This is Niche Early Access. In this column, we regularly showcase various promising games that are currently in some form of early access or development, and haven’t reached full release. Please let us know if there’s a game you want us to showcase!
I’m back with another batch of promising games that recently entered Steam Early Access. Even if you don’t like buying titles that are still in Early Access, remember to wishlist any games that catch your attention so you’ll be notified when they get a full release.
Here’s 5 new Early Access games that might be worth checking out:
Hades
Developer: Supergiant Games
Platform: Windows PC
Price: $24.99
Hades is the latest game by Supergiant Games, and has just made its way to Steam now that its Epic Games Store exclusivity deal has expired. This action-roguelite is loosely based on Greek mythology, and places you in the shoes of the Prince of the Underworld as he tries to defy his fate. The gods of Olympus are on your side, and through them you will gain access to a wide range of special abilities, buffs, and permeant upgrades that persist between runs. As a special bonus, anyone who buys the game before January 2nd will get a free copy of Pyre.
Hades will get a full release sometime in 2020.
Battle Realms
Developer: Ed Del Castillo
Platform: Windows PC
Price: $9.99 (Price will increase)
Perhaps the most bizarre recent Early Access release is the revival of Battle Realms, an RTS originally released back in 2001 by Liquid Entertainment, Ubisoft, and Crave Entertainment. Battle Realms was an interesting RTS loosely inspired by East Asian folklore. The game featured a fairly unique unit training system where you sent your workers to different buildings to upgrade them to combat units, and the game’s fights were much more visually fluid than other RTS games of the time. This rerelease of Battle Realms is largely feature complete, and comes with the expansion pack, but is in Early Access because there’s lots of bug fixing and features that need to be implemented for the game to fully work on modern hardware.
Battle Realms will stay in Early Access for less than a year, but no concrete details have been announced.
The Sapling
Developer: Wessel Stoop
Platforms: Windows PC, Linux
Price: $7.99 (Price may increase)
The Sapling is an ecosystem sim where players create their own plants and animals and watch how they interact with each other. The game features a procedural animation system that figures out how your creatures move based on the parts and attributes you give them. There is also a sandbox mode where your creations can generate spontaneous mutations over time to simulate evolution.
The Sapling will be in Early Access for around six months.
Squillamorph
Developer: Barrow Studios
Platform: Windows PC
Price: $12.99 (Price will increase)
Squillamorph is a 2D action-platformer where you play as a parasitic organism trapped in a hostile, mechanical world. Explore the world to unravel the mysteries of your birth and purpose, all while fighting waves of robotic foes by using your powers to possess enemies to gain access to their abilities.
Squillamorph will remain in Early Access for around a year and a half.
GTFO
Developer: 10 Chambers Collective
Platform: Windows PC
Price: $34.99 (Price will increase)
Finally, we come to GTFO, a team-based horror FPS designed with 4-player co-op in mind. The game tasks players with exploring a massive underground facility overrun by terrifying hordes of mysterious creatures. Players will have a chance to plan out their expeditions, equipping themselves with the gear and weapons they deem most appropriate for the situation before setting out to complete their objectives.
GTFO will be in Early Access for about a year.
Which of these games are you interested in? Are you playing any recent Early Access releases that we missed? Tell us more in the comments below.
