The Banner Saga is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Stoic and published by Versus Evil. It was released for personal computers and mobile phones in 2014, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 and for Nintendo Switch in 2018.
The Sims 4 is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released on September 2, 2014 for Windows, and is the fourth main installment in The Sims series, following The Sims 3 (2009). As with previous games in the series, The Sims 4 allows players to create and customize characters called "Sims", build and furnish their homes, and simulate their daily life across various in-game regions. This installment introduced a newly developed custom game engine, with enhanced character creation and house-building tools, along with a more complex in-game simulation.
Banished is a city-building video game developed by Shining Rock Software. It was released for Windows on February 18, 2014. The game focuses on careful resource management and survival as an isolated and growing society. Its gameplay can be compared with economic theory on sustainability and optimization. Banished received mixed reviews on release, with reviewers praising graphics and difficulty early in the game, but criticizing a lack of feedback for player actions and lower emphasis on survival as the city grows.
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alpha, alpha, and/or beta, while the developer is able to use those funds to continue further development on the game. Those that pay to participate typically help to debug the game, provide feedback and suggestions, may have access to special materials in the game. The early-access approach is a common way to obtain funding for indie games, and may also be used along with other funding mechanisms, including crowdfunding. Many crowdfunding projects promise to offer access to alpha and/or beta versions of the game as development progresses; however, unlike some of these projects which solicit funds but do not yet have a playable game, all early access games offer an immediately playable version of the unfinished game to players.
Wreckfest is a racing video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by THQ Nordic. Wreckfest is described as the spiritual successor to the FlatOut series, which was created by Bugbear, and takes further inspiration from the Destruction Derby series and the cult 1989 racer Street Rod. A notable feature of the game engine is the use of soft-body damage modelling, which enables location-based damage that affects the driving dynamics of vehicles in a realistic fashion.
The Long Dark is a first-person survival video game developed and published by Hinterland Studios. The player assumes the role of crash-landed bush pilot Will Mackenzie who must survive the frigid Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. The game received seed financing from the Canada Media Fund, and further funding was secured through a successful Kickstarter campaign in October 2013.
Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. The game is highly inspired by the works of Stanisław Lem and contains numerous references to his works.
Dauntless is a free-to-play action role-playing game developed by Phoenix Labs. The game initially launched in beta in May 2018 for Microsoft Windows. An early access version was published by Epic Games on May 21, 2019 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, including full support for cross-platform play, and was fully released for those platforms on September 26, 2019. A Nintendo Switch version was released on December 10, 2019. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released on December 2, 2021.
Surviving Mars is a city building survival video game initially developed by the Bulgarian studio Haemimont Games, and later by Abstraction Games, and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 15, 2018. The player serves as an overseer who must build a colony on Mars and ensure the survival of the colonists. A spiritual successor, Surviving the Aftermath, was released in 2021.
Slay the Spire is a 2019 roguelike deck-building game developed by the American indie studio Mega Crit and published by Humble Bundle. The game was released in early access for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in late 2017, with an official release in January 2019. It was released for PlayStation 4 in May 2019, for Nintendo Switch in June 2019 and for Xbox One in August 2019. An iOS version was released in June 2020, with an Android version released in February 2021.
Frostpunk is a 2018 city-building survival video game developed and published by 11 Bit Studios. Players take on the role of a leader in an alternate history set in the late 19th century, in which they must build and maintain a city during a worldwide volcanic winter, managing resources, making choices on how to survive, and exploring the area outside their city for survivors, resources, or other useful items. The game features several scenarios to undertake, each with their own stories and different challenges. The main campaign adopts a three-act structure, requiring players to grapple with internal conflict and societal turmoil in a divided city and survive a great storm that threatens to overwhelm the city, making sacrifices and morally grey ethical decisions along the way.
Radiant Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Los Altos, California. Founded by twin brothers Tom and Tony Cannon in 2011, the company has developed Stonehearth, a city-building game, which was released in July 2018 after three years in early access. Radiant was acquired by Riot Games in March 2016 and Radiant's second game, Rising Thunder, was canceled during its alpha phase. The game was later replaced by a freeware "community edition" in January 2018.
Islanders is a casual city-building game developed and published by German indie game studio Grizzly Games. It was initially released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on 4 April 2019, and support for macOS and Linux was added in June that year. A version for consoles was released for Nintendo Switch on 11 August 2021 and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 26 August 2021. This version was published by Coatsink, which announced it had acquired the franchise from Grizzly Games in May 2022. A version for the Meta Quest line of virtual reality headsets was released on 28 September 2023.
A roguelike deck-building game is a hybrid genre of video games that combines the nature of deck-building card games with procedural-generated randomness from roguelike games.
Hell Let Loose is a 2021 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter developed by Expression Games and Cover 6 Studios, and published by Team17. Players fight in iconic battles of the Western, North African and Eastern Fronts of World War II at the platoon level.
Dorfromantik is a 2022 strategy and puzzle video game developed and published by Toukana Interactive. In it, the player places a series of hexagonal tiles containing elements of a pastoral environment to create a landscape. They earn points and additional tiles by connecting like sides of the tiles together, closing off fields, forests, and villages, and completing quests to make areas of contiguous regions. An additional creative mode allows the player to create their own landscapes.
The Stomping Land is a survival simulation video game released for Microsoft Windows. In the game, players take on the role of tribal hunters, and battle against each other and dinosaurs on an island. The game was primarily played through online multiplayer.
Manor Lords is a medieval city-builder and real-time tactics video game developed by Grzegorz "Greg" Styczeń from Slavic Magic and published by Hooded Horse. The game was released into early access on April 26, 2024, and was the most-wishlisted game on Steam, with over three million wishlists prior to release.
Cataclismo is a real-time strategy tower defense video game developed by Digital Sun and published by Hooded Horse. In the game, the player is tasked with collecting resources and constructing a stronghold using a building system inspired by Lego during daytime, while defending against large hordes of enemies at night. The game was released in early access on July 22, 2024 for Windows PC.
