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.
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: 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?
Review: A Case of Fraud
A Case of Fraud has sort of come out of nowhere for me: I’ve made a habit of the somewhat fruitless task of scrolling through the ‘popular upcoming releases’ on Steam once a week; typically the only games which show up that I’d be interested in reviewing are ones that I was already aware of, but occasionally something appears that catches my eye. With A Case of Fraud, that was the very “Roottrees are Dead”-like screenshot that occupies the first slot on its Steam page.
For better or worse, it was only once the many many positive Steam reviews started coming in that I really sat up and paid attention to A Case of Fraud and gave it the chance it deserved.
Review: Occlude
Occlude is a new ‘cosmic-horror card game’ from developer Tributary Games. From initial appearances you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s little more than a slightly spooky Solitaire, but you’ll quickly learn that there’s a lot more going on here than those first impressions might suggest…
Review: Squeakross, Home Squeak Home
I missed Squeakross: Home Squeak Home’s release a couple of weeks ago, mainly because there were a trio of other games that had rather taken over my life in early June. Two of those are the subject of our most recent articles, but the third (and the one I’ve spent the most time playing) was something I didn’t think was going to be particularly relevant to any of our reviews.
Review: Blue Prince
Blue Prince. Here’s the review: look at the rating, buy the game, grab a notebook – hell, buy a nice journal specifically for the game, so that you’ve got something better to remember it by than a few scrappy, crappy notes wedged between shopping lists and fantasy football line-ups – and spend your next month of evenings playing it.
Review: The Darkest Files
The Darkest Files from Paintbucket Games sees players take the role of Esther Katz, a young prosecutor in 1950s Germany looking into historic crimes from the tail end of the Second World War. The game is a spiritual successor to Paintbucket’s earlier title, Through the Darkest of Times: both games are, unsurprisingly, pretty heavy experiences, going along with the studio's mission to develop video games that leave a lasting impact and focus on strong narratives.
Long-time readers won’t be surprised to hear that The Darkest FIles sounds like “my sort of” game: digging through swathes evidence and piecing together a story from various accounts… what’s not to like?
Review: Block Shop
In Block Shop, from FoolBox Studios, each puzzle has the player take various machines and conveyor belts to transform the level’s input blocks to those displayed in the output.
It’s a game that provides me plenty of personal “Eureka!” moments, but also impresses with its concept and level design.
Review: The Roottrees are Dead
In The Roottrees are Dead, the Roottrees are Dead. Namely, the President of the Roottree Corporation, his wife, and their three daughters. You’re tasked with identifying all the remaining blood relatives of the Roottree family, ostensibly to sort out the inheritance issues that might arise with the family’s untimely demise.
It’s often compared to Return of the Obra Dinn - which is likely IndieLoupe’s only five-star game... can it live up to that hype?
Review: Pocket Lint
Follow the Fun are probably best known for their - at time of writing - 66-game ‘I commissioned some…’ series. It’s a hidden-object smorgasbord which sees players finding bees, or finding cats, or finding frogs, or finding dogs, or finding bunnies, or finding abstract bunnies… you get the idea. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s a nice little series that executes the concept very well. Pocket Lint is a brief deviation from those games, offering a code-breaking puzzler where players attempt to get the correct combination of items in the right order.