Back in 2018 I went on side-scroller binge that lasted for several years. I think I started with Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (fantastic game!). I tried out Kingdom Two Crowns and found it enjoyable, but found it somewhat repetitive and only ended up playing a total of around 5 hours. At that point I discovered Regions of Ruin. I found the progression in the game satisfying and ended up playing over 50 hours. From the look of things, the new Regions of Ruin: Runegate makes me want to revisit the side-scrolling genre.

I am glad to see the team at Gameclaw Studio is still viable. Also glad to hear that they are continuing with their support of Native Linux. I will be interested to see how this game plays on a Steam Deck. Hopefully they will put out a demo when they get closer to release. No matter, I am planning on purchasing this game when it is released.

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Game developers seem to be relying more and more on Discord to support and get feedback from their users. I signed up to be a playtester for Moonsigil Atlas. I was accepted. The only way to get the key was through a Discord direct message.

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I really appreciate games that have demos (try before you buy). I may not judge a book by its' cover, but I do judge a game by its' demo.

Here is what I discovered about Lost for Swords:
1. Upon booting the game I saw the Godot Engine logo (+1 rep)
2. I looked in the settings and saw options for game difficulty (+1 rep)
3. Upon entering the game I saw a "Basic Tutorial" option. (+1 rep)
4. I went through the Basic Tutorial. It did a great job of explaining the game. (+1 rep)
5. I also noticed there was an "Advanced Tutorial" (+1 rep)
6. Once I got through the tutorial, there was a generous amount real game content (+1 rep)
7. I got interrupted part way through the game. When I restarted the game, my previous progress was saved. (+1 rep)
8. The game has Steam Achievements (+1 rep)
9. The game does not have Steam Trading Cards (-1 rep) I know... I am a shallow person.

Bottom Line: I purchased the game.

Once I purchased the game, my progress from playing demo transferred to the full game. (+++++++ rep)

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Glad to see that Malcs is not using Jagex as the publisher for Melvor Idle 2. Hopefully he will be the developer and the publisher of Melvor Idle 2 when it is released. If that is the case, I might give the game a try.

I played Melvor Idle when it was in Early Access. It was a well constructed idle game and Malcs was very engaged with the users. The wiki for the game was also well constructed and hosted by the developer. Just before exiting Early Access, Brendan Malcolm (Malcs) announced that Jagex would be the publisher of the game.

In the early 2000's, Jagex was a decent company. Runescape was a very popular game with a large following. In early 2010s, in my opinion, the company started it's downward descent. Since that time Jagex has been passed around from one publisher to another like a courtesan; to use an antiquated term. Soon after the partnership was announced, Jagex produced a vodcast to spotlight Melvor Idle. I watched the event because I was very interested in playing the game. In my estimation, the entire event was corporate hype. Malcs was in attendance looking very dazed and uncomfortable. Malcs had promised his userbase that there would never be any micro-transactions in Melvor Idle. He kept his promise, but a DLC was announced at this corporate event. After seeing where this was all headed, I stopped playing Melvor Idle.

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@Daniel-Alhadeff

Moonsigil Atlas had not crossed my radar before I read this article. It looks like something that I would enjoy, so I filled out the application form to become a playtester.

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This is a decent Humble Bundle. I only had two of the games, so is was a buy now for me. For anyone that likes creature battling/collecting games, Monster Sanctuary is one I would recommend. I have been playing Cassette Beasts on and off the last several weeks. I found the graphics, battle mechanics and creature variations in Monster Sanctuary to be much more satisfying. I should also add that Monster Sanctuary ran flawlessly on Linux.

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The feeling I got from it instant reminded me of the unholy addiction I had to the also excellent Loop Hero.

After reading this sentence in the second paragraph, I immediately purchased the game. I then went back and read the remainder of the article.

Loop Hero was such an enjoyable game! I jumped right into the game, started playing and felt like I was making progress. The more I played the game, the more I learned how to lengthen the duration of my runs. Loop Hero had a low bar of entry, but a depth of game mechanics that kept me coming back for more.

Sounds like GNOMES will be the same kind of experience. Looking forward to playing this evening after work.

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I have enjoyed playing Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor on my SteamDeck. The gameplay mechanics don't involve using to controller for dashing or skill utilization, which makes the game doable for a "keep it simple for the uncoordinated" gamer like myself. The character classes, voice overs and biomes are well done. My only complaint is the high battery consumption on my SteamDeck LCD.

I have played Deep Rock Galactic also, but not on the SteamDeck. I did not find gameplay as intriguing as Survivors. Perhaps the addition of multiplayer might entice me back into playing again.

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There are a number of games on this list that I had not considered playing on my Deck. Thanks Liam!

I enjoy playing bullet heaven/hell games on the Steam Deck. My favorite is:

Halls of Torment
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2218750/Halls_of_Torment/ [External Link]

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Any fans of the Bullet Hell genre should check out the demo of Nautical Survival. The Steam page is located at:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2860990/Nautical_Survival/?curator_clanid=44986110 [External Link]

The planned release date is April 2025. The description of the game reads as follows:

Captain an armed sea vessel to fight off hordes of oceanic terrors! Explore the seas, upgrade your seacraft, equip it with weapons and hire crew members to your aid in this roguelite auto-shooter.

The setting for the game, of course, is the ocean; which adds an interesting twist to the the typical Bullet Hell gaming experience.

The developer and publisher is Idan Rooze. This will be the third game he has published on Steam. He also publishes his games on itch.io. His itch.io profile can be found at:
https://idanro.itch.io/ [External Link]

Idan's itch.io profile states he is an "...indie game developer and a Game Design lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design." He has 15 games published on his itch.io page. At the bottom of the page he also lists 21 games that are published by his students.

I have played Nautical Survival on the SteamDeck and it works very well. I consider the game demo to be generous and highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys this type of game.

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