Oddventure is a crazy turn-based RPG about the misadventures of Charlie, a girl trapped in a cursed fairy-tale world.

We previously covered the launch of the Kickstarter, which at the time did not have a Linux build of the demo available. After asking the developer, they promptly put one up. As it turns out, it's using the open source Godot Engine too which we weren't aware of before! Wonderful to see more excellent looking games use it.

"Oddventure is a JRPG about the misadventures of Charlie - a nihilistic and rebellious teenage girl with anger issues and social awkwardness. Charlie searches for her troublesome brother Bonzo and ultimately for a way back home. The setting is the Kingdom of Luxia, a land straight from original Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales with a dark, Nietzschean twist."

Watch video on YouTube.com

One note: currently it seems the battle UI doesn't like the gamepad action button, so you need to use keyboard Spacebar. The developer has been made aware of this.

After playing the demo, I'm absolutely sold and decided to back it personally. It has some good quirky dark humour and an excellent style. Very intrigued to see the full game and I expect this to absolutely be a big hit when it releases in full later in 2022.

You can fund it on Kickstarter and follow on Steam . Download the new Linux demo from itch.io or Game Jolt .

Since it has already hit the goal, we've added it to our Crowdfunding Page .

Games about being homeless aren't new but they're still quite surprising when actually done well, and Hobo: Tough Life actually seems like a reasonably good experience. Note : key provided by the developer.

"Welcome to Praslav, a cold Central European city that grows even colder with the coming winter. Praslav is recovering from the political turmoil that followed the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Communist regime, which held the country in its iron grip for decades.

While most people eagerly awaited the coming of democracy and capitalism, some were unable to adapt to the new socio-economic climate. Soon they found themselves on the streets with nowhere to go.

You are one of those people."

Watch video on YouTube.com

A setting that's not particularly nice to explore but that's part of the point. For a lot of people, this is their actual life every day. Playing it for fun though feels a bit weird but video games have gone to much worse places. As rough a setting as it is, the game though is somewhat enthralling - partly because I've never experienced what these people go through, although I see it all the time even around my own area.

It seemingly has it all. A full skill system to level up, a big open world to explore, a lock picking mini-game to steal goods which drops your morale, use scratch-cards to try and win some change. Your mission is to survive, and build up your own shelter piece by piece. Your not some hero though, there's no special powers here, everything needs to be done with thought and consideration for your basic survival.

Seems it's hit a small fanbase on Steam with the most recent user reviews giving it a "Very Positive" rating.

The Linux version seems to run reasonable well, with it running mostly smoothly on Max settings but it does stutter here and there when entering new areas as it loads bits in. Overall though, perfectly playable. You can play it solo or online in co-op with friends.

You can buy Hobo: Tough Life on Steam .

While we wait on the first major update to the co-op survival game Valheim, the team at Iron Gate have released a small patch to keep us going.

This is part of the update they teased recently, which includes a nice overhaul to some of the bigger creatures in the game including the Troll and the second and third boss. The Troll, for example, has more hair, nails and more defined muscles making it a bit scarier. Can't imagine meeting it for the first time again now, it was scary enough with the original model when you're quite new to it.

Here's the patch notes:

• Fixed smelter issue when a very long time has passed since visiting (10000 days)
• 30s Pre world save warning added
• Stone stair physics fix
• Inventory screen gamepad focus fix
• Large-creature visual overhaul (troll, boss-2 & boss-3)
• Troll ragdoll material fix
• Harpoon mechanics overhauled
• Engine updated (some stability improvements)
• Draugr archer visual fixes (1 & 2 star draugrs sometimes got the wrong material)
• Fixed issues when crafting station is destroyed while in use
• Creature group spawning adjusted to avoid spawning over total limit (in some cases)
• Credits updated
• Localization updates

Still remaining as one of the most popular games on Steam overall, not just for indies but still beating out many AAA titles months after release. Regularly seeing over 50,000 players each day, it's extremely impressive, although the player number isn't too surprising since it's sold multiple-millions.

