Something’s out in the sky, and it’s turning everybody into monsters. That’s the premise behind Devolver Digital and Francis Coulombe’s Look Outside. The game plunges you into the dark by default and boasts a wonderfully spooky atmosphere that never lets up. If you’re a fan of eldritch horror, it’s certainly one to check out.

In Look Outside, you play as Sam, a queasy-looking man who lives alone in a spacious, but ill-furnished, apartment. Soon after you wake up, you feel the urge to look outside your window. But before you can obey, you meet your neighbor Sybil. She mostly appears as a disconcerting eye peeking in through your walls. You learn from her that something is happening, and that it’ll all blow over in 15 days. Those who looked at the sky, however, transformed into monsters beyond human comprehension. And yes, they’re all roaming around the building that Sam has to walk around in.

Aside from gathering food and resources, Sam also has to fight the eldritch monsters roaming around the complex. Not all the monsters are completely hostile, and there’s still room to communicate with them. Astronomers who seem to understand what’s going on are also in the building, and Sam can aid them in getting to the bottom of the mystery. He doesn’t have to fight alone, either. By accepting and helping fellow survivors, as well as letting them crash at his apartment, he can gain some really useful and powerful party to help him navigate the new world he lives in.

Look Outside was an indie game that developer Francis Coulombe ed onto Itch.io. Coulombe is a game artist, developer, and animator based in Canada who previously contributed pixel art for games like Katana Zero. The version of Look Outside that’s on Itch.io is almost like the demo of the game. The full Version 1.0 build of the game has a lot more content to play through.

For better or for worse, Look Outside plays like a standard turn-based RPG. You give each character a command in battle, as well as craft items to use in battle or on the field. Sometimes you might damage your weapon, which will cause them to deal less damage until they irrevocably break after a few more uses. It doesn’t introduce any particularly unique mechanics, but it does what it has very effectively. At times, it can get really frustrating, such as when one monster essentially stunlocked my entire party by freezing them until they died. But it’s not impossible, as you can gain valuable experience from fighting the monsters.

Outside of combat is where Look Outside shines a lot more. You don’t always have to go and explore the dangerous halls of your apartment complex. Sam can also stay at home to play video games, cook, check out social media, and more. Video games help to teach important skills, so it’s always a good idea to get some time in before he has to go to sleep. Basic hygiene lowers the possibility of enemies catching him, which means you have to help him wash up every day. I really liked these moments of upkeep, since the monotonous daily routine contradicted well against the obviously abnormal circumstances.

The game also has quite a few points where your choices matter in that they look you into a certain story path. But these moments are so subtle that I didn't even know when I triggered one until the consequences hit me. And since I couldn't save-scum with Sybil unless I'd been in danger first, going back to a previous save wasn't always an option either. It's unfortunate that I could only get through one playthrough for my review, because I would've loved to see how certain events around the apartment would've gone if I'd chosen another option.

The atmosphere of the game is immaculate. It’s dark, putrid-looking, and quiet. So it’s extra frightening when a sudden scream chore rings out or I hear some ghoulish moan sound from behind me. Look Outside does a great job with the Lovecraftian horror vibes, so when I got jump scares in the beginning, I was quite surprised. Thankfully, it doesn’t employ them for long.

That being said, there’s still quite a bit of body horror in this. If I have to be specific, I’d say it’s closer to facial horror. There’s a lot of facial action going on when it comes to messed up faces. The pixel art looks really nice and the game screen is big enough that if you’re uncomfortable with this kind of content, you should play something else.

With an awesome setting and artwork, interesting characters, and a spooky yet intriguing story, I really enjoyed Look Outside and look forward to playing it again to check out other endings. It’s got a lot of charm, and I love the setting. If you’re interested in the story, and you don’t really want to play a survival horror RPG with an emphasis on resource management, the game also offers an easier mode that takes away a lot of the stress. Just make sure if you play, you check out what’s outside the window. You’ll see something beautiful!

Look Outside is available on Windows PCs.

The post Review: Look Outside Presents a Fun, Spooky Challenge appeared first on Siliconera.

Massive Monster, the devs of Cult of the Lamb, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that it plans to donate $1000 every month of 2025 to a different charity. This month, it’ll donate to Doctors Without Borders.

The Tweet starts by calling out Elon Musk and the Twitter Gold program, which costs about $12,000 a year. Instead of getting a Twitter Gold check mark, it decided to donate that $12,000 to twelve different charities in 2025. The post also includes a picture of the lamb holding up a Twitter Gold check mark while a creature with a crown lays dead underneath a pile of gold. The room full of coins also features misshapen crying monsters.

