January 30 - February 5

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IMAGE(https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/files/pictures/pictures/picture-13445.jpg)   Felix “Wizard Civ” Threepaper

Welcome folks, and happy “50th Anniversary of the first Kiss concert” week!

On January 30, 1973, at the Popcorn Club in Queens, New York, Kiss took to the stage for the first time. They had not perfected their look, wearing only partial makeup and leather, but they would come out as the fully-clad Kiss we now know within a few months. Beginning with that Popcorn Club crowd of fewer than 10 people, Kiss is now one of the highest-selling bands of all time, with more gold records than any other US band, back when gold records were still a thing. You may all celebrate by playing a game where you can break the economy too easily.

There’s no big new AAA releases this week, but plenty of nuggets to tide you over.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition comes to GamePass this week. The Definitive Edition brings this venerated 1990s RTS into the 21st century. Along with the remastered visuals and music, there’s quality-of-life improvements to the UI and, most interestingly, the AI. Most strategy games let the AI cheat to keep pace with you, by giving itself faster production, more resources, extra units. Age of Empires has drawn on over 20 years of online playing data to teach the AI tactics and strategies that pro gamers have used. So now the AI fights smarter, and if you lose to it, you can probably learn something to improve your own play.

Deliver Us Mars is a game without combat that’s big on puzzles, story, and audio logs. It’s a sequel to Deliver Us The Moon and continues the “space mystery” plot, although now you’re on Mars, investigating what happened to a bunch of colonists. The most interesting mechanical feature is the climbing—you climb with twin pickaxes, each mapped to a button. You press and hold to strike a pickaxe into the surface you are climbing, and release the button to take it out. You must always have one pickaxe planted, or you fall. A common complaint about games like Assassin’s Creed or Horizon Zero Dawn is that climbing feels dull when you’re just pushing a joystick in a direction. This game is trying to add more stakes and make it more interactive. May it prompt ideas for future AAA open world developers.

On the PC, Superfuse is like Diablo on a spaceship with non-licensed superhero characters. It’s got a comic-book art style, and the superpowers get quite extravagant.

Also on PC, SpellForce: Conquest of Eo takes the SpellForce IP from RTS into turn-based mode. Like XCOM, you move units around an overworld map and then zoom in to a dedicated combat map when the fighting starts.

Helvetii is a side-scrolling slash-em-up that’s based on Gallic Celtic folklore.

Fashion Police Squad is a pixellated, sprite-laden, retro FPS where you are shooting and whipping your enemies’ wardrobes into shape. Anyone in baggy pants, poor suits, or socks and sandals is fair game. Different weapons in your arsenal deal with different crimes, so you have to mix it up depending on the enemies you meet. The humour is laid on pretty thick, with plenty of puns and references, and YMMV depending on how that lands for you.

My GOTW goes to SpellForce: Conquest of Eo. While Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition looks great, I have bad memories of RTS on consoles. Make it turn-based, and then I’m keen. SpellForce: Conquest of Eo looks enough like other games I like for me to take notice.

Here's the list, in release-date AND alphabetical order!

PC

  • 01-30

  • Ara and the Empty Universe
  • Awakened Evil
  • Backfirewall_
  • Chess: The Lost Pieces
  • DEVICE 0101
  • EL NE RUE
  • Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code
  • Frogurai
  • Mage Ball
  • Mama Die and Retry
  • Postmouse
  • Pottery
  • Rat Cage
  • Rope Bowling
  • Stay Out Of The Farm: Prologue
  • The Helper
  • The King's Dilemma: Chronicles
  • Torrential
  • Truck Simulator Ultimate 3D
  • Wipe Factor
  • X Invader: Prologue
  • YourTrain
  • Zombies Rocket Boom Boom
  • 01-31

  • 8-Bit Adventures 2
  • Amabilly
  • Archaeology Action
  • Battle of Vukovar: Rain of Steel
  • Chinese Expeditionary Force - Assault Team
  • Death Trials Director's Cut
  • Dungeons and Myths 2
  • Ecchi Beauties 2
  • Endless Fireworks Simulator
  • Final Frame
  • GogMagog
  • Gravity Castle
  • GUNWATCH
  • Here to Stay
  • Idle Drift Kings
  • JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time
  • Orbital Strike VR
  • PHANOTIA I: ESCAVIVE
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • Raiden IV x Mikado Remix
  • Rocket Jumper
  • Search
  • SEASON: A letter to the future
  • Second Front
  • Spellmasons
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
  • StarStruck
  • Stunts above Clouds
  • Superfuse
  • The Backrooms Experiment
  • Third
  • Touhou Danmaku Infinity
  • Under The Map
  • Wizard Hentai Survivors
  • 02-01

  • Adventure Light
  • Around The World
  • Cast Piercer
  • Dimensions: Dreadnought Architect
  • Don't get lost
  • Fall and Destroy
  • Flower Memories
  • Four Color Puzzle
  • FunBall 3D
  • Garden of God
  • Hiden Ruin
  • Hyperblade
  • Maze / Break
  • Methods: The Canada Files
  • Mullet Hell
  • Omega Survivors
  • pandaman
  • Rhythm Sprout
  • Runeseeker
  • Shape Palette
  • Super Heli Balance
  • The Forest
  • WAR Card Game_uvr
  • Zenteni
  • Zombocity
  • 02-02

