Spotlight Sunday - Week 18 - 2015


Spotlight Sunday is a way for Choicest Games to feature PC games that are scheduled for release on the following week - games that we consider worthwhile checking out.

This week (27th Apr to the 3rd May 2015) there's quite a few games coming to PC that I think are worth checking out - all of them are indie titles:

Koi Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards]

  • Release Date: 27/04/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
Sometimes you just want to unwind after playing some hardcore PC games and what better way to do it than playing a card game? Koi Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] is apparently a Japanese card game I've never even heard of before so it's definitely piqued my interest (I'm always on the lookout for playing new PC games, board games and card games). Best of all, the game seems to be actually made by Japanese developers (the official website is all in Japanese at the very least) so there's a good chance it's authentic and it's helping out developers in a market that is dominated by the console platform (just think Nintendo and Sony). The game also has Steam achievements (which is probably expected of games being released new on Steam nowadays) and it's likely that the game will cost around $10 when released (considering I managed to see a price tag of 980円 on the official website).



The Perils of Man

  • Release Date: 28/04/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Not available for pre-order
As you know, I love point 'n' click adventure games; ones with time travel, doubly so. Another thing that's noteworthy about this game is that it's a collaboration with ex-Lucasarts artist Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy (who was involved with artwork for games in a similar style).



Canabalt

I've actually already heard of this game before so I knew it's been out for a while. What I didn't realise though is for how long: apparently 5 years! The game was originally released in 2009 as a free, web-based Flash game and is often credited as the first game in the "endless runner" subgenre. The premise of the game is simple. Have your character run as far as possible without dying by jumping over obstacles. You only have one key to press to trigger the jump and that's all you need to do. You can see why this game was ported to smartphones and other touchscreen devices since it seems ideal for those platforms, however it's taken a surprisingly long time to come to Steam as a standalone PC game. I'm expecting the game to be inexpensive (considering you can play the original game for free) but apparently the Steam release will give players "the full Canabalt 2.0 experience" which means all game modes, two player mode, an optional 3D graphics Canabalt HD mode, gamepad support, all the music (including a lyrical cover by Mega Ran), achievements, leaderboards and Steam trading cards. Phew!

You can play the original, free, web-based version of the game here.



Lux Delux

  • Release Date: 01/05/2015
  • Availability: Steam - Pre-order unavailable, Direct - $9.99 USD
Lux Delux happens to be another game on this list that has been around for a long time but only recently been added to the Steam Store. It's even older than Canabalt though, version 1.0 being released in 2002 (making this one of the few pre-digital distribution era indie games that still has an active community. Much respect). Apparently the game has built quite a following but that's not entirely surprising, considering it is an extremely moddable, customisable version of the classic board game Risk. Not only are you able to create your own maps to play on but you're can even create your own AI for the game! The game also has over 900 maps included in the base game and it has cross-platform multiplayer including its own league! Sounds like it could be a lot of fun.



So are you interested or excited about any of these PC games being released next week? Which games are you looking forward to?

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