Replies to the announcement have been positive, with many s saying that Massive Monster was “based” for this decision. Some s have also suggested future charities to donate to, such as The Trevor Project or Planned Parenthood. In the replies, Massive Monster included a direct link to Doctors Without Borders for those who want to make their own donation. It also suggested in another reply that organizations considering renewing their gold check mark may want to put that money to better use and donate to charity instead.

Prior to Elon Musk’s controversial buyout of Twitter back in 2022, check marks proved that a notable entity or organization was the real deal. For example, if an proclaiming themself Taylor Swift had a blue check mark, it was because Twitter confirmed that the really belonged to Taylor. Nowadays, s can get a check mark if they subscribe to Twitter Blue (though they can no longer impersonate an entity).

Cult of the Lamb is available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, and macOS.

The post Cult of the Lamb Devs to Donate $1000 To Charity Every Month of 2025 appeared first on Siliconera.

On first glance, Neva is a cozy game about nature and woodland friends. However, as soon as you load the game up, it quickly reminds you that nature is brutal. Within minutes, a bird has died and turned into a black husk, while a majestic wolf-deer is murdered by horrors.

This tone is not surprising when you realize who the developer of Neva is. It’s the latest game from Nomada Studio, whose previous game Gris was a beautiful yet harrowing exploration of grief. Neva feels like that the natural extension of that game. It takes the combination of beautiful visuals and dark subject matter and turns it towards the brutal conflicts of nature. And with it, the puzzle platforming now gets tougher and gains more combat mechanics.

You play as a woman named Alba, who is not directly named in-game. She serves as a protector for a vast forest, along with her wolf-deer hybrid companion. However, at the start of the game, this companion is killed, leaving behind a cub named Neva. The game then chronicles a year in the life of Alba and Neva, as she raises this pup into an adult so it can become the forest’s new protector.

The game itself is a puzzle platformer. You venture through the often-surreal wilderness, leaping across platforms, air dashing across gaps and climbing vast structures to progress. Along the way you encounter dark, corrupted enemies that threaten the sanctity of the forest. With each season, Neva takes a more active role in combat and can be called on to stall enemies with bites or damage enemies Alba can’t reach.

There’s an obvious Ghibli inspiration within all this. It’s not hard to look at our protagonist’s fierce defense of the forest, accompanied by a large wolf creature, and immediately see Princess Mononoke’s San and Moro. Similarly, the corrupted enemies, with their writhing black bodies and mask-like faces, bear more than a little resemblance to No-Face from Spirited Away.

That said, the game avoids feeling like an imitation, and more a work that exists in the same headspace. For a start, its visuals avoid the Ghibli style entirely. This is definitely the studio who made Gris, with its painterly aesthetic and minimalist design. You could take a screenshot of any part of this game, and it wouldn’t look out of place on a gallery wall.

However, the moment-to-moment gameplay is a huge contrast to the slow-paced, meditative puzzle-solving of Nomada’s previous work. The emphasis on combat adds fail states that Gris lacked, and the primary emotional state of the game is anger rather than sadness. There’s a sense of something profoundly wrong happening to these woods, and Alba and Neva must right the wrongs. It’s defiant and aggressive.

This means Neva is a lot more challenging than it might appear. I went into the game fully expecting the kind of slow, relaxed experience of a lot of artsy, narrative-driven projects. You walk a lot and solve puzzles. Sure, that is here too, but the extra difficulty adds an exciting new layer. Combat offers a tiny health pool, the limited moveset can make encounters with large groups tense, and some platforming segments combined Alba’s moveset in specific ways that must be figured out with some ingenuity. By no means is this Dark Souls, but anyone coming into this expecting to casually walk through it with ease may find themselves surprised.

This was welcome, as it created for some great moments. Sections where the scenery breaks open during combat, shifting the environment you’re trying to position yourself on. Sometimes enemies will use the scenery itself to fight you, or flying enemies will enter the fray. These enemies force you to change your tactics and make you focus on your positioning.

I also really loved how Neva shook up its platforming sections. The scenery shifts are a big way the game keeps you on your toes, but then some sections also require you to send Neva to attack switches while you’re in mid-air or combine your double jump and air dash in new ways. There’s also a section during the Winter chapter that deliberately screws with your perspective, and it’s easily one of the best parts of the game.

