Just like in the Victoria series from Paradox Interactive, you command a chosen nation, guiding it through diplomacy, industrialization, and warfare to achieve global dominance. The game’s world is alive and interactive, letting you place cities, railways, and buildings anywhere on the map, shaping your nation’s growth with precision.

Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender stated: “We love grand strategy games, and Gilded Destiny is shaping up to be one of the most exciting titles in the genre.” Aquila co-founder Kenneth Mei added: “Partnering with Hooded Horse will gild the road ahead, helping us realize our vision for a living world with deep military and economic systems.”

Funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $150,000 from 2,300 backers, Gilded Destiny is targeting an Early Access launch in late 2026.

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Firesquid Games will showcase their latest games, including the god game Reus 2, the medieval city-builder City Tales – Medieval Era, the narrative-driven Becoming Saint, and the alien-busting Xenopurge. Hooded Horse will feature new releases like the horror-tinged He is Coming and the recently launched Every Day We Fight, plus discounts on popular titles such as Manor Lords, 9 Kings, and Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic.

TactiCon 2025 will also feature new reveals. FireFly Studios will share details on Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition. Fulqrum Publishing will update us on New Arc Line, a steampunk RPG with strategic elements. Ex Sanguis, the next project from Othercide developer Lightbulb Crew, promises to blend dark visuals with tactical depth. Plus, an upcoming turn-based roguelite will debut on Steam, with details still under wraps.

Last year’s event drew over 2.3 million visitors and saw an average of 8,000 wishlists per game, with 107 titles featured.

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I was surprised by how much fun Guards II: Chaos in Hell is. It brings something new to turn-based strategy genre, forcing you to move your characters around a grid to activate their abilities and attacks. You’ll assemble a squad of four heroes from eight unlockable options (like a wizard, monk, or dark priest), which you earn by progressing through the campaign. Your goal is to defeat demons, but the game is not without its flaws.

Core mechanics are easy to understand

The game start with a brief tutorial that teaches you the core mechanic: to activate a hero’s ability, you must strategically swap them around a 7×3 grid. However, only the first two rows are actively used by the player. The second row holds your three attacking heroes, while the single position in the first row is for healing and activating abilities when you move a hero out of it.

This is a really cool and interesting idea that keeps evolving. Each hero has unique attack methods: short-range, long-range, or elemental attacks. They also have second stances, for example, a wind elementalist mage can switch to a more powerful fire stance, unleashing special meteor fireballs. Healing is crucial too, and swapping a character from the back row is highly recommended.

After the tutorial, you’ll start playing through a campaign that takes you through five distinct circles of Hell, each inspired by myths from various cultures, and every unlocks a new heroe. You’ll face a variety of enemies: they start weak, like simple mummies and grotesque creatures, but quickly become more deadly, throwing shurikens, attacking multiple times, and multiplying each level, making all biomes much harder to clear. My biggest bonus feature is the speed-up button. This lets you quickly complete playthroughs and levels in about six minutes, but it still keeping the strategic thinking fun and fast-paced.

“You’ll face a variety of enemies: they start weak, but quickly become more deadly.”

You can experiment with heroes and their talent trees

Every enemy in Guards II is weak to something, whether it’s fire or physical attacks, making them easier to defeat with the right strike. After clearing a level, you can use demon essence (earned from completing levels) to get temporary boosts to stats like attack or health. Each circle of Hell has about 4-5 levels. However, a frustrating aspect is that to advance to the next level, you often have to replay previous ones within the terittory. This means clearing the same content again just to progress. This design choice was likely made to extend the game’s length and ensure you have enough time and resources for upgrades.

All heroes have their own talent or upgrade tree, allowing you to buff their attacks, abilities, and boost their health and power, with multiple upgrade tiers available. You upgrade them using gems earned by completing levels and each level also offers higher difficulty settings, from easy to extreme, keeping the game fun and challenging. Additionally, you can unlock extra skills with feathers, such as heroes recovering more health in the back row or earning more demon essence after each level.

There’s ability to conjure certain items for one-time or limited use during battle, like reviving a fallen hero (since it’s an instant game over if one dies) or dealing extra damage. But my biggest issue with Guards II is that it plays too safe with its content, offering not so much variety. While some heroes have unique stances, like the alchemist’s gun, most simply shift into a fiery form that’s often even weaker than their initial one.

“All heroes have their own talent or upgrade tree.”

Fast-paced and fun, you won’t be dissapointed

It’s also unclear how many gems you’ve saved for each hero, since each character has their own separate pool for upgrades. While Guards II: Chaos in Hell boasts nice pixel graphics, they are too pixelated. This makes ability information, on-screen numbers, and even the initial tutorial text very difficult to read. Most enemies have distinctive looks and there’s a good variety, but bosses surprisingly don’t stand out. They lack unique characteristics, feeling more like regular enemies.

