GearHead 1.310

Roguelike mecha role playing game GearHead is getting a new release while development of GearHead 2 advances alongside it. Several improvements have been made. As an example the game now features thinner, nicer looking walls and there have also been some improvements to the UI. This is a rather unique game that seems to have much thought put into it. A tip is to read the instructions a bit down on this page before starting.

GearHeads title screen. Note the nice pixel spaceships in the background.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 0.23

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup has been featured here a few times before, and this classic roguelike still keeps up the regular releases. This version has an overhaul of the trap system, refreshed monsters, UI improvements and many other things I'm not sure I fully understand as a non-initiated observer. ;)
 

I really like the log describing what is happening in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. Very immersive!

Azimuth

Azimuth is a really nice looking metroidvania inspired by greats such as Super Metroid. Fly around freely with your ship exploring the insides of a huge planet while fighting enemies and uncovering the story. The game is at version 1.02 and looks really polished, complete with bosses and many other challenges. A genre I really can't get enough of, so this should be worth a try!

Aurora

Aurora is a roguelike space exploration game, in part inspired by Star Control 2. There are loads of features already implemented, incluing randomly generated galaxies, various star systems with planets and ships, simple space combat, planetary exploration, research, a dialogue system, quests, a global story, a diplomacy system and more. It looks really well-made and I appreciate the huge variation in gameplay elements that it's built around.

Planet exploration with combat in Aurora.

The Dark Mod - 2.07

Impressive stealth-game The Dark Mod has got a new update. It's primarily a stability release that improves many of the new things introduced in the last release, such as soft shadows. There are also various smaller improvements to gameplay and a few new assets. As before, this is a very polished and nice looking game!

Sneaking around in The Dark Mod. Notice the impressive shadows!

Dead Ascend

I believe I have mentioned Dead Ascend a long time ago, but it has got several updates since then so I thought it deserved another post. It's a hand-drawn adventure game where zombies have got you stuck in an old radio tower which you'll have to climb in order to get rescued. Played like a classic point and click adventure you'll have to brave various puzzles on your way through the games environments. The game has got several fixes and new translations since last time, so if you missed it then here is a new chance.

Brave mind-boggling puzzles in Dead Ascend.

Wyrmsun - 3.5

Wyrmsun keeps up the regular releases, this time with a winter theme. This classic-styled RTS now has seasons that passes as the game goes on, making this a winter-release in more ways than one. Seasons change the terrain and the day/night cycle, adding new aspects to this tactical game. As always there is a ton of other changes too, so make sure to check this excellent title out.

Wyrmsun showing a small settlement in winter.

The Legend of Edgar

I just noticed that I have completely missed to mention the nice metroidvania-like platformer The Legend of Edgar here! This exploration-focused 2D platformer with huge persistent levels, boss battles, several weapons to wield, etc. is really well made and also has the benefit of being complete, with story and all! Also you can play with a gamepad, which I always find is a big plus.

Edgar with sword in hand on his epic quest.

SuperTux - 0.6.0

Legendary platformer SuperTux has got a huge update called 0.6.0. Since it was some time since the last one, there are loads of new things included. The Ice and Forest worlds has got a complete redesign, graphics have been updated and effects have been added, the rendering engine has been improved which means the game will perform better, etc, etc. This is a very fun game with lots of content, well worth it for fans of the genre.

An underground level with cool light effects in SuperTux.

Flare - 1.08 - 1.09

The action-RPG engine Flare, with its accompanying campaign, has received another two fine updates. While 1.08 mainly brought bug fixes and translation updates, 1.09 has lots of goodies: several interface improvements, new options for mouse movement and a new alchemy system that makes the creation of potions deeper while balancing the game. Again, this is a very polished engine and the Empyrean Campaign is really well made and is well worth a try!

The new alchemy system in Flares Empyrean campaign.

Wyrmsun - 3.4.1

The really enjoyable classic RTS Wyrmsun still has an amazingly rapid development pace. Every day there seems to be something new. The game recently reached a new nice milestone in the form of 3.4.0, that among other things included a new civilization in the form of the Norse, several new buildings for Dwarfs, Teutons and Goblins, a few new units and a whole host of other improvements all around. If you like RTS games and have not yet tried this gem, give it a go!

A dwarven settlement in Wyrmsun.

The Dark Mod - 2.05/2.06

There really is something about The Dark Mod and how it is framed. The moonlit streets, the clockwork designs and the atmospheric font all resonate with me, saying "You will really like this game." And while stealth-games usually isn't my thing I have still played quite a bit of The Dark Mod due to it being so well made. It's also a project that really feels like it has high production values all the way through. Just look at the screen below! Since I mentioned it on this blog last time two new releases has come out with a wealth of improvements in each. 2.05 brought hundreds of new models, making scenes much more interesting and easier to create. There was also a new introductory mission, improved performance, a new AI opponent and loads of other smaller improvements. 2.06 comes with improved visuals, especially regarding shadows which can now be soft instead of sharp, EAX sound effects for all users, menu improvements, more new assets and a lot of other things including performance and gameplay improvements. All in all a very polished game with loads of content that needs to be experienced.

