Review: Combolands
Last week I looked at a pretty excellent, pretty unique roguelike in Feed the Scorchpot – but it's not the only one I'd been playing recently. In fact, there were three that I was trying out, all of which were released in the last couple of weeks. One of those, for various reasons, is difficult to recommend and so I won't be covering here at IndieLoupe – but it probably wasn't helped by the fact that it was competing for my attention against Feed the Scorchpot and today's game: Combolands from Crux Games.
Perhaps I'm just particularly into island-set, turn-based, building-placement roguelikes… from two-person development teams… that I discovered during the Steam Next Fest, so take it with a pinch of salt (or spices, or herbs) but I think both offer something quite new to the genre. If you want to know more about Scorchpot then that article is there for you, but let's dive in with why I think Combolands is also worthy of your attention.
Review: Feed the Scorchpot
I've mentioned before that the people who I know that play board games and the people who I know that play video games are – surprisingly, to me – two very different groups of people. I fall into both categories (and, okay, so do one or two others) but it does feel like my 'board game buds' and my 'video game v… friends' are pretty disparate from one another.
But even if you're not into board games, one you've likely to have at least heard of is Catan… and if you're not into video games – weird that you're on this website – but one that might've eeked into your consciousness in the last couple of years is Balatro, so this self-proclaimed crossover between the two should tick at least one box for quite a lot of people.
Review: Imago Season
I stumbled across Imago Season from solo developer Lunar Finch while busily procrastinating from writing a video essay on another of this year's Disco-likes, Esoteric Ebb, so I've been thinking about this fledgling sub-genre a fair bit recently – enough that I've come up with a handful of tenets for what I think makes a Disco-like, Disco-like. For the uninitiated, that's games which share similarities with (or take inspiration from) ZA/UM's 2019 hit Disco Elysium. Imago Season has been out for just under a month and certainly falls into that category, though perhaps not quite as solidly as other recent titles.
Review: The Incident at Galley House
If there was a genre (or sub-genre) that I'd claim to be an expert on it would be the somewhat vaguely-defined narrative deduction genre, and one which will certainly have popped up on the radars of anyone who's a fan of these types of game is The Incident at Galley House, from Evil Trout Inc.
That could be for one of a couple of reasons, firstly that this is from the same team that brought us last year's The Roottrees are Dead, to overwhelmingly positive acclaim, and secondly because it is a self-professed remaster of another incredibly well-received game: Type Help.
Our 13 Picks From June Next Fest
IndieLoupe’s favourite demos of Steam Next Fest June 2026, all in one place!
Review: Schrodinger's Cat Burglar
Schrodinger's Cat Burglar from Australian developer Abandoned Sheep had been on my radar for a little while because… y'know, cute cat, but I can't say I actually knew much more about it than what I've already told you: that it's got a clever name, that it's got a cute protagonist, and that it's got portal-like mechanics. It turns out it would be incredibly reductive to say that's all you need to know about this one, but as far as elevator pitches go I think you'd do well to find a stronger one than this little guy has to offer.
Review: Above the Snow
Look, I'm not complaining, I know many people would be thrilled to live somewhere warmer, but I live in a climate which, if I'm entirely honest, somewhat disagrees with my Scottish blood? Pasty skin? Predisposition for basement-dwelling? More on basement-dwelling in a little bit, as it happens, but whatever you want to call it, there is a part of me that finds myself longing for colder weather, particularly as it starts to get warmer and warmer. There will be days in the coming months where there'll be some oppressive heat and I will wish I could be far away in some snowy alpine lodge but, given that that's probably pretty unlikely, I might have to make do with escaping there some other way. Enter Above the Snow from developer Above the Desk which might just provide a little bit of that alpine magic from the comfort of my own desk… just as long as I pump up the air conditioning.
Early Access Preview: Moves of the Diamond Hand
I don't think anyone, fans or otherwise, would accuse Cosmo D of being a regular game developer… and now he’s back with the fourth title (or fifth, if you include the free, debut, game Off-Peak) in the Cosmo D Cinematic Universe: Moves of the Diamond Hand – at least, in early access. And if you want an indication of my excitement for this game then that's probably a decent one: usually I won't touch early access titles, certainly not for this website, but, here I'm making an exception.
Review: Piece by Piece
I'm a little late on this one, as Piece by Piece actually came out a few weeks ago now: the same time as I opted to review Rhell: Warped Worlds and Troubled Times. In that article I mentioned that, for that particular week, I struggled to pick which game to look at as there were a lot of titles competing for my attention: and among them was Piece by Piece and… um, Piece by Piece.
Two games with the same name, released 48 hours apart. While I won't deny that coincidence brought about my initial interest in those games, it would be dismissive to say that's the only thing worth noting about them. So, here's our (slightly late and shorter-than-usual) review about one of those Piece by Piece-s.