However, despite these visual drawbacks, the game’s fast-paced turn-based strategy, combined with each biome introducing unique tactics and new heroes, makes it a really solid choice if you enjoy this genre. There’s even a special “hell mode” at the end for an extra challenge. I can highly recommend this title. With 80 levels to beat and a flexible systems, you’ll constantly experiment with your heroes and use them strategically, which is a big plus.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4

The post Guards II: Chaos in Hell – Turn-Based Strategy with a Unique Spin first appeared on IndieGames.

In Life Below, you play as Thalassa, a guardian of the deep, working to revive the struggling oceans of a near-future Earth. The game challenges you to adapt to a changing ocean environment, facing hazards like pollution and climate shifts while boosting biodiversity. The narrative, writen by Rhianna Pratchett, known for Tomb Raider and Mirror’s Edge, adds heartfelt depth to the reef-building adventure.

Megapop has also teamed up with accessibility consultant Arevya and the UK charity SpecialEffect to create helpful features. With customizable controls and inclusive interface options, they’re working to make Life Below one of the most accessible city-builders yet.

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Commandos: Origins marks the return of the iconic real-time tactics (RTT) series after a nearly two-decade hiatus since Commandos 3 in 2003. As a prequel, it dives into the origins of the elite WWII commando squad, featuring familiar characters like Jack O’Hara (Green Beret), Thomas Hancock (Sapper), Francis Woolridge (Sniper), Samuel Brooklyn (Driver), James Blackwood (Marine), and Rene Duchamp (Spy). With a focus on stealth-oriented gameplay, Commandos: Origins aims to blend the series’ classic formula with modern upgrade.

As a newcomer to the Commandos series but a huge stealth fan, I find these games incredibly tense and strategic. Despite the occasionally weird AI patterns, they’re consistently fun, making you lose track of time. Each game brings something unique despite their similarities, and Commandos: Origins is no exception. It’s challenging, far from easy, and absolutely worth it for fans of the genre or the earlier entries. Three difficulty levels (Recruit, Regular, and Veteran) adjust enemy detection speed and mission complexity, with Veteran mode being especially brutal for series veterans.

Real-time tactics and Command mode

In Commandos: Origins, you’ll navigate large, intricate maps set in diverse WWII environments, from Arctic tundras to African deserts. The core gameplay revolves around planning, trial-and-error experimentation, and executing synchronized actions to complete objectives like sabotage, rescues, or raids. So, expect a lot of saving and loading. The game doesn’t waste your time in that regard; need to reload or change difficulty? It’s all easily accessible.

The game’s isometric perspective provides a top-down view of detailed maps, filled with enemies whose vision cones dictate safe movement. Unlike turn-based tactics games, Commandos: Origins demands split-second decisions while managing multiple characters. Command Mode helps immensely here, allowing you to pause the game to let you queue simultaneous actions for your squad. For example, you can have the Green Beret choke a guard while the Marine distracts another and the Spy delivers a silenced shot.

However, from the start, this mode was a mess. Sometimes it wouldn’t commit to a command, for example, to throw a grenade and you can only do one action at a time. If you need to shoot multiple times with your gun, you have to repeat the command yourself as enemies often require multiple bullets to be killed. Characters also moved strangely sometimes and can get stuck inside enemies. Yes, there are bugs.

“Commandos: Origins demands split-second decisions while managing multiple characters.”

You’re free to explore the map in your own way

The open-ended level design encourages creative solutions. For example, you can lure enemies with a radio, have the Green Beret bury himself in dirt for an ambush, or use the Marine’s throwing knife to clear a path. With so many options, you can complete levels or missions without killing every enemy. But, the game’s reliance on trial-and-error can test your patience, as small misclicks or unpredictable enemy behavior often require quick-loading. Additionally, the game offers a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode, letting you tackle missions together either online or via local split-screen.

Each commando’s unique toolkit adds depth to the tactical sandbox. For instance, the Sapper sets traps or uses explosives, the Sniper takes out enemies with long-range silent kills, and the Spy disguises himself to infiltrate enemy ranks. Plus, there are plenty of side objectives and collectibles which boost replayability. I personally loved the moments of complete chaos control; you don’t always have to play it safe, but poor planning can definitely get you into trouble.

The controls on PC are intuitive, featuring customizable keybindings and a streamlined hotkey menu for tools and unit selection, while the isometric camera is fully rotatable and zoomable. The minimalistic UI, with unit portraits and a clean minimap, avoids clutter. Despite these strengths, my worst experience was when enemies sometimes detected commandos in bushes they’d already left or entered a permanent alert state, which disrupted my stealth plans.

“Each commando’s unique toolkit adds depth to the tactical sandbox.”

Worth it if you know what to expect

Commandos: Origins offers a visual upgrade over its predecessors, with more detailed environments that capture the charm of WWII settings. The game’s biomes are beautifully rendered too with realistic lighting, shadows, and explosions. Character models stand out with unique animations for each commando, though cutscenes have minor graphical flaws and repetitive dialogue.

