Latest news with #SNEG
Forbes
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Two Fantastic Classic D&D PC Games Just Got Re-Released On Steam
I forgive you if you never got a chance to play 2004's Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone or 2005's Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard back in the day. However, now that they're widely accessible on Steam for just $9 each, there are far fewer excuses to keep putting off these two excellent D&D games that each deserve more love. Thanks to the retro revivalists at SNEG, both games are now available as of this week on Steam—although neither seem to have official Steam Deck compatibility ratings. For what it's worth though, I did see one user review for Demon Stone already mention it runs great on Steam Deck. From the looks of it, they're basically just like they were two decades ago and don't have any real enhancements or meaningful changes. These releases surprised me a bit because, at least personally, I had no idea these were coming. Following on the heels of other D&D re-releases like Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition from Aspyr just a few weeks ago, it's a good time to be a fantasy fan. D&D Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone—Classic Action I actually still own a PS2 copy of Demon Stone and despite some jank and rough bits around the edges, it's an extremely fun and addictive hack 'n' slash action game set in the iconic D&D Forgotten Realms. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Gameplay works pretty much just like the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers and Return of the King licensed movie-based console games. The action is presented from mostly fixed camera angles and feature combo-based action gameplay. Everything from the button inputs, on-screen font, game flow and feel, and general mechanics feel like they were lifted right out of the LOTR games. To be clear: I mean that as a compliment. The main thing Demon Stone does differently, other than the setting obviously, is that it has you switching between a small band of adventurers throughout the game as the narrative unfolds rather than picking individual characters to level up on each stage. Honestly, it's a really good time. For this re-release we're getting a smoother startup and smoother gameplay, actual widescreen scaling support, borderless and windowed modes, better shadows, Xinput controller support with rumble, and some more in-game settings for modern computers. Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard—An Innovative D&D RTS This one I know far less about and have never actually played for myself, but I do remember seeing it around back in the day and had a friend that played every RTS and RTS-adjacent game he could get his hands on. He said it was good, so it must be good. Rather than being a strict RTS, Dragonshard is more of a hybrid game that mixes in lots of RPG elements as well. As you direct your troops across the overworld, you'll also manage smaller parties that delve below ground to battle beasts in more fast-paced combat. The loot you gather here will affect your armies above ground as well. In a way, it's a bit like two interconnected games in one. With Dragonshard, SNEG added modern resolution support, localization-friendly saves and profiles, smoother timers and physics, ASLR compatibility, and a few other under-the-hood improvements to help it run a bit better. SNEG has been hard at work bringing back the classics. Coming up in September, they're also re-releasing 2003's The Temple of Elemental Evil, an iconic party-based D&D CRPG similar in gameplay to the likes of other classical isometric games of the era like Baldur's Gate 1 and Baldur's Gate 2. You can also snag their massive D&D Classics bundle as well which has dozens of old D&D PC games across the Silver Box Classics, Gold Box Classics, and many others.
Engadget
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Spreadsheet puzzles, metatextual platformers and other new indie games worth checking out
Welcome to our first weekly roundup of indie game releases, news and trailers. It's impossible to cover the indie scene completely comprehensively — dozens of games hit Steam alone every single day. There are so many indies we'd love to highlight, but we don't have the time to cover each individually. Our goal is to shine a spotlight on the games that grab our attention each week, one way or another. (Feel free to email me about your projects too!) This time around, we've got a spreadsheet-based puzzler, a pirate hack-and-slash title that was first announced 22 years ago, two solo-developed games and more. Comedy puzzle game SpreadCheat has an early '90s/Windows 3.11 vibe and a Clippy-style assistant that definitely won't get annoying. Along with trying to Excel (I'm so sorry) at bending the rules of spreadsheets to solve brainteasers, you can venture into side quests like cleaning up viruses. I'm not sure I'll try this one myself, as math has no place in my video games (except for you, Balatro , you're cool), but the concept is intriguing. SpreadCheat is out now on Steam. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. From solo developer Andrea Cavuoto, Spear sounds a little like the movie Free Guy in that it's up to a non-player character to save the day. After a critical error deletes the hero of his game and threatens the existence of his reality, an NPC named Default has to step up. Default uses a makeshift spear to solve puzzles, battle foes and traverse the environment in this action-platformer. Spear is out now on Steam. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Captain Blood is very much a throwback. It's a hack-and-slash game that looks straight out of the PS2 era (albeit with more refined visuals). Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, since the game was first announced in 2003. In fact, the original pitch was to make an old-school God of War, but with pirates. After several reboots, the game was canceled when the original publisher went bust. Legal issues prevented the developers from releasing the game themselves. SNEG later secured the rights to Captain Blood and over two decades since it was revealed, the game has formally been released. It's had mixed reviews, but I'd like to check it out all the same. That title is pretty great too. Captain Blood is out now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC and macOS. We covered this one a few weeks ago, but here's a quick reminder that Geoguessr is now on Steam in early access. The Steam version was supposed to arrive in April, but it landed on May 8 instead. Nevertheless, it should now be easier for you to play the geography guessing game on Steam Deck. Elsewhere, Among Us 3D is out, while the super-charming Little Kitty, Big City has made its way to PS4 and PS5. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. Another game from a solo developer, Zefyr: A Thief's Melody looks like a blend of The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker , '90s Final Fantasy and one of my favorite games of the last few years, Tchia . Mathias Fontmarty says it took 12 years to make this stealth adventure. Who wouldn't want to explore a world on the back of a giant turtle? Zefyr will hit Steam on June 2. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. It's always worth keeping an eye on whatever Devolver Digital is up to and this past week, the publisher revealed Botsu . It feels like another spin on Fall Guys , albeit with voxel-based robots. Botsu , which is from developer Peculiar Pixels, is slated to arrive between July and September. A Steam demo is available now. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. However you slice it, virtual reality is still a relatively niche market, so it's always welcome to see games make the transition from VR to 2D formats (still side-eyeing you, Half-Life: Alyx ) and perhaps find a wider audience. Survios is (Xeno)morphing Alien: Rogue Incursion into a PS5 and PC game. The studio says the flattened version, Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition, will have full HD, 60 fps gameplay. It's set to arrive on September 30.
