skills required, no endless stacks of cubes, just some organic shaping and fixing accessories and functional elements to create the ship of your choice.”
After building the ship of your dreams, you try it on the high seas as well as in Sala’s previous game, Rampart: Chronicles of the Falconer. But you can really do whatever you want with it. As an ode to Sala’s modding past, it allows developers to use the ships they build in their own games. You can create physical versions of ships via a 3D print file export option. I love it!
Put on everything!
Developer: Amberbite
Publishers: Amberbite, Bright Gambit
Platforms: Steam (Windows, Mac), Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch, Android, Google Play for PC, iPhone, iPad, Mac
Price: $8 on PC and consoles, $5 on mobile. Steam version is 20% off until September 17
This game involves solving puzzles by throwing shoes while swinging back and forth, so getting the timing right will be important. Developer Amberbite promises there are secrets and ways to solve puzzles using fewer thrown shoes. You can also try to master trick shots.
Put on everything! features over 65 hand-crafted puzzles, plus collectible stickers and a speedrun mode. I love the comic book look of this game and it certainly doesn’t hurt that there’s a pop-punk soundtrack. I think I’ll pick up the mobile version to help me get away from doomscrolling. As much as I love Poinpyit can’t be the only game I play on my iPhone.