The campaign in Commandos: Origins offers around thirty hours of gameplay, and with a little exploration, you can find collectibles scattered across the map. I love how unique each map feels, which keeps things fresh and makes experimenting with different approaches genuinely fun, giving you plenty of freedom. However, even a month after release, the game still has some noticeable bugs and technical issues – nothing game-breaking though. If you enjoyed the earlier Commandos games, you’ll likely love this one too, especially since you can now play with a friend. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it if you know what to expect.

Review copy provided by the publisher

4

The post Commandos: Origins – The Series Returns first appeared on IndieGames.

In Never’s End, you play as an immortal warrior, reincarnated as a being of living metal. You wield the power of fire, water, wind, earth, and your mission is to protect the last human settlement from the Never, an apocalyptic force spawning grotesque creatures like undead wights, monstrous bats, and demon squid goats.

The turn-based combat is anything but static. Every battlefield is a dynamic playground where your elemental magic can reshape the environment. In other words, you can drain rivers to strand enemies, summon fog to obscure their vision, or hurl them off cliffs with gusts of wind. You can also freeze foes, set them ablaze, or melt the ground into deadly lava, making each encounter a unique puzzle to solve.

Beyond the battlefield, Never’s End offers an open world where you lead a band of possessed warriors to reclaim a shattered empire. You’ll upgrade towns, temples, and outposts, fostering businesses and trade routes while recruiting new companions to join your fight. Additionally, restoring ancient temples unlocks new elemental spells, each a versatile tool that persists through your warrior’s endless cycle of death and rebirth.

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In this strategic game, you manage a kingdom by constructing buildings, planting and harvesting crops, and gathering key resources to strengthen and upgrade. The game offers dynamic gameplay where each run is different, forcing you to adapt your strategies while defending your kingdom from waves of enemies.

However, it features a rather complex system of production chains and strategies; you’ll trade resources with villages to craft rare materials or unlock ancient spells. Additionally, fortifying your castle with stone walls and tactically positioning various types of troops is crucial. Each biome you encounter brings new challenges, making the roguelite concept work perfectly in this game.

The post The King Is Watching, a roguelite where you build your own kingdom, awaits us in July first appeared on IndieGames.

In Drill Core, you become the manager of a mining platform. Your task is to drill to the core of alien planets and extract precious minerals. You’ll recruit miners, carriers, and guards, carefully manage resources, and plan the most efficient drilling routes to keep operations running smoothly. While cutting-edge drills and technology help you carve through rock, each planet harbors a unique ecosystem with its own challenges, from hostile creatures to unpredictable terrain.

Since its Early Access debut on September 12, 2024, Drill Core has been shaped by direct community feedback, gaining new biomes and tweaks for tighter roguelite gameplay in less than a year. Version 1.0 arrives with more platforms, challenges, and content, with development continuing even after the game’s official release.

The post Drill Core exits Early Access this July first appeared on IndieGames.

One moment, you’re shooting enemies in third-person; the next, you’re issuing orders to your army, building fortifications, or planning attacks from a bird’s-eye view. Beyond conquering castles solo, Kingmakers offers cooperative multiplayer, allowing up to four players to team up and take down enemy strongholds. Vehicles like armored SUVs and motorcycles add a touch of absurdity, letting you mow down knights as if in a medieval GTA.

For four years, Redemption Road Games, a 20-person studio based in Atlanta and Los Angeles, has been working on this title, drawing inspiration from games like Mount & Blade, Chivalry, and Deep Rock Galactic. In their Steam dev blogs, they highlight the game’s artificial intelligence and how they’re pushing the Unreal Engine to its limits. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S are expected to follow once Kingmakers officially leaves Early Access.

The post We won’t have to wait long for Kingmakers, it’s coming to PC in Early Access this October first appeared on IndieGames.

Thinky Games, which started as a Discord community back in 2018 by Alan Hazelden of Draknek & Friends, is a place for fans of puzzles, logic, and strategy. Since launching their website in 2022, they’ve been on a mission to spotlight games that prioritize brainpower over quick reflexes, ranging from detective mysteries to Sokoban-style challenges.

The Thinky Direct event will bring together big names like Akupara Games, and Wholesome Games, alongside various indie titles to show off what’s coming next. Last year’s event impressed over 300,000 viewers with reveals like City of Voices, a deduction-driven puzzle mystery, and Parallel Experiment, which actually launched on June 5, 2024. This time around, expect fresh trailers for titles such as Spooky Express or Draknek’s spooky train-routing puzzler.

On the other side, The Cerebral Puzzle Showcase offers discounts on hundreds of games and demos for upcoming titles. Last year it featured games like Blue Prince and Animal Well. The 2025 lineup promises even more, with teasers for games like Kiko’s Apple Adventure, a cozy bear-led quest, and Trails, a sand-ship routing puzzle.

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