I'm personally very excited by the upcoming Hearth and Home update which will bring in lots of new goodies. Once there's a date for it, we will let you know.

Buy Valheim on Steam .

Ready for your next real-time strategy (RTS)? Siege Up! from developer Denis Zdorovtsov looks like it could be good fun.

With a cute low-poly style in a medieval setting you will be building up walls, and smashing them down with catapults and various other equipment across a story-driven campaign. There's also going to be an in-game editor, full multiplayer and even some co-op missions too. Check out their older trailer below to get an idea of it:

Watch video on YouTube.com

Asking the developer about Linux support, they confirmed: "This is not going to be a problem for me, because of using Unity3d that supports Linux. I myself was using Linux exclusively during my student times, so having more than enough experience of Linux platform for supporting it."

The release is still some time away, with their current target being early December this year. One that could easily be worth keeping an eye on.

You can follow Siege Up! on Steam .

After already being available on itch.io , the free teaser for Drova - Forsaken Kin is now available on Steam and it's been upgraded for the new release.

"Drova - Forsaken Kin is an Action Based RPG filled with handcrafted open world adventures inspired by the much renowned Gothic game series. A society has discovered the power of a dead empire: to capture the spirits that govern nature and rule over them instead. However, the anger of the remaining spirits divided them. Where will you stand?"

Watch video on YouTube.com

Features:

• Dynamic World
  Journey through a lovingly crafted world filled with danger and mysteries, and witness the lasting impact your actions will have on your environment.
• A Divided Society
  Become a part of an isolated society grown from the ashes of a dead empire. Where will you stand when ambitious factions plunge the world into chaos?
• The Spirits of Nature
  Explore nature and encounter the spirits that rule it. Seal them and learn to use their power for yourself. But be prepared for the consequences of their anger to change your world.

The full version is planned to release in 2023, with this teaser being a very early slice of what to expect. The developer mentioned plenty is still to be added, graphics will be upgraded before the full game and so on - all the usual you expect from an unfinished game. Definitely worth a go now though, especially with the intriguing combat mechanics.

Now that it's on Steam, even more people can try it out who missed it on itch, plus they said the teaser on Steam has some exclusive extra content. Check it out on Steam and itch.io .

Love flying drones? LuGus Studios, developer of the highly rated Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing have announced Liftoff: Micro Drones as their next racing and drone flying sim. While Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing focused on big drones, Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing as the name suggest shrinks things down with any indoor area becoming an exciting aerial playground thanks to the focus on tiny drones.

Check out their teaser:

Watch video on YouTube.com

"The new simulator will be released via Steam’s Early Access program: even before the official release, fans of the series can get an early look and can be involved in shaping the future of the project. Liftoff: FPV Drone Racing went through a similar process, to great success. Based on community input, over 100 updates helped shape the game exactly into what its players wanted, giving the team at LuGus Studios confidence in continuing that approach. Future updates for Micro Drones will bring a track editor, Steam Workshop integration, extra game modes, and new frames and environments to explore."

Liftoff: Micro Drones is planned to be released in Early Access on Steam for Linux, macOS and Windows in late 2021.

You can follow it on Steam .

Set in the Tangledeep universe and featuring a unique puzzle-battle system, Impact Gameworks have now properly revealed their new JRPG-inspired adventure Flowstone Saga.

Technically, it was already revealed under the name of Puzzle Explorers: A Tangledeep Story but sadly they had a failed crowdfunding attempt for it. So they went back, continued expanding it and providing free Alpha builds to anyone from their official site. Now it's back, bigger and better under the name Flowstone Saga. Check out the trailer below:

Watch video on YouTube.com

"Flowstone Saga is a 16-bit, JRPG-inspired adventure featuring an epic story, charming characters, stunning pixel art, and a unique puzzle battle system! Like our first title Tangledeep, we're combining everything we love about the finest SNES & PlayStation-era RPGs, and infusing it with modern sensibilities in a captivating, original world."