Review: Piece by Piece
I'm a little late on this one, as Piece by Piece actually came out a few weeks ago now: the same time as I opted to review Rhell: Warped Worlds and Troubled Times. In that article I mentioned that, for that particular week, I struggled to pick which game to look at as there were a lot of titles competing for my attention: and among them was Piece by Piece and… um, Piece by Piece.
Two games with the same name, released 48 hours apart. While I won't deny that coincidence brought about my initial interest in those games, it would be dismissive to say that's the only thing worth noting about them. So, here's our (slightly late and shorter-than-usual) review about one of those Piece by Piece-s.
Review: The Ratline
Frequent readers will have seen me mention today’s game a couple of times already this year, as The Ratline from Owlskip Games was, I think, my most anticipated release going into this year. I’ve spoken before about how that can be a double-edged sword: obviously it means I was excited to get my hands on it, but there have definitely been games in the past that I hyped up for myself and then, probably due to unrealistically high expectations, felt underwhelmed by. So, uh, no pressure.
Review: Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Times
So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a lot of games come out these days. Here at IndieLoupe we’ve set ourselves the achievable task of covering just one of those per week, but this week more than most, that’s presented something of a challenge, because there’ve been a hell of a lot of interesting-looking games released over the last five days. From Pluto to Pizza Slice, from Piece by Piece to, um, Piece by Piece (yes, there were two games released with the same name within three days of one another), there were a lot of options to choose from. I almost decided to take the easy option and just put out an article highlighting all the games that came out this week, but there was one that just – and I mean just – piqued my interest a little more than the others.
Perhaps if I’d been in a slightly different mood when looking at them I could’ve gone another way, and you’d be watching a review of an entirely different game right now, but man am I glad that I gave Rhell: Warped Worlds and Troubled Times the nod ahead of the other possibilities.
Review(-ish): The Red Pearls of Borneo
I’ve got a bit of an odd one today, a review-ish, if you will, of an entirely free game: The Red Pearls of Borneo from hobbyist game developer Bushmonkey. I call it a review-ish because, while I will cover it in as much depth as any of our other reviews, there will also be some wider ruminations on stuff outside of the game itself – mainly the nature of free games – which is certainly of interest to me, and hopefully to you too.
Our 9 Picks From Steam Next Fest
Steam Next Fest is here once again, and that means demos: lots of demos! More demos than you could ever hope to play, in fact – so, as usual, I’ve been doing it for you, and this time I’ve come up with nine picks from this edition, just to annoy those of you who’d rather a nice round ten.
Review: Creature Kitchen
Creature Kitchen is the third (and most ambitious) title from appropriately-named development team The Rat Zone, who, depending on who you ask, have either the best or worst website for any game developer in 2026. Frankly, whatever that thing is supposed to be is deserving of a review in and of itself, but that might have to wait, because as bizarre and interesting as it might be, their games are more than a match for it.
Review: Hermit and Pig
Hermit and Pig is the debut title from two-man studio Heavy Lunch, and features a pair of what I don’t think it’s unfair to describe as unlikely protagonists. Video games are – certainly more than any other medium, in my opinion – quite good at getting their audience to just go along with unusual protagonists, but I still have to admit my initial reaction to these two was a sort of: ‘wait, really?’ as opposed to any level of excitement at the prospect of putting myself into the main character’s presumably pretty nasty shoes.
Review: Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator
Remember 2025? Remember the cute little games we played back then? Tiny rodent fellas completing picross puzzles to furnish their homes? Heartfelt stories about characters who are somehow pretty endearing, despite being half a head? I mean, ignore all the other stuff that doesn’t help prove my point – and then compare those to what 2026 has offered so far. Reality-bending machines and bloodthirsty roots that consume everything in their path. At least it's not going to get any weirder than that, right?
Oh.
Review: Roots Devour
When Roots Devour appeared on my Steam feed I was intrigued. It seemed like just the right level of spooky for me: it didn’t look like the sort of thing where eldritch horrors were going to be jumping out at me and giving me nightmares, but there’s still something uneasy there.
Looking into it a little more, I discovered that it’s turning the genre somewhat on its head: rather than fighting off an ancient God, or simply serving one, you are the ancient God. And look, I’m sure there’s some other games out there where that’s the case, but that’s a new idea to me. While I’m pretty happy with the hand I’ve been dealt, I certainly don’t need unlimited power but… it does sound like it could be kinda fun, doesn’t it?
Review: TR-49
TR-49 should be a perfect match, combining a genre I’m obsessed with and a studio (inkle) that continually releases games I can’t help but love. With that, though, comes some lofty expectations… can this game meet them?
Video Exclusive: AI in Games
One more video exclusive to kick the new year off, and then back to regular programming! Here’s our take on AI in Games.