The Nerdy Type

Even when I was a kid, I knew the benefit of stepping away from a screen every now and then and interacting with other human beings. One of my favorite things to do was play board and dice games. Yahtzee was always a favorite of mine, because you don’t necessarily need other people to play it. So you can imagine how happy I was to be introduced to Farkle.

I don’t tend to play many purely narrative games, mainly because I struggle to find the time to dedicate to them. Getting completely absorbed in a story woven through gameplay is not something you can pick up and put down; it’s like binge-watching a TV series, but you’re in control of what happens next. Deer & Boy by Lifeline Games brings together a runaway child and an isolated baby deer, following their journey as they traverse the world together as lost souls.

Point-and-click games were my introduction to gaming way back in the early 90s, and I’ve had a soft spot for them my entire life. I have so many fond memories of weekends spent adventuring, solving puzzles, and uncovering crazy stories, and I’m always on the lookout for a new point-and-click adventure to steal my attention. It’s even better when the pointing and clicking isn’t entirely expected, as is the case with A Tiny Wander.

My formative years were spent watching things that shaped my tastes to this day: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Tales from the Crypt… I think it’s safe to say that there’s a reason I enjoy things on the dark and twisty side even now. Still, I’ve never seen a game that perfectly encapsulates the vibes of those TV shows, at least until I played the Spooky Tales demo.

If you're looking for a cozy adventure game that drops you into a magical world of talking critters and Japanese folklore, then you're probably wondering if you're being a little bit too specific with your gaming aspirations. However, let me introduce Seina: A Tale of Spirits, because it might just be the very game you've been waiting for. Seina: A Tale of Spirits is the creation of solo dev Argyro Brotsi. It's a fantasy adventure tale that takes you into a world of Japanese spirits and folklore.

I don't need to tell anyone how much I love incremental games by this point. Numbers go brr, dopamine, yada yada yada. It's hardly surprising that my Steam store home page is essentially a rotating source of temptation with games from my favorite genre, and X is about the same. So when We Need More Humans was released, you can bet I dove straight in. We Need More Humans is an incremental game by Matt Cole, aka Seafront Games, all about abducting humans.

What do you get if you cross the wild and feral landscape of TV game shows in the 90s and the murderous intent of Jigsaw in the Saw movies? Well, wherever that weird introduction took your mind, throw in some dice game shenanigans, and you pretty much end up with The Zibbo Show. The Zibbo Show is a deckbuilding nightmare of a virtual game show… game that's currently in development by Tessera Studios.

I've played a fair few survival games in my time, and they're always a fun experience. When the virtual world you find yourself in is the very thing trying to kill you, things get a bit personal. Add in some friends and more than a few questionable decisions, and you get Arctic Drive. Arctic Drive, currently in development by Pebbles Games and PlayTogether Studio, is a one-to-four-player survival driving game that pits you against the freezing tundra of the Arctic Circle.

I'm always on the lookout for a new incremental game to get obsessed over. I've become something of a fiend for the genre, and there's nothing I love more than the sense of accomplishment I feel upon seeing a rapidly expanding upgrade tree. Tiny Village by Elpoco scratches the itch, but it also goes so much further. Tiny Village is a pixel farming incremental game in which you mine for resources and spend them on upgrades to make resource gathering easier.

Spooky season approaches. I know it’s only August, but the UK just saw its first proper rain in months, and my sofa has the Halloween cushions on it, so I’m calling it spooky season. Anyway, with darker nights and falling leaves on the horizon, there’s no better time to get into some horror games, and Don’t Fret might have taken an early lead for my top spot in 2026.