The real shining moments of the game are the moments of peril where you’re helpless and Neva jumps in and saves the day. These moments are the real heart of the game. Mechanically, they usually add something new to your kit that you’ll be using during the next section. Narratively, they show the building relationship between Alba and Neva in a way that’s highly effective despite the lack of words.

This minimalist approach to story is something that Neva does incredibly well. The only word spoken in the entire game is “Neva” whenever you call for her. Otherwise, the game’s narrative is communicated entirely through gestures and moments. We never get long exposition about the origins of the corruption, we just know it’s bad and must be stopped. Anything left unexplained is for the player to interpret as they see fit. Is it a reminder of the cruelty of nature that must be respected? A critique on pollution and its effect on wildlife? Or could it be seen as an allegory for death and rebirth? It’s all valid, and you’ll be left pondering these questions long after the game is over.

In fact, I struggle to find much I didn’t like about Neva. Any critique I have feels either like I’m nitpicking or trying to turn the game into something it’s not. Could the moveset be a little more expansive to make some sections feel less repetitive? Sure, but the game’s simplicity is a major asset in how the game delivers its narrative. Are there sections where the scenery can sometimes get in the way of the path a little too much? Sure, but these are rare and usually during quiet times where you’re simply walking. I certainly don’t recall any moments where fog obscured combat, for instance.

The game is, ittedly, short. My playthrough took just shy of four hours to complete, and aside from some optional plants you can make bloom, there’s little incentive to replay the game. However, those four hours are beautiful and heartfelt, and something you’d likely want to experience again.

Neva is a sweet little game that left a significant impression on me. Every frame looks like a painting, there’s a surprising amount of challenge and the way it builds these characters without saying a word is masterful. If you’re a fan of short, artful experiences in games, you need to play Neva.

Neva is out now for PC, PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

The post Review: Neva is a Beautiful Tale of a Girl and Her Wolf appeared first on Siliconera.

The Plucky Squire has an intriguing premise. You are the titular Squire, a young man named Jot, who is on a quest to defeat the evil wizard Humgrump. However, the entire adventure takes place within a child’s storybook, and as the adventure progresses, Jot finds a way to leave the book and head out into the real world.

There are essentially two narratives at play here. The first is the story of the book itself, where Jot the Plucky Squire does battle with a fiendish foe and saves the day like the hero he is. The second is one involving the child who owns the book, quietly building an extra adventure around their room, allowing Jot to traverse the paint pots, books and mugs that line this kid’s desk. And if Jot fails in his mission, there’s a real chance that this child may never see their creativity flourish in the future.

The gameplay in The Plucky Squire is similar to the 2D Zelda games. In fact, it’s easy to see a direct line between the storybook sequences drawing influence from A Link to the Past while the real world segments draw more from the Switch remake of Link’s Awakening. You explore the world, moving from page to page, battling enemies in a simple combat system while occasionally solving puzzles to progress.

There are some inventive puzzles here too. The game makes good use of its meta narrative, with Jot having to use his abilities to leave the book for a variety of purposes. Sometimes he has to retrieve an item from an earlier page, manipulate the words on the page or physically tilt the book to move something heavy.

You’ll also get sequences where you get to explore the desk, where Jot can jump in and out of doodles on Post-It notes, clamber over stationery and interact with characters and worlds outside of his own. There’s one moment involving an obvious yet legally distinct Magic the Gathering card that got a genuine chuckle out of me because of how much the art styles contrasted with one another.

This is where The Plucky Squire shines. There’s an abundance of imagination here, with the world outside the book reminiscent of LittleBigPlanet or Yoshi’s Crafted World, as our tiny protagonist clambers over hand-crafted levels. It’s all falling apart at the visible seams and yet it’s endearing and warm. Wandering these sequences, you can see the hidden child behind all this, imagining they’re sending their favourite character on a mighty quest across their desk. Occasionally dinosaurs and space aliens can just show up on a whim because that’s what this kid is into today. As someone who was glued, sometimes literally, to art shows on TV when I was growing up, I always appreciate games that bring back that unique brand of childhood creativity in their design ethos.

That’s not to say the storybook itself lacks this same imagination. The world of Mojo is a silly one in all the best ways. They developers have crammed so many interesting locations into limited page space, and populated it with a weird and wonderful bunch of side characters. There’s the population of Artia, who are all based on famous painters and artists, or the trolls whose entire culture is built around heavy metal. They’re all endlessly charming, and the world is drawn with a vibrant and colorful art style. It’s easy to see the animated series they could spin off from this.