You can actually try it out right now, with Impact Gameworks continuing their full Linux support. Given how beautifully Tangledeep worked on Linux, and Linux builds of this game have been available for a while - we expect it to do quite well overall for Linux fans.

Features:

• Battle monsters in a truly unique puzzle-based arena! Using the power of falling blocks, you can attack, defend, and trigger magic effects to thwart everything from lowly Beewis and Cookie Ferrets to Craggans and Giant Axolotls.
• Immerse yourself in a grand story that begins with the discovery of an ancient power, and grows to encompass a continent-wide conflict
• Explore the islands of Ocean's End, search for treasure, gather resources, solve ancient puzzles, and unravel mysteries across dozens of handcrafted maps and dungeons
• Befriend charming characters, helping them to build the town of New Riverstone, learning their stories, and even buddying up for extra battle effects
• Customize your experience with multiple difficulty settings; enjoy a more relaxed, story-driven playthrough, OR push your puzzle & tactical skills to their limits
• Feast your eyes on lush, stunningly-detailed pixel art including huge monster sprites, gorgeous backgrounds, and expressive animations
• Rock out to an epic, adventurous soundtrack with over 50 songs, featuring live performances by world-class musicians

It's crowdfunding on Kickstarter with demo links, and against the $20,000 goal they've already managed nearly $7K in one day pledged - so it looks like it's going on to be a success.

Short on time and want to try something new? It's Free Game Monday™! Come check out Fate of Dynasty which is open source. Originally created for the Global Game Jam 2021, it was created over 48 hours and shows a great example of what a small team can do.

"Fate of Dynasty is a short lore exploration puzzle game inspired by walking simulators such as Gone Home, Dear Esther, and Layers of Fear. Figure out how to perform the ritual to put an end to the tyranny of the ruling dynasty."

Watch video on YouTube.com

Check it out free on itch.io , Steam and the source code is under the MIT license on GitHub .

Not a big fan of permadeath? Good news for you as Caves of Qud, the awesome science fantasy roguelike epic, now has new game modes in Beta.

While the traditional and normal mode of the game remains as permanent death, the current opt-in Beta on Steam now has new options available which should help people explore its truly wonderful and bizarre world. Here's the modes it has now:

• Classic - nothing changes.
• Roleplay - checkpoints and settlements enabling you to reload when you die from the last one.
• Wander - checkpoints at settlements, most creatures start neutral to you, no XP for kills, more XP for discoveries, completing quests, and performing the water ritual.

Never played Qud? Here's just some of what to expect from it:

• Assemble your character from over 70 mutations and defects and 24 castes and kits—outfit yourself with wings, two heads, quills, four arms, flaming hands, or the power to clone yourself—it's all the character diversity you could want.
• Explore procedurally-generated regions with some familiar locations—each world is nearly 1 million maps large.

• Dig through everything—don't like the wall blocking your way? Dig through it with a pickaxe, or eat through it with your corrosive gas mutation, or melt it to lava. Yes, every wall has a melting point.
• Hack the limbs off monsters—every monster and NPC is as fully simulated as the player. That means they have levels, skills, equipment, faction allegiances, and body parts. So if you have a mutation that lets you, say, psionically dominate a spider, you can traipse through the world as a spider, laying webs and eating things.
• Pursue allegiances with over 60 factions—apes, crabs, robots, and highly entropic beings—just to name a few.
• Follow the plot to Barathrum the Old, a sentient cave bear who leads a sect of tinkers intent on restoring technological splendor to Qud.

It is absolutely one of the wildest roguelikes I've ever played. What other game can you claim to be a mutated human with a beak that generates corrosive gas? While also having horns, multiple legs and you're cold blooded? Not many other games I bet, probably not any in fact. Caves of Qud is just brilliant.

You can grab a copy now from GOG , itch.io and Steam .