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!
It’s Wednesday again, so its time to cover some more promising new Early Access titles. Even if Early Access games aren’t your thing, be sure to wishlist them and keep an eye out for their final release.
Here’s this week’s batch of 5 Early Access games that might be worth checking out:
Drift86
Developer: RewindApp
Platforms: Windows PC
Price: $0.99 (Price will increase with development milestones)
First up today is Drift86, a cheap and cheerful top-down racing game. Jump into an AE86 and drift yourself to the highest score while Eurobeat pulses in the background. Future updates will add new cars and game modes, but the drifting system will remain central to the game’s driving mechanics.
Drift86 is set to release from Early Access towards the end of 2019.
Ritual: Crown of Horns
Developer: Draw Distance
Platforms: Windows PC
Price: $12.99
Ritual: Crown of Horns is a top-down horde shooter set in a Weird Wild West world. You were a lawman that was killed in a deadly ambush and brought back with dark magic by the witch you were sent to kill. Now you have to work together with the witch to fight a far more dangerous foe.
The gameplay revolves around protecting the witch from hordes of cultists and monsters as she prepares magic rituals. Slaughter your foes with a mixture of period-era weapons, black magic, and crazy experimental firearms.
The final version of Ritual: Crown of Horns is targeting a Fall 2019 release.
Strategic Mind: The Pacific
Developer: Starni Games
Platforms: Windows PC
Price: $14.99 (Price will increase)
Strategic Mind: The Pacific is a hex-based wargame by the developers of last year’s Panzer Strategy. The game promises to offer gamers historically accurate and deep strategic battles that focus on the major naval engagements between the US and Japan during WWII. There will eventually be a full campaign for both sides, with upgradable fleet commanders and persistent ships.
Strategic Mind: The Pacific is expected to remain in Early Access for around six months.
Guilds of Delenar
Developer: Batholith Entertainment
Platforms: Windows PC
Price: $14.99 (Price may increase)
Guilds of Delenar is a strategy RPG with management elements where you are tasked with building up your own guild of heroes in a fantasy world.
Manage contracts, upgrade your heroes with new gear and abilities, ensure your heroes are happy and healthy, and compete against rival guilds. Once you’ve sent your heroes out on a mission, they’ll get a chance to earn their pay in turn-based tactical battles.
Guilds of Delenar should be out of Early Access before the end of 2019.
Deuterium Wars
Developer: Disquire
Platforms: Windows PC
Price: Free-to-play
Finally, we come to Deuterium Wars, a free-to-play 2D MMO shooter with RPG elements. The game is set on Altanar, a planet that was nearly destroyed by an asteroid three decades ago. Most of the world has been reduced to a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with the survivors living in sprawling metropolises and scattered settlements across the planet.
Start out with a rickety old flying coffin and work your way up to a cutting-edge futuristic attack aircraft. Deuterium Wars allows players to form alliances, fight rivals in arena battles, or become traders and craftsmen.
Deuterium Wars is expected to leave Early Access towards the end of the year. The developers plan on bringing the game to consoles and mobile, with full cross-platform multiplayer support. The game’s monetization consists of cosmetic items and boosters that accelerate progress without allowing players to outright buy power.
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.