The game even throws occasional minigames at you that completely change the genre. There’s a Punch-Out!! knockoff, rhythm games and even a match-3 puzzle game, among others. They don’t always work as well as their inspirations, but the shift is always a welcome one. They show off the team’s imagination even more, and the way they’re woven into the narrative and given a Plucky Squire interpretation is always entertaining.

Despite all this, though, The Plucky Squire has a serious problem with linearity. For a game that so heavily celebrates creativity and imagination, it feels jarring that it barely lets the player be creative or imaginative in how they approach the game. There’s nothing wrong with linear games, and I’ve enjoyed plenty of them. However, the reason it stands out so much here is because of how determined the game is to keep you on a narrow path at all times, while hinting at possibilities that are just not there.

Puzzles typically have a single solution, one that’s usually telegraphed in obvious ways. Portals between fiction and reality only show up where they need to. The desk in the real world shrinks to nothing when the focus needs to be on the book. The game even actively takes your abilities away when it decides you don’t need them at that moment. I lost count of how many times my attempts to manipulate the book saw my ability to tilt it just…disappear.

It's frustrating, because there’s so much promise for more. The steady acquisition of abilities suggests the room outside the book could have been an open space that only restricted your movement based on abilities, Metroidvania-style. I would have loved to explore more freely and see a greater contrast between the linear storybook and the infinite possibilities living outside it.

I also would have loved more experimentation with the puzzles. I would often unlock an ability, consider the many things I could do with it, only to find the ability is often worthless outside the specific story beats the game wants it to be used. I often wanted to flip back through the book and uncover secrets after obtaining an ability or new knowledge. On rare occasions I would be rewarded for this, but most of the time I’d simply be slowly turning through the pages only to have to slowly turn them all back, my curiosity entirely unfulfilled. There’s also one distinct puzzle later in the game where I had to break a box, but my thought process of smashing it into a wall with the tilt function didn’t work. The “correct” solution did make sense, but the lack of acceptance of creative alternatives was disappointing.

The main reason all this bothered me so much is simply because The Plucky Squire set up such a lovely little world. Both the fictional world of Mojo and the neat little touches of the real world were interesting. I want to explore them both a lot more, and see how far the concept can go. The team at All Possible Futures have crafted something wonderful here but it also feels like we’re only seeing a fraction of what they’re capable of.

Of course, if you’re just here for a fun linear adventure, you’ll have a blast. The Plucky Squire is an imaginative romp full of joy and wonder despite how much it holds your hand in the process.

The Plucky Squire is out now for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

The post Review: The Plucky Squire is an Imaginative Storybook Adventure appeared first on Siliconera.

Devolver Digital and Massive Monster announced there will be two actual Cult of the Lamb themed wedding ceremonies held at PAX Australia on October 13, 2024. This will be a real wedding, and people who go to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Handheld Lounge and Main Theatre area can attend and bear witness, even if they don’t have tickets to the event.

The Cult of the Lamb Wedding Ritual is one of the options present in-game. People can perform it with a Follower to get a new option to increase their Loyalty and earn more Faith, provided you have 75 Bones to pay for it. To maintain that atmosphere at PAX Australia, the publisher and developer will actually have decorations and elements designed to resemble the Ritual in the game, complete with a build of the Temple in it. Said structure is apparently a 1:1 recreation. 

These will not be a t ceremony. There will be two separate ones. The first Cult of the Lamb wedding will take place at PAX Australia at 11am AEST on October 13, 2024. The Lamb will be in attendance, but the companies didn’t specify if the character will also be the officiant. The second wedding is at 3pm AEST that same day. Anyone interested in attending is invited to show up. 

Cult of the Lamb is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. The August 2024 update added co-op multiplayer, with The Goat appearing as the player-two character.

The post Cult of the Lamb Weddings Being Held at PAX Australia appeared first on Siliconera.

Reality TV is a guilty pleasure of mine, with it and sitcoms being the two genres I watched as a kid to pick up English soon after I immigrated to Canada. While The Crush House does not exactly satisfy the reality TV itch, it provides a pretty interesting commentary on the nature of these shows. The gameplay loop becomes more fun the more used to it you get, but as a game, it never quite became strong on its own, thus relying heavily on its subversion of the genre it's parodying.

The Crush House seems like a messier version of Terrace House when it comes to the in-game reality TV show. You are the producer of the show, and you start the season by choosing four cast to live together under the same roof for a week. There's an element of strategy here after you become accustomed to the game. Certain cast make it easier to make audiences happy. For example, activists love seeing Priscilla, who's prone to bursting into tears. Meanwhile, people with foot fetishes love Charlie, who walks around in sandals all the time.

