After being in Early Access since February 2020, SouthPAW Games have now released their head-swapping rogue-lite action platformer Skul: The Hero Slayer.

Taking place in a world where it seems that things are a bit backwards. The heroes appear to be going on a rampage, enslaving other creatures to help with their dirty work and destroy the demons once and for all. Everyone has been taken prisoner, except for you, a little little Skul. With action comparable to the likes of Dead Cells which I adore, and Hollow Knight, this is a rogue-lite you're going to want to keep on playing.

You're no ordinary fighter though, as you can swap your regular boring old skul with another. When you do this, you gain some pretty impressive abilities and there's quite a lot of different skul's to find. This makes it quite unique because it can end up being very different on each run.

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Like a lot of games that work on repetition, it can get a little…repetitive. It all depends on how much you enjoy jumping around platforms, and slicing through every enemy possible while also unleashing some admittedly awesome abilities. At times you feel ridiculously overpowered, others it's like you're an ant and they're just a big shoe waiting to step on you. RNG can be an issue here though, as it can often depend on what skull you can find to help you progress.

The good news is that for all the repetition needed, the combat is absolutely brilliant mechanically. It feels so good! Swapping between heads which gives you an instant ability firing off (great in a pinch), and then unleash some abilities while you wait to be able to switch back. So much fun to the action and it's not bad looking either, some of the pixel-art that went into Skul is really pretty with lots of little details.

I should note that the current build on Linux has an issue of a black screen instead of the main menu, although all it does it get you to click a button to load back into the game which does work so it's not a big problem. I've let the developer know.

Overall though if you're up for a challenge and you love your pixel-art, rogue-lite action-platforming with plenty of character variation with all the skulls then it's an easy recommendation to go and pick up.

You can buy Skul: The Hero Slayer on Humble Store and Steam .

Skellboy Refractured, the new and fresh release from UmaikiGames is out with Linux support as an expanded version to the game that originally released for the Nintendo Switch. Note : key provided the developer.

"Sometimes, when there is nobody up to the task, old heroes have to rise from the grave to save the day! Crush your enemies and make good use of their guts - literally, as you can augment Skippy with your foe's body parts and weapons! Help Skippy, the cubic skeleton, to fight off Squaruman's endless forces of undead and vicious foes in this rectangular action packed cardboard adventure!"

A very charming game, and very silly too. What really sells it is the graphical style with the perspective. The world is 3D and you move around in a 3D space but the characters look flat and 2D. It's been done before (what hasn't?) but how they've done it here does look fantastic.

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I had a lot of fun play through different bits of this one, with some quite surprising scenes. It's supposed to be family friendly too, and with local co-op support it could be a good one to play with a significant other or a younger gamer wanting something a little different.

This is an action-RPG through and through, with you running across hacking and slashing your way through various different enemies. The fun part is switching between different body parts including you legs and skull on top of the weapon you're using. All of them have different effects so it's however you feel like playing. Some equipment, or body parts, have active abilities too like blocking projectiles or firing a seed at enemies (it gets weird) which makes it all the more interesting and often amusing. The description on some of the items was rather on-point too.

There's even boss fights, which I don't want to overly spoil but even they are a genuine delight in difficulty, design and weirdness. The first one for example, which happens quite early on, makes you fight off a strange creature that needs you to jab it in its many eyes.

Not particularly difficult, it even has a little platform on its back to help you jump up to it but it's so well designed like most parts of the game it's just lovely.

Feature Highlight:

• An expansive singleplayer experience across the interconnected Kingdom of Cubold full of square charming characters and edgy villains!
• A true action-rpg adventure that will test your skill and rewards exploration!
• Swap your bones for 100+ different body parts and items of friends and foes with (more or less) useful effects!
• 5 unique weapon types to clobber any foes you face!
• Special enemies and bosses that will truly test your mettle!
• A Vibrant 2d pixelart style that comes to life in a 3d world!
• Includes some rocking chiptune tracks and sounds!

As far as I could tell, the Linux version runs great.

You can buy Skellboy Refractured on Steam .

TheFrenchDev have announced Aveliana, what they're calling an infiltration-action-adventure game that mixes together 2D and 2.5D to create a unique looking style.

"Embrace Aveliana’s quest to bring back someone she has lost! The game takes place alternatively in an isometric or a 2D point of view and is fast-paced. Guide her through arduous paths watched by monsters, follow the trace of a mysterious fox, and find the powerful artifacts she is looking for at the core of wonderful temples. Will you stealth your way to victory? Seek a forgotten path on the edge of a cliff? Or stand and fight against your enemies? The choice is yours!"

