Tiny Glade has been a constant presence on TikTok for the last year or so. It's never far away. In between burrito recipes and hymns to the Fujifilm X100v, this gorgeous toylike art tool's gamely turning stretches of balmy meadow into semi-ruined castles, semi-ruined villages and semi-ruined citadels.
Dreamy and slightly haunted, it's conjured words like "bewitching" and "spellbinding" in the comments sections, too. It makes sense, really. Tiny Glade's a game about making rustic dioramas and then photographing them. It's not hard to imagine some exiled magical person might live in here among the rocks and reeds and wild heather.
]]>Tiny Glade is a relaxing, wholly escapist building sim where you can kick back and summon villages, cottages and castles whilst listening to whimsical tunes without the worry of combat or busywork. This cosy game has received a lot of attention, becoming the fourth most-played demo during Steam Next Fest and earning a place within our own list of favourite demos. It now has a release date - 23rd September 2024.
]]>Excuse me, sorry, pardon me, can I just, thank you, ah, sorry, thanks... Phew, made it. Steam Next Fest is pretty crowded, eh? As if the unholy swarm of trailers and game announcements from Summer Game Fest was not enough, this week the fearful megalords at Valve decided to drop their regular cavalcade of coming-soons onto their megastore. The beautiful (and terrifying) thing about Next Fest, of course, is the overwhelming number of demos that come out during the event. A small herd of video games are standing on my toes as we speak. But that's okay, we are expert curators. Here's a handy list of our nine favourite demos of the lot.
]]>If you love cosy games where the biggest challenge is choosing between which farm utensil to place next to your barn doors, then Tiny Glade may be just the game for you. It's a creative building game like The Sims 4 but with none of the fuss of actually controlling lives - and no quests, combat or arbitrary challenges of any kind.
Instead, Tiny Glade simply offers a meadow and tools with which to build. The vibe of the game is cottage-core at its finest, with enough whimsigoth finery that you'll soon lament that you can't actually live inside your glorious creations. I've played the charming demo as part of Steam Next Fest, and you'll find some thoughts from my time with it below.
]]>Happy New Year, folks! Have you recovered from the all the 100+ hour RPGs that came out last year? Well, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that everyone seems to be taking a bit of a breather in 2024, because (at time of writing at least) the official "big'uns" calendar is looking remarkably slim at the moment. There are still some heavy-hitters coming our way this year, such as Avowed, Star Wars Outlaws and Path Of Exile 2, but 2024 looks like another year where it will be the smaller, independent games that shine the brightest. They certainly make up the bulk of our most anticipated games list for 2024, which the RPS Treehouse has been feverishly putting together over the last few days. The bad news is that there are still loads of great games coming out. So come, join us, and see what's on our personal wishlists for 2024.
]]>Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by an android demon (not to be confused with that hellish Android mascot), chill snowboarding, a golf game played on an actual physical pop-up book, and more. Check out all these attractive and interesting indie games!
]]>Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday (or Tuesday, following yet another three-day weekend), I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by artwork made by baking cookies (yes, actual real cookies), some Moebius-inspired citybuilding, stylish getaways, and more. Come admire these games!
]]>Many games make you think you're going to have a grand old time building a cute village, then they trick you into managing supply chains, or fighting raiders, or eating your pals to survive. Not the case with Tiny Glade, a lovely looking upcoming game where you really do just build dioramas of cute villages, castles, meadows, and ruins using friendly tools that help you make it look good. Check out the rural Townscaper vibes in the trailer below.
]]>Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by art made of hands, skeleton wrestling, and a squirrel horrifyingly climbing people to rob them.
]]>Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye was caught by a train ride through endless winter, a submarine controlled by connecting cables, some striking art styles, and yes, another cat.
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