The Fatum is a deduction game set in a world of total control where you interrogate, inspect, and pass verdicts as a government agent.
In The Fatum, you’ve been sent to investigate an infection outbreak in an underground GIGABUNKER where humanity seeks salvation from global cataclysm. Follow strict protocol: Interrogation, Search, Verdict. Use every bit of information to reconstruct what happened.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight has become the latest game to have its initially listed recommended RAM requirement yanked down by a substantial amount, following in the footsteps of fellow 2026 release 007: First Light.
Czech indie developers Amanita Design – creators of Samorost, Creaks and Machinarium, among other marvels – have released a demo for Phonopolis, their 3D cardboard adventure about a young man called Felix who is trying to save a city brainwashed by massive loudspeakers. Protected by his headphones, Felix is on a mission to stop the authoritarian Leader from issuing the Absolute Tone, which will “strip every citizen of their humanity forever”. Seems like a thing to avoid!
In an industry pestered by calls to "think of the children", Tarsier’s games are useful reminders that children can be utterly depraved in ways no coddling adult would ever dream. Later in Reanimal, the developer’s latest, strictly 'co-optional' horror game, two kids rip an eyeball out of a massive, sunken horse skull and shove it into what I sincerely hope is the eyesocket of a slumbering whale. Somehow, this is necessary to advance.
It’s the kind of thing that would only occur to children, because children do not reason like 'we' do, those disgusting creeps. They sense that they exist in a world that isn’t for them: a world of baffling laws, high shelves, and everyday monstrosity; a world they’re required to 'grow into' by means of repeated shedding and sprouting and subjection - milk teeth and pubic hair and doing your goddamn chores. So they instinctively come up with ways to screw with the system, twist its horrible logic against itself. Why not push a horse’s eyeball into a whale?
More like space the final funtier am I right (cue canned laughter that goes on a touch too long)? Besiege, the physics building game about building all manner of medieval machinery to destroy your enemy, has taken you to all kinds of lands and with its 2024 expansion, The Splintered Sea, a few oceans too. But with its newly revealed follow-up expansion, there's nowhere to go but up (because it's set in space, hence my absolutely hilarious opening line).
Planet of Lana II, Wishfully’s followup to their tremendous puzzle-platformer original, punched our news mouths with a double hit of announcements last week. First, it’s got a release date of March 5th 2026, a mere three weeks from now, and second, there’s a Steam demo coming even sooner, on February 11th. An embargo lift means I’m now at liberty to share my thoughts on said demo, and can report that it’s exactly the same as the demo given to press last year, and as such, you can already read what I said about it here and here. Still, eh? Release date, eh?
While many of you are looking forward to playing the finished version of 'RallyXSE', there's another game that's worth checking out by the same developer, especially if you like puzzle games, is Zooperdan's Amiga game of 'Pjusk'. A Sokoban like game whereby you must defeat enemies in the right order and collect power-ups along the way to carve your way to the exit. To coincide with this news,
Developer: WayForward Technologies/Designer Software Publisher: Hi-Tech Expressions Release: 02/94 Genre:Puzzle I do not envy the developers of Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge. As a 1994 release it was sitting on store shelves next to Mickey Mania. That is an...
Dark Tides is an adventure game where you play as a boardwalk psychic unravelling the demonic mysteries of a seaside Victorian town. Playing as Theodora Green, you are tasked with figuring out...
DJ Bunny sees you putting together music tracks for people using a puzzling grid that weaves together instruments to create songs. This is a musical puzzle game where you find yourself becoming...
Navigate through intricate puzzles to fuel your journey! Each solution propels your car ahead, allowing you to collect coins and unlock vibrant new worlds. Puzzle Drive offers endless excitