Just when you thought the games news might be slowing as the year trundles toward its end, along comes the Galaxy Showcase with another sizeable helping of announcements, trailers, premieres, shadow drops, and more.
This autumn celebration, which follows on from its spring showcase in April, featured everything from angry cats to post-apocalyptic postman, with the likes of Nacon, Saber Interactive, and Team17 all putting in an appearance. You’ll find the full list of announcements ready for your casual perusal below.
Turnbound
If Jumanji taught us anything, it’s that board games just shouldn’t be trusted. And here we are again with another warning of their nefarious intent, courtesy of developer 1TK’s Turnbound. Here, unsuspecting players find themselves trapped in a haunted board game and forced to battle the souls of their fellow captives in order to mount an escape. That requires them, in auto-battler fashion, to take on the tiles other players have left behind, in asynchronous PvP. Turnbound is described as a game of strategy and competitive inventory management, where tiles placed on the grid have a cause-and-effect that ripples through matches – and if that’s got you intrigued, Steam early access begins on 13th November.
Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk
Aftabi Games’ Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk launched into Steam early access back in June, so if its name rings a bell, that’ll be why. It’s a cosy, laidback game – officially described as an “idle simulation”, which can be played both actively and passively – about managing your own vending machine empire. You can choose where your machines go, what they sell, and who you’ll hire to ensure they stay stocked, clean, and in working order. Additionally, customisation plays a big role too, and you’re free to decorate the areas surrounding your vending machines as you see fit in order to attract new customers. So why’s it on this list? That’ll be because it’s getting a spooky update to celebrate the Halloween season.
Egging On
You are an egg, born to traverse the world in an ovular tumble. That’s the basic premise of developer Egobounds’ Egging On, a game about mastering the art of egg physics in order to escape the hen house for a life of free-range freedom. It’s a journey that’ll take you from the factory to the farm shop, facing off against everything from chainsaws to angry roosters, and one where you’ll need to synchronise your jump with your roll-cycle in order to gain maximum upward momentum on your incessant climbs. And if you mess up, you might well find yourself back at the start with, well, egg on your face. Egging On launches for PC in Q4 this year.
Apomo District
A quick glance at Apomo District might put you in mind of ‘eerie Stardew Valley’, and while the talk of mining and bug catching suggests there might be a bit of that, what we’ve actually got here is a cheerfully weird top-down Soulslike, where you’re tasked with defeating over 50 bosses using everything from lanterns to umbrellas in order to free them from their madness. “Fallen knights, spore-covered beasts, hammer-swinging moss balls, sweaty bath demons and more,” teases developer Apomo. “Each encounter can be bizarre, terrifying, but strangely appealing.” Notably, the world changes in real-time, with each new day bringing a fresh Apomo to fight, quests to explore, characters to meet, and more. When Apomo eventually shows up – there’s no word of a release date yet – it’ll be on PC.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2
Announced back in May, Warhammer 40K: Boltgun 2 is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – a follow-up to developer Auroch Digital’s acclaimed 2023 retro shooter Boltgun. Picking up immediately after the events of the first game, it’s promising another helping of old-school-inspired FPS action over the course of its branching single-player campaign, with talk of new locations – “from the colossal heights of a hive city to the impenetrable mangrove swamps of a jungle” – plus new weapons and never-before-seen foes. It’s coming to Xbox, Playstation, and PC next year, and we now have another glimpse of its action (above) to amuse us until then.
Sleep Awake
Blumhouse, best known as the production company behind horror movie hits including Megan and Paranormal Activity, continues its tentative steps into video games later this year with Sleep Awake. Developed by Eyes Out, it’s a first-person psychological horror set in the last known city on Earth where people are disappearing in their sleep. In a desperate bid to stay safe, some have embarked on dangerous experiments to keep awake, and amid all this is Sleep Awake’s protagonist Katja, who must avoid the grip of the city’s death cults in order to shatter the horrors of the past. Expect a mix of scares, puzzles, FMV sequences, and psychedelic visuals when Sleep Awake comes to PlayStation and PC on 2nd December. And if you want to get stuck in sooner, a Steam demo is available now.
Broken Sword 2 Reforged
As we recently learned, Revolution Software’s classic point-and-click adventure Broken Sword 2 is – following on from last year’s Reforged edition of the original Broken Sword – getting the remaster treatment. This time, journalist Nico Collard and her bemused American companion George Stobbart encounter stolen treasure, astronomy, and a deadly drug baron as they investigate a Mayan mystery – and Revolution is promising 4K visuals, remastered audio, an updated interface, and revised puzzles as it refreshes the celebrated 1997 hit for modern audiences. Broken Sword 2 Reforged is coming to PC, Xbox, PS5, and Switch next year.
Will: Follow the Light
Will will indeed follow the light, given that’s the name of our protagonist in this story driven first-person adventure from developer TomorrowHead Studios. Will, a lighthouse keeper who spends his days on a remote island, begins a treacherous journey back home after receiving an unexpected radio message – a journey that’ll take him across the storm-ravaged seas and snow-blasted regions of the harsh northern latitudes. “The harder you search for your son, the more questions arise,” TomorrowHead teases. “What hidden truths lie in your bond with your own father? Where is your beloved wife? What has happened to your family?” And honestly, if someone isn’t a ghost by the end of all this, I’ll eat Will’s yacht.