You then broadcast the lives and dramas of these four people to an audience that’s thirsting for a variety of content. Sometimes, they’ll want you to film fights and arguments. Other times, all they care about is the landscaping of the Barbie-esque Malibu mansion. That's not even getting into the simps, the suburban moms, the plumbers, the conspiracy theorists, and so on and so forth. Your goal is to make sure the show stays on air for an entire season (a week) by meeting your audience’s expectations.

In the beginning, it was a little tough to stop thinking of the game as an actual TV show. I focused a lot on conversations, kisses, and fights. This is the stuff you'd want to see, right? But, of course, real people don’t make up the in-game audience. Half the time I wasn't even capturing the drama between the cast . I was recording things like the pool, the art, the fish, the fire, and butts. The audience I had to worry about didn't seem to care at all about the actual substance of the show, which was a bizarre mechanic. But once I knew what the game wanted from me, it was a lot easier. Lining up shots to make sure I could get as much as I needed was really fun, but I became so focused on pleasing the audience that the actual show itself became a non-priority.

A lot of my initial complaints faded once I realized what the game was trying to do. One of my main criticisms was that I don’t really care about anyone. No one was really unique and they all felt interchangeable. It says a lot that I can't their names half the time considering how quickly I become attached to characters. While they do have unique backstories and personalities on paper, in practice, they're virtually the same outside of some special interactions. Emile the suave Frenchman does the same ridiculous "Hearken!" speech that Alex the himbo does. Veer the band geek strips to his swimsuit before going down the Success Slide, which is something Ayo the drama queen did. Charlie the sweet girl goes nuts over "margarita time" just like the self-assured mean girl Joyumi. No one felt interesting in their own way.

Another complaint I had was that the audience’s needs were illogical. This isn’t to do with them wanting to see certain things, but more that I had some difficulty at first figuring out what demographics meant by their requests. While you can look up your audience to see the types of requests they’ll leave in the comments, I wish the game would provide a small descriptor as to what each group is like. I never really figured out how to deal with cynics or people with shoddy Internet, for example. Cynics seemed to satisfy themselves. Meanwhile, no matter what I did, the people with bad Internet still complained so I just used other audience groups’ hype levels to satisfy them.

As I continued to stream episode after episode to an audience that can’t get enough of the ridiculous antics of The Crush House, I found myself becoming more and more apathetic towards it all. I didn’t care anymore that I’ve seen the same argument about filler words, like, five times, nor did I care about the affairs I stumbled across while trying to record some perky bottoms for the butt-lovers in the audience. Outside of their requests, I stopped caring about the contestants beyond what they could do for me when it comes to raking in audience approval. It made the game’s reveal of the dark secret laying underneath the vaporware veneer of the show’s set so much more intriguing, because I had fallen into the way of thinking that some corrupt TV executive probably has too.

Most of the game’s fun comes from the learning curve. It felt great to master new ways of meeting audience goals or filming the cast, as well as rushing from room to room while letting ments rake in cash so that I could get the perfect shot of something. If I wasn’t meeting my quota literally at the last second though, I was hitting it halfway through the day. This wasn't great, since there's no benefit in continuing to film them and as mentioned earlier, they're not exactly interesting to spy on. That meant that I usually messed around on my phone while letting ments play in-game for a while every game day. The difficulty balance felt off. However, it could have been my luck when it comes to the combination of audience types.

Because the odd difficulty balance gives a surprising amount of downtime in a game that’s supposed to catch the rush of the cutthroat reality TV business, the game can feel slower than it should. The story seems interesting, as are the little tidbits about who they are as people rather than props. But I personally could not bring myself to care about the characters’ well-being outside of morbid curiosity. This was, again, due to their lack of any individuality and chemistry with each other. Was the apathy towards the cast something the developers intended? Or was I just a bad person while playing it? I honestly have no clue. I think if I’d watched someone’s video essay on the topic, though, the distance (and not having to read their inane conversations over and over) might have helped me to care a bit more about the cast.

The Crush House is an interesting game that combines FPS elements with exploration, time management, and strategy, all with a narrative that makes you want to marathon the game all the way to the season finale. It’s a game that can only ever be a game, as the impact of the story wouldn’t be the same in another format. While enjoyable, I do suggest having something else to do on hand. Once the audience gets what they want, the drama of reality TV loses its luster, leaving nothing but vapid and repetitive content behind.

The Crush House is readily available on Windows PCs.

The post Review: The Crush House Is the Perfect Microcosm for Reality TV appeared first on Siliconera.

To celebrate Cult of the Lamb being out for two years, developer Massive Monster made the pre-order bonus Cthulhu follower skin available to all players. As well as the skin that was previously only available to those who committed to the game ahead of launch, all players will also receive three new decorations for their camp.

The new decorations include a red, wooden prayer box, a stone monument holding some candles in a hollow, and a cart of flowers. The birthday gift pack should be available to all players once their system time hits August 16, 2024. Players can then go to their home base to find a gift box containing the items, providing their game is fully updated.

You can get a look at the new Cult of the Lamb decorations and the Cthulhu pre-order bonus via the gallery below:

Earlier in August 2024, Devolver and Massive Monster announced the follower-focused Pilgrim Pack DLC for Cult of the Lamb, which adds new follower forms and quests. Plushies based on the Lamb and the Goat, the 2 player co-op character introduced in the Unholy Alliance update, are also expected to ship in December, 2024.

Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The post Cult of the Lamb Pre-order Bonus Now Free for All appeared first on Siliconera.

The release date for The Plucky Squire, the new Devolver Digital game from Pokemon artist James Turner’s All Possible Futures, is also the day it will the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.

A new The Plucky Squire trailer appeared alongside the release date announcement. It shows how everything starts within a book, with the Jot the Squire heading out to save Mojo from a sorcerer named Humgrump. Part of Jot’s abilities involve being able to leave the book and head out to the desk to fight on other surfaces. So things often go from 2D to 3D and back again.

Here’s the new video. At the 50 second mark, Devolver Digital and All Possible Futures joke about how long it took for the release date to come up with in-game dialogue being replaced.

As for the PlayStation Plus access to The Plucky Squire, you will need the higher tiers to play it. It will become a part of the Extra and library of games. So it would be a minimum of $14.99 per month to access it.

The Plucky Squire release date is September 17, 2024. It will be available on the PS5, Switch, Xbox Series X, and PC. It will PlayStation Plus Extra and that day.

The post Plucky Squire Release Date Also Marks Its PlayStation Plus Debut appeared first on Siliconera.

Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced that in honor of the Cult of the Lamb multiplayer option, new Lamb and Goat plush toys are on the way. These will be $36.66 each and launch sometime in December 2024.

When someone heads into a Cult of the Lamb co-op multiplayer session, the Goat will be available as the second playable character option. Like the Lamb, the character has their own cloak, bell, and crown signifying their role. Both of the plush toys will be 10 inches tall. 

Devolver Digital’s store also showed the initial mock-up images for both of these Cult of the Lamb plush toys. Here’s how they should look:

There’s also a trailer joking about their release:

In addition to the Goat and Lamb, one other plush and other merchandise will appear in December 2024. Devolver Digital opened orders for a Ratau stuffed animal. It will also be $36.66. That character will wear the typical attire from the game and arrive holding a walking stick. There will also be a $50 long-sleeved shirt with imagery from the Goat and Lamb both. That will appear in sizes small through 3XL. There will be $12 Goat pins as well.

Cult of the Lamb is available on the Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Goat and Lamb plush toys will arrive in December 2024. 

The post Cult of the Lamb Goat and Lamb Plush Toys Arrive in December appeared first on Siliconera.

Massive Monster and Devolver Digital announced The Pilgrim Pack, which is a new piece of DLC for Cult of the Lamb with additional Follower forms and unique quests. It’ll come out on August 12, 2024 alongside the new update.

The Pilgrim Pack will be a bit different from what people expect from Cult of the Lamb. It’ll be an interactive digital comic, through which you can access new secret quests, Follower forms, outfits, and accessories.

You can check out the Cult of the Lamb new DLC trailer below:

Instead of playing as a cult leader like you do in the main game, it seems like the Pilgrim story will focus on Followers instead. You’ll be helping Jalala and Rinor journeying in search of a new home, only for dangerous cultists to stalk them in hopes of sacrificing them to their gods. As The Pilgrim Pack will include two unique Follower quests, it’s likely that you’ll be able to further explore Jalala and Rinor’s stories outside of the comic as well.

As a reminder, The Pilgrim Pack will be paid DLC. It will come out on the same date as the Unholy Alliance free update, but if you want to experience it, you’ll need to pay some money. The Pilgrim Pack will cost $6.99 on PC and $8.99 on consoles.

Cult of the Lamb is readily available on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. The Pilgrim Pack will appear in Cult of the Lamb on August 12, 2024, and it will not be part of the free Unholy Alliance update.