Soft shadows displayed in The Dark Mod.

OpenRA - 20180923

The extremely polished recreation of the classic Command & Conquer-games (as well as Dune 2000), OpenRA, keeps the banner high with regular releases. The latest is called 20180923 and includes several months worth of work. There is a new player account system bringing together more aspects of the games online community, several UI improvements, AppImage packages, performance improvements and many other fixes, balancing and tweaks. The Mod SDK has received large improvements too, and many interesting mods seem to be in the work. Personally I love the fact that one of them attempts to recreate another classic RTS: KKND.

New mouse-overs displays hints in OpenRA.

Oolite 1.88

Open-ended space opera Oolite has got lots of nice new stuff in it's 1.88 release. Perhaps most noticable are several graphical improvements. The game now has a much improved lighting system, making for some very dramatic and immersive scenes. Planets and atmospheres have also reveived nice improvements and look really pretty. There are also improvements to control, among which is the ability to use up to four joysticks as well as some improvements to AI and scripting. Together with add-ons in the form of expansion packs this can become the space-game of your dreams with a bit of tweaking, so make sure to take a look if it sounds like your thing.

Awwesome new lighting effects shown off in Oolite.

OpenTomb

OpenTomb is a game engine remake for the classic Tomb Raider games. The engine re-implements game 1-5 and preserves these classic action-adventures for posterity by providing a modern and free engine to run them on. Since I don't have the original games I can't try it and comment on how complete it is. But development seems very active, so if you have one of these games laying around you might want to give it a try.

OpenTomb engine displaying trap emitters.

Planet Blupi

I read a headline saying Planet Blupi had been open-sourced, and it didn't sound familiar at all. But then I saw the screenshots of small yellow creatures exploring and building stuff and realized: I have played this! A really long time ago, but if I remember right it was quite fun... Turns out Planet Blupi is completely free now, including media assets. The game is described as both adventure and strategy. Using the Blupi-creatures you will build things, grow flowers, make food, devise traps or in other ways try to overcome the games 30-ish levels. This version seems to have many bug-fixes and code modernisations compared to the original, so if this unusual mix sounds interesting I believe it could be fun to try.

Cute animations of idle Blupies.

Flare 1.07

The excellent action-RPG engine FLARE with its included Empyrean Campaign has not only reached 1.0, but even 1.07! :) It's a very feature-filled and polished Diablo-esque RPG with a completed story campaign to play and more to download from the official page. (Hopefully more will appear soon now that it has reached 1.0). If you are curious about what happened in 1.07 you can read about it here. The game feels incredibly well made to me and is well worth a try!

Looking at equipment stats in Flares Empyrean Campaign.

Dead Ascend

Dead Ascend is a hand-drawn point & click adventure game. It's also finished and looks really nice! Chased by zombies into an old radio tower, your only hope is to keep climbing and solving puzzles along the way. An action ending is also promised. :) This is another genre I can really appreciate, so it's nice to see new Free projects like this. The game is available for Android and iOS, but can also be compiled for desktop PC with the code and instructions on github.

Here the inventory can be seen, along with the nice hand-drawn graphics.

Hexoshi

I'm temporarily stepping away from my usual practice of only featuring games that has a playable release, because Hexoshi looks so cool! Inspired by the fantastic Metroid series of adventure-platformers, Hexoshi will be spanning hundreds of rooms in a huge maze-like world ripe for exploring. Collect artifacts to gain new abilities and reach new areas while fighting hoards of dangerous creatures. Work is currently ongoing for the Milestone 1 release, which shouldn't be too long away and will feature many of the games main features. If you want to support the project, check the crowd-funding campaign, where you can also read more on what's in store for this very interesting Free title.

A screne from Hexoshi, showing some really nice pixel art and character design.

Warzone 2100 - 3.2.3

Soon there will be more updates on this page - there are several new interesting Free game projects I want to mention. But they will have to wait until I have a bit more free time. In the meantime though, here is a small update to the excellent RTS Warzone 2100. Release 3.2.3 is mainly a bug-fix release, but it also adds support for higher levels of anti-aliasing, optimizes graphics and adds some new scripting functions. Also don't forget that this game has excellent modding capabilities with a huge archive of hundreds of interesting addons and maps.

I found this screen in the Warzone 2100 addon archive, from a stat-balancing mod called YAGeSM.