Inspired in parts by the art and gameplay behind Gris, Children of Morta, Zelda and more. The result is of their work mixing the styles together is quite striking as you can see in the below Kickstarter pitch:

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Feature Highlight:

• Unique and diverse stealth gameplay
• Precise and fast gameplay for experts (speedrunners!), and adjustable for occasional gamers
• A recognizable artistic design
• Hand-drawn environments with a lot of variety
• A meaningful story with a lot of story twists

We spoke with the developer behind the project, who clearly stated to us in a message how Linux will be fully supported. In fact, even their early rough work-in-progress demo on Game Jolt has a Linux build available. It's being built with the Unity game engine, which for the most part has good cross-platform support for games like this.

I have to admit, I really like the transition it does between side-view 2D platforming and the 2.5D exploration view:

They're currently seeking 12,000 on a Kickstarter campaign which has until February 11 to hit the goal. Not a lot to make a game but they say that it will help towards paying for extras like music, and to later attend events to show it off which can be costly to setup. You can also follow it on Steam .

Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis)? That's not a piece of Linux gaming hardware last I checked? No but Irena Genesis Metal Fury is a new game coming for the retro console and will provide the ROM file for your favourite emulators.

Here's the thing: I'm a huge retro fan and I grew up with the Sega Mega Drive so it always holds a special place in my early gaming years and helped me really appreciate games. Irena Genesis Metal Fury looks awesome too and the developer, White Ninja Studio, aren't ignoring Linux either.

First, take a look at their trailer:

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You can actually grab a demo ROM file from the ongoing Kickstarter campaign , and they provide a link right on the page to grab the BlastEm emulator for Linux and Windows. Always nice to see a developer take notice of Linux enough to provide everything you need right there. It will support the real hardware too.

Seems popular too! Against their goal of €35,000 they've managed to raise over 38,000 and the crowdfunding campaign has 22 still left to go.

More about the gameplay:

During the game, the player can collect different power ups to upgrade their main weapon and equip two modules; one increasing firepower and one to create a magnetic shield protecting the ship from enemy projectiles.

Depending on the situation, it's possible to adapt your ship’s speed to three different levels with a button push. You can set the default speed in the options menu according to your preference. The current speed is indicated on the HUD in the right of the screen for better visibility.

During the progression, there are dangerous mini-bosses. It will be necessary to be well armed and know the different patterns in order to win the fight and continue the stage.

As the player destroys enemies, the special attack bar will increase. Once fully charged, the special attack can be used to clear the screen of all enemies through a powerful four dragon attack inspired by The Revenge of Shinobi.

Know what else is interesting about it? It's built with open source tech too. They're using SGDK , an MIT licensed development kit for the Sega Mega Drive.

Find the Kickstarter here and try out the demo in your favourite emulator.

Shot in the Dark needs you to have good platforming skills, good point and click aiming skills and it's a whole lot of fun if you're up for the challenge. Note : key provided by the developer.

Released with Linux support on January 12 from developer Possum House Games, the idea of it is seriously great. It's an action-platforming that requires precision in more ways than one. Using a very simply and quite limited colour palette that's largely black, white and red - a lot of things blend together. You need to pick out the enemies from the background and take them down.

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Tougher than you think for a few reasons. You often don't see the enemies until they're up close, as you need to keep a real close watch on your surroundings - look out for those glowing red eyes coming at you. Not only that, you're using a trusty old revolver which only has 6 bullets at a time and you need to individually reload it. To make things even more interesting? You can't move while aiming. However, it balances this out a bit by letting you point and shoot pretty much anywhere.

After each shot you get a slight pause too while your character deals with the kickback from the gun, it's only short but that also needs thought due to your positioning if you're going to be taking out multiple enemies near you. Clearly a lot of thought went into the design of the limited mechanics here and all all works great together.

Some of it might perhaps feel a little bit unfair when you've died a couple times, however, a lot of it is all about taking it slow. It's not random, you learn enemy movements and placements and you do get checkpoints at each new section of the game so it's not overly punishing. Challenging for sure in places but fair I feel. On the flipside, some if it is about speed and precision too, as there's sections that need you to run, stop and shot and run some more.

Constantly surprising me with how it mixed up all these small mechanics from enemies that also aim and shoot at you in the same way, to enemies that only activate if you accidentally aim across them, enemies you only see in reflections or when lightning strikes and more.

Point and click shooting with platforming, where the enemies blend into your surroundings - great. Had a huge amount of fun blasting through it. Be sure to check this one out.

You can buy Shot in the Dark on Steam . and itch.io .

Yokereba Games have teamed up with publisher Versus Evil for the release of Jumpala, a game that takes competitive platforming and turns it into a high-speed score-fight.