The post Cult of the Lamb Pilgrim Pack DLC Adds Follower Forms and Quests appeared first on Siliconera.

Tentacular is one of those VR games that is a joy for many reasons. One thing I noticed is that it is the type that once you’re done with it, you can step away and feel satisfied. What’s great about the free Island Builder update for Tentacular is that it adds this additional creative element that could be ongoing, yet also builds on what’s fun about the game in general.

For those who didn’t get into the Firepunchd Games and Devolver Digital title back when it first showed up on the Meta Quest, PS VR2, or Windows PC VR headsets, the concept is simple. In Tentacular, you are essentially some sort of kraken-like creature. You were raised alongside humans after hatching from an egg. After coming of age, you step into the workforce and start helping out everyone on La Kalma island with odd jobs. It’s primarily a physics-based puzzle game with various situations littered across stages, but there’s also an overarching storyline that offers some insights into the characters, island, and situation they’re dealing with.

But the real fun involves figuring out how to solve problems when you only have two tentacles.

While there are some extra missions in the Tentacular Island Builder update, which are quite fun and feel different from what came before, the selling point is the titular Island Builder. This gives you access to a sandbox space that lets you create your own own island or see other people’s islands. I just couldn’t stop playing with the new suite of tools.

Some of the basic ones involve just being able to create landmasses and elements. Others involve getting a whole building toy box of different elements and features to help you put things together. There are pieces that allow you to combine items. Basically everything I encountered in the main game was available as an option when building or decorating in this supplemental area. While the first hour or so involved just messing around with the creation glove and building blocks for developing my own unique island, I really felt like I’d gotten to a point where I could build a small town that made sense to me. But also, I will it that I had fun sort of destroying things a bit when my vision wasn’t adding up either. Since they weren’t the NPCs I was used to from the real game, I didn’t feel the same guilt as I would like… tossing a car or boat around there.

The ability to visit other people’s islands is also a fantastic perk. Tentacular’s base game is very good at presenting puzzles someone can play without getting VR or motion sick. Because I was moving around so much more when constructing my own island in the sandbox element, I did notice I’d need to take breaks a bit more frequently. If I knew I only needed like five or ten minutes, I’d usually keep my Meta Quest 3 on and head to some other players’ creations instead. 

The only thing I didn’t like is, honestly, the Tentacular cheat terminal. I ended up using it to play around with and unlock a thing, and I absolutely hated the inputs. The nature of it means you need to grab letters from the board and place them in the area in the proper order to spell out the correct phase. But because of the lack of the precision, when I grabbed “O” I also got “F” or “G.” The only time I could get the exact single letter I needed was if it was in the front row (so R, S, T, Y, V, W, X, Y, or Z). It was incredibly frustrating and I would have appreciated a little break in the immersion to make it more accommodating.

Before the Tentacular Island Builder free update dropped, it was probably one of the absolute best VR games you could get due to how well the concept and execution come together. After that new addition, I think it is absolutely in the top five. It feels like the perfect playground who ever got sucked into a SimCity or Sims style game for hours because they just wanted to design how the metropolis or house looked. It provides an even better excuse to head back to the game and maybe play it more often after beating the original levels.

Tentacular is available on the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, PS VR2, and Windows PC VR headsets, and the Island Builder update is live.

The post Tentacular Island Builder Expansion Adds More Life to the Game appeared first on Siliconera.

The Devolver Digital Showcase was held on June 7, 2024, featuring Volvy’s 15th Birthday Party, a short film with a mix of comedy and horror elements. Through the lens of a Devolver Digital and Volvy super fan, the event highlighted several anticipated releases and expansions, as well as new titles from well known developers.

One of the major highlights was the announcement of Cult of the Lamb: Unholy Alliance. It introduces a new playable character, the Goat, for local co-op multiplayer. Additionally, The Talos Principle 2: Road to Elysium offers a three-part expansion with new stories and puzzles. Finally, among their new titles in the works was Tenjutsu by Deepnight Games, where players shape a city to fit their play style as they defy their former yakuza associates.

Games and Updates Announced: 6n1y1w

• Possessor(s) – 2025 | PC & Consoles
• Tenjutsu – TBD | PC & Consoles
• Anger Foot – July 11, 2024 | PC
• The Crush House – August 9, 2024 | PC
• Cult of the Lamb: Unholy Alliance – August 12, 2024 | PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S|X, Switch
• The Talos Principle 2: Road to Elysium – June 14, 2024 | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S

You can watch Vovly’s 15th Birthday Party on their YouTube Channel: 

The Devolver Digital Direct official website is now open with new Volvy content.

