What we're feeding the Maw

Hello all! This week, there are a lot of new cat-themed games for some reason. One suspects that some dire cat anniversary is underway. Maybe week of 20th July 2026 marks 30 million years since the invention of cats? Or since cats invented us? In any case, there is already far too much cat discourse round these parts, so I've only allowed one of those sinister feline diversions into the Maw. Without further ado, the list.

Monday 20th July

• "The Life And Suffering Of Sir Brante is fascinating, but can also go to hell," wrote Sin of The Life And Suffering Of Sir Brante. In a show of massive disrespect, developers Schisma Games have refused to go to hell; instead, they have made another torrid political RPG set inside a pretty gamebook. It's called The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian. If you missed Brante's life and/or suffering, the previous game is also going free on Steam till 23rd July.
• They say Hell is Other People but I reckon it's actually being afflicted by a toe fungus that has consumed your brain and now wants you to go UP, UP, UP. Moldrise was one of my favourite recent horror demos. It does also feature Other People – specifically, manky neighbours who may or may not have ointment.
• ZeroSpace (early access) is a big ole multiple-faction sci-fi RTS with a singleplayer campaign's worth of branching Mass Effect-ish choices and "hours" of (rather wooden-seeming) cutscenes. There's also an MMO-style persistent multiplayer element.
• Ritter & Rotwein is a steely and sophisticated, physics-based medieval fencing simulator with meticulous period aesthetics, and in no way a game about getting kicked up the bum while staggering drunkenly through a stable.
• Apparently, Japan has "cat islands". And now, those cat islands have a cosy management game adaptation.
• Those cosy cat islands don't appear to be supplied by ferry, but that's OK, because there aren't any cats in fearsome ferry fable Foghorns Drown. Everything is in balance.

Tuesday 21st July

• Crudely summarised, Drone Sector is the old Modern Warfare AC130 gunship level plus Future Technology. Circle targets and fire missiles while ordering your ground units around.
• Screw our necrotic military present – let's go back to the Middle Ages, again. Scarlet Deer Inn is a 2D village fable that features actual hand embroidery and period instruments.
• "The world of Dewdrop won’t explore itself—so what are you waiting for?" tyrannically demands the blurb for swish gun-jumping metroidvania Dewdrop Dynasty, whose attractions include a talking vase.

Wednesday 22nd July

• Overheated people yearning for another Frontier management game might enjoy Boxel's Aquapark Tycoon (early access). It's not just about erecting the least safe waterslide. There's a little something for weary/murderous parents in the ability to build saunas and "define your park's own infusion schedule, using a wide range of essential oils and aromas."
• Jenny the Witch is a third-person shooty-fighter about a witch hired to cleanse New York's surprisingly spacious sewers of a nasty robot infestation.
• The Dream Of A Cockspur is a point-and-clicker about researchers stuck on an island with a fallen celestial object. You can expect: many eyes.
• Tears of Metal (early access) is also about an island with a fallen celestial object, but they've swapped the point-and-clicking for some blood-flecked and bellowy Dynasty Warring.
• Offbeat (early access) is a "real" audio production tool disgustingly camouflaged as an 80s recording studio management game, with chapters themed after different kinds of electronica.

Thursday 23rd July

• Helix: Descent N Ascent is a tale of doppelgangers and a brainy excavation of a monochrome 2D ruin inspired by a range of comicbook traditions.
• Wonderia is a top-down open world dungeon/settlement-building game in which you can transform into something that vomits rainbows in order to propel a minecart.
• Here's Dinoblade, the action-RPG in which, look, you are quite capable of making your own deductions from the title.
• Who wants to learn Japanese kanji and boggle at woodblock prints while rebuilding civilisation and befriending animal spirits using a deck of cards? Worlds Upon The Wind is for you, then.

Friday 24th July

• Island Beekeeper has you tending to boxes of buzzers while using a hoverbike to explore floating habitats. There is multiplayer if you prefer getting stung in company.

As for what the Treehouse dwellers are up to this week: I confess, I'm still recovering from Covid (thanks, Tennocon!) so the Monday meeting notes are a blur. I think Julian's week involves The Sims and World War 2, probably not in the same breath. James still has anatomically incorrect trains on the brain. Mark has his sights on at least one of the games in the above list. Ollie, Dion, Jeremy, and Callum continue to harness the energies of traditional Google search in the shape of guides pages. Jeremy is also in the mood to swing a sword around.

As ever, let us know your doings and whether there are any grand games we've missed. FEED THE MAW. DO NOT FEED IT CATS.