Gaming News Week 40

Come on in, get yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and pull up a chair.

This must be the week for some amazing games. We reviewed four games that got our highest rating of Two Thumbs Up! Station to Station, A Tiny Sticker Tale, My Little Universe and Wargroove 2 are all amazing!

Anyway, here’s this week’s news.

Truly Accessible Game Brok: The InvestiGator Gets Physical Release

Red Art Games has announced the upcoming physical release of Brok The InvestiGator on Nintendo Switch, PS5 & PS4 for €39.99 during Q2 of next year. James reviewed Brok The InvestiGator back then and gave it a Two Thumbs Up, writing in his conclusion:

I didn’t think the combination of point-and-click and brawler gameplay would work, but BROK the InvestiGator smashed all my cautious expectations. Also, it is a refreshingly original game that provides flexibility to the player, whether you want to enjoy it casually or prefer a more challenging experience.

To celebrate the fact that Brok The InvestiGator is fully playable by blind gamers thanks to its numerous accessibility options, Red Art Games has created the first video game box featuring the game’s title written in braille! How cool is that?

Brok The InvestiGator features the following accessibility options:

Fully narrated via quality text-to-speech and audio descriptions (characters, locations and scenes)
Puzzles adapted for blindness
All puzzles and fights can be skipped
Adapted tutorials
Buttons used to repeat the last voice speech and instructions
Positional audio for fights
No specific device is required: play with a controller
Additional options: larger fonts and increased contrast (backgrounds and enemies)
Compatible with all versions of the game

Update 1.6 Stardew Valley

Ever popular with the fans for farming sims, Stardew Valley is getting an update 1.6, the release date hasn’t been announced yet.

Wildwood Down, for Down Syndrom Awareness Month

Crashable Studios has just released the Wildwood Down PC demo in celebration of October, which is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Their game features a remarkable main character with Down syndrome, based on and voice acted by their childhood friend who has Downs. The studio is eager to share laughs and love and shed light on this important cause through this playful murder mystery point-and-click adventure game.

Step into the hilariously twisted world of Wildwood Down, set in the charming heart of Wildwood, NJ, where every corner hides a blend of mystery and laughter. You can find the demo here, and check out the trailer!

Fancy Training Your AI Robots?

Are you into training little Robot companions who will each develop unique personalities and skill sets as you work together? Little Learning Machines (LLM) is heading to Steam in Early Access this month. In the game, you can harness the power of neural networks and an ingenious, easy-to-use positive/negative reinforcement system.

Little Learning Machines tells the story of Imogen, a crystal from the cosmos that crash lands on an island planet full of ancient inanimate robots. Imogen can use pieces of their crumbling form to bring them back to life in the hope of helping them traverse this strange new world. These newly discovered robots are clueless by default, so they require training, which takes place in a magical place called the Training Cloud. This is where positive/negative reinforcement, presented through the intuitive love/fear rewards system, comes into play, and as the neural network of each robot develops, unique personalities and skills will begin to emerge.

Each quest brings new themed islands to explore, opportunities to train your robots in increasingly complex skills, and more brain-bending challenges to overcome. Up to nine bots can be trained, with the ability to interact with the world of Little Learning Machines both independently or together.

Pumpkin Patch Pants in SoS

Marvelous Europe and XSEED Games announced that the ‘Pumpkin Patch Pants’ cosmetic DLC is now available for free in STORY OF SEASONS: A Wonderful Life. Now that the fall pumpkin season has begun, fans can celebrate their love of the winter squash by redeeming and downloading this free DLC on Steam, Switch, PS5 and Xbox series X|S.

Train Valley 2 Coming to Consoles

We enjoyed Train Valley when it came to the Switch (and Xbox 1 and PS4), and the news that Train Valley 2: Community Edition is coming on November 22 is something to look forward to! It’s been out on Steam for quite a while, but if you’ve never played the original, there’s a lot to do in Train Valley 2: Community Edition!

This console edition includes the DLCs Passenger’s Flow, Myths & Rails and Editor’s Bulletin and a selection of 158 community-made levels carefully curated by the developers BlitWorks. It will be priced at € 24,99.

Animal Crossing x Lego

If you’re a fan of Animal Crossing and Lego, you’re in luck!

Nintendo is teaming up with the brick company once again to create Animal Crossing Lego sets. Nintendo posted a sneak peek at the upcoming collaboration on its social media pages yesterday. Pricing is yet to be officially revealed.

Expansion for DREDGE

Black Salt Games and Team17 Digital have today announced The Pale Reach, the first expansion to the multi-award-winning indie fishing adventure DREDGE, arriving on 16th November on Steam, GOG, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles for £5.99/US $5.99/€5.99.

Following three free updates earlier this year, DREDGE: The Pale Reach will be the game’s first paid content expansion and introduce players to a brand-new biome which will require additional equipment capable of tackling its treacherous and icy expanse. They will need to trawl freezing depths and traverse crystalline canyons to follow in the footsteps of a doomed expedition lost to time while hunting for 11 new fish and crab species, and their aberrated counterparts.

Spirit of the Island on Switch

Spirit of the Island is a colourful life simulation RPG released on Early Access on Steam in March 2022 by developers 1M Bits Horde and publishers Meta Publishing. The game was originally backed on Kickstarter by 1,107 backers who pledged $56,098 to help develop the game. Paula previewed it, which you can find here. It left Early Access a year ago on Steam, and now the console versions are coming!

Spirit of the Island will be released on the 19th of October on all consoles: PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox Series, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. And, very interesting, it is going to be playable CROSS-PLATFORM!