Jumpala has each character hop between small platforms, each platform having a number attached to add to your score. Once you hit a platform it turns to your colour, and if it remains your colour when it drops off the screen it's added to your overall score. It's fast, competitive and a whole lot of fun from the early builds.

They've now announced it's releasing on January 19 with a new trailer:

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Features:

• 4-player competitive action. Compete with your friends in fast-paced free for alls, or team up in 2v2 matches. No friends? Go up against challenging CPUs, or compete against others in online 1v1s.
• Easy to learn, tough to master. If you want to be the best, you'll have to plan your routes, practice your timing, and perfect your positioning—all while being mindful of your opponents.
• A wide variety of stages. Each stage has unique features and hazards to watch out for.
• Original set of characters. Each character has their own unique abilities and playstyle.

The basics of it really are easy to pick up, it's simple controls jumping between platforms. What makes it tricky and entertaining is trying to outmaneuver your opponents around all the platforms. It becomes a seriously mad dash as you each fire off abilities, trying to catch the other out. I'm looking forward to seeing the full game and hopefully facing off against plenty of others online.

You can try it out right now with the standalone demo in Jumpala: Tryouts Edition . Be sure to wishlist / follow the main Jumpala store page .

Keeping you up to date on what's happening with the open-world space shooter EVERSPACE 2, it seems it's just about ready to enter Early Access for Windows.

A game we're really excited about but it's nowhere near finished yet. After the successful Kickstarter campaign in November 2019 that saw the team at Rockfish gain over €503K in funding from players, it was due to originally launch fully in Q3 2021 but due to delays elsewhere and 2020 being what it was, the full release is now coming in "the first half of 2022" which will include "native Linux support" as confirmed in their latest announcement .

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They also mentioned how over 2,000 people have already played it, thanks to previous Closed Beta testing and they had plenty of feedback from that to make it ready for Early Access. At this current stage it already has professional voice acting for 12+ hours and the current content will keep people going for "at least 25 hours of gameplay".

For players who truly can't wait, it should work okay with the Steam Play Proton compatibility layer but as always there's no guarantees or support from the developer there. We'll be waiting until the official supported release in 2022 and will keep you posted on any delays there.

You can follow EVERSPACE 2 on Steam .

Along with a huge upgrade to the game that adds in a whole new Adventure Mode, the grid-battler EndCycle VS now offers up Linux support.

"EndCycle VS the customization-heavy strategic grid-fighter is here! Fight intense, fast-paced situations by combining reflexes and crafting your own strategy!! Packing both Singleplayer and Multiplayer action, the game has something for everyone!"

One for fans of Mega Man Battle Network, One Step From Eden and other grid-fighters it's another interesting choice for fast-paced strategic action. This latest update brings with it almost an entirely new game with the Adventure Mode, one that's different each time you play through with some random generation. See the update trailer:

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There's also now Steam Workshop support, new sprites and a ton more. It's a massive update to this Early Access game that makes it worth looking into if you're after some action.

Feature Highlight:

• Build your very own deck and create a unique playstyle with thousands of custom attacks!
• Adventure through a huge roguelike world and experience stories from perspectives of different characters!
• Tons of singleplayer and multiplayer challenges await you such as a story mode, wave-based onslaughts of enemies to test your skills, classic PVP battles and more!
• With the in-game Toolbox, you can make any custom content without a single line of code!
• Create GIFs with the provided GIF recorder, that lets you record events after they've happened!
• With the Discord integration you can see who's currently in-game, looking for a fight, or even view current fight results on the go!

Competition - With this we also have some keys to give away!

If you're interested in a key, let us know in the comments and we shall message the multiple winners directly after our end of year break next week (January 4, 2021).

Can't wait? Check it out on Steam .

Using a powerful dash you're not just avoiding people in Hole Punch, you're smashing through the level itself to get around the challenges.

A fun and very playful physics platformer we have here, one that wants you to try and destroy everything. Thanks to the destruction mechanic, you can play it in a number of ways. Do you try to be stealthy and avoid everyone? Go for the fastest time or try to take everyone out? Either way, you're going to be dashing and cutting up entire levels. Starting off very simplistic, it doesn't take long for it to become quite challenging.

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Once you start getting into the flow of jump, dash, slice and repeat it really finds its feet and it's thoroughly entertaining. Considering this is only a demo with limited content and plenty of time for the developer to further improve it, this could be a huge amount of fun when it's released fully. The developer mentioned that they're planning to release it in late 2021 for around $8.

Feature Highlight:

• Destroy literally anything (even the game's title)
• 60 colourful levels
• Physics-action gameplay
• Fast, bouncy movement
• Killer music
• Super secret bonus stuff?

You can try the free demo on itch.io and Steam .