  • Deliver Us Mars
  • Fallen Hero: Retribution
  • Fliese
  • Guacomole
  • Halloween in Hollywood
  • Heirs of the Kings
  • Interference
  • Inward
  • Love Boot Camp
  • Melvor Idle: Expanded Edition
  • Memory Traces: Egypt
  • Metal Black S-Tribute
  • Nuclear War Simulator
  • Pattaya
  • PERISH
  • Project Nosferatu
  • Puzzle Bobble 2X / Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3 / Bust-a-Move 3 S-Tribute
  • Ragamuffins: Feline Fencers
  • Rocket Rush
  • Secret Dimension
  • Sister Wish
  • Souen no Iseki
  • Super Video Golf
  • Tails: The Backbone Preludes
  • Tell Some Story: Foz
  • The Little Spirit of the East
  • The Symbiant
  • Ultimate Flight Simulator Pro
  • Your Only Move Is HUSTLE
  • 02-03

  • 14 Days of Desire
  • Anomaly
  • Back Rank Chess
  • Bank Robber
  • Brave Soldier - Invasion of Cyborgs
  • Button VR
  • Captain!
  • Chess Defense Saga
  • Delirium
  • Extreme Car Drift Simulator
  • Fallen Bride Mege
  • Farming Fever: Cooking Simulator and Time Management Game
  • Galactic Escape
  • Glass Heart
  • Helvetii
  • Hungry Caveman
  • Joe Wander and the Enigmatic Adventures
  • Lawbringer
  • memories (guiyyu)
  • Move Nature
  • Pigskin Punter!
  • Put Your Brain On 2
  • Qi Tan word game
  • QUALIA ~The Path of Promise~
  • Relic Dudes
  • Reload Assembly: World War II
  • Sakura iro Prism
  • SpellForce: Conquest of Eo
  • Spinstar
  • Sword King
  • The Killer
  • The Trasamire Campaigns
  • Windmills
  • WTP Story 1
  • 02-04

  • Retro Kart
  • 02-05

  • CaveFiction
  • Efemeris - DTDA Games
  • Synthetic Days

Xbox Series X

  • 01-30

  • Backfirewall_
  • 01-31

  • Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
  • Inkulinati
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • Raiden IV x Mikado Remix
  • We Were Here Forever
  • 02-01

  • Rhythm Sprout
  • 02-02

  • Deliver Us Mars
  • Fashion Police Squad
  • The Pathless
  • 02-03

  • Heirs of the Kings
  • Speedway Racing

Xbox One

  • 01-30

  • Backfirewall_
  • 01-31

  • Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
  • Inkulinati
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • Raiden IV x Mikado Remix
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
  • We Were Here Forever
  • 02-01

  • Rhythm Sprout
  • 02-02

  • Deliver Us Mars
  • ExitMan Deluxe
  • Fashion Police Squad
  • Metal Black S-Tribute
  • Puzzle Bobble 2X / Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3 / Bust-a-Move 3 S-Tribute
  • The Pathless
  • 02-03

  • Heirs of the Kings
  • Speedway Racing

PlayStation 5

  • 01-30

  • Backfirewall_
  • 01-31

  • PowerWash Simulator
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • Raiden IV x Mikado Remix
  • SEASON: A letter to the future
  • We Were Here Forever
  • 02-01

  • Rhythm Sprout
  • 02-02

  • Brave's Rage
  • Deliver Us Mars
  • Fashion Police Squad
  • 02-03

  • Seed of Life

PlayStation 4

  • 01-30

  • Backfirewall_
  • 01-31

  • PowerWash Simulator
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • Raiden IV x Mikado Remix
  • SEASON: A letter to the future
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
  • Straylight
  • We Were Here Forever
  • 02-01

  • Rhythm Sprout
  • 02-02

  • Deliver Us Mars
  • ExitMan Deluxe
  • Fashion Police Squad
  • Puzzle Bobble 2X / Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3 / Bust-a-Move 3 S-Tribute
  • 02-03

  • Helvetii

Switch

  • 01-30

  • Backfirewall_
  • Capybara Madness
  • Trek to Yomi
  • 01-31

  • PowerWash Simulator
  • PowerWash Simulator: Tomb Raider Special Pack
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
  • 02-01

  • Albacete Warrior
  • Gunscape
  • Rhythm Sprout
  • 02-02

  • Active DBG: Brave's Rage
  • Air Jet Fighter Combat - Europe Fly Plane Attack
  • Cuddly Forest Friends
  • DRAINUS
  • ExitMan Deluxe
  • Fashion Police Squad
  • Jumbo Airport Story
  • Life is Strange 2
  • Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2
  • Oshiiro
  • Pixel Game Maker Series CAT AND TOWER
  • Puzzle Bobble 2X / Bust-a-Move 2 Arcade Edition & Puzzle Bobble 3 / Bust-a-Move 3 S-Tribute
  • Radiantflux Hyperfractal 4.0
  • Sakura Cupid
  • The Pathless
  • 02-03

  • Helvetii
  • Pets at Work
  • Sport & Fun: Swimming
  • Swap Puzzles
  • 02-04

  • Seraph's Last Stand

Comments

Inkulinati is out Jan 31, 2023 as well.

Inkulinati is on my wishlist, and I also wanted to point to SEASON: A Letter to the Future (PC and PS), along with the Xbox and Switch ports of The Pathless.