The post 2024 Devolver Digital Direct Highlights New Games, Updates appeared first on Siliconera.

Youtooz announced it will sell Cult of the Lamb plush toys based on five kinds of Followers found in the game. Pre-orders open on April 2, 2024, and the stuffed animals are expected to ship between July 1-31, 2024.

Here’s the full list of product listings for the Follower stuffed animals. Each one will be nine inches tall and cost $29.99.

• Beetle
• Dog
• Klunko and Bop
• Rabbit
• Starfish

Youtooz already released and opened orders for some Cult of the Lamb plush toys ahead of this batch of followers. Sitting, standing, and possessed versions of the Lamb appeared, with the sitting and possessed versions expected to ship by April 19, 2024. A Cultist Rammie also appeared and sold out. The company also sells a number of figures based on characters that showed up in the game.

We’ve seen stuffed animals of these characters before. For example, for a while Good Smile Company sold plushies of the Lamb and finger puppets of that character and some Followers. Pre-orders for those opened back in 2023 ahead of their 2024 debut.

Cult of the Lamb is available for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. The Youtooz plush pre-orders open on April 2, 2024, ahead of their July 2024 debut.

The post More Cult of the Lamb Followers Turned Into Plush Toys appeared first on Siliconera.

Devolver Digital has teased a new game on Twitter (X). The teaser comes in the form of a somewhat bizarre 30-second-long video.

You can watch the video here:

It shows several black-and-white clips of a pixelated character with a beard and sunglasses looking around and talking. It’s interspersed with text that has an anti-technology bent. The video ends with a close-up of the character’s mouth as he says “Let me be your sun.” Some of the replies are taking guesses at what this game could be. Guesses include a cult game (including a Cult of the Lamb and Rain World collaboration), Hotline Miami 3, Katana Zero DLC, and a Unabomber game. Devolver Digital, or “Daddy Devolver” now on Twitter (X), did not make a follow-up Tweet explaining or revealing anything more about this game.

Devolver Digital is a video game publisher that has mostly released indie games since its founding in 2009. Subsidiaries include Firefly Studios, Good Shepherd Entertainment, and Croteam. Some of its games include the Hotline Miami series, the Serious Sam series, Cult of the Lamb, and Loop Hero. Perhaps its most well-known property, however, is Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

More information on the game from Devolver Digital will appear in the future and could be part of the January 31, 2024 State of Play.

The post Devolver Digital Teases New Game appeared first on Siliconera.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms does something a bit different. Rather than isolated lifetimes, you’re gradually building up a dynasty as your consciousness keeps going back into of the family as it builds up. However, its new battle system is what really kept me fascinated in this situation.

To be honest, Reigns: Three Kingdoms’ start reminded me a bit of Assassin’s Creed and Abstergo. You are using experimental technology to send yourself back in time to the Three Kingdoms period. Your goal is to gradually build yourself and your family line up to conquer every region. 

It is a bit of an adjustment. Typically, I play the games approaching runs differently as I decide between decisions, and here it feels like there’s an incentive to keep fulfilling missions and making progress to ensure overall success. But the new battle system really helped make it feel a bit more distinct and unusual. 

As you go through runs and make your choices, you can end up recording new character cards. These folks can become your units who fight in your battles. You’ll have four of them “dealt” to you in a fight, should you choose to handle a battle firsthand and not delegate it so you can focus on choices instead. Each one has different attack focuses (some may hit multiple enemies for example) and their own health.

Once your four are equipped, you spin them back and forth for as many actions as you have to unleash attacks. Your goal is to protect your center area for your individual health, while wearing down the opposing units protecting your opponent’s “core” to defeat them. It’s possible to revive fallen units, and success can also come from knowing how to arrange and spin your unit cards around so when the enemy turn comes, you’re protected, but you can still swap to another unit easily to continue the assault on your own turn. 

It’s quick and simple, but can occasionally prove challenging depending on the characters each side is using. Putting together a deck is also more fun than I expected. I do wish the online multiplayer was more active, since that seems like it’d have potential. I haven’t had much luck with finding instant matches on the Switch version of Reigns: Three Kingdoms.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms feels like it tries to do a few different things to set itself apart. Of them, the battles are the part I find the most fun. It feels like there’s a bit of potential here in these brief altercations. I just wish there were more chances to face off against others.

Reigns: Three Kingdoms is available for the Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices via Netflix. 

The post The Reigns: Three Kingdoms Battles Help It Stand Out   appeared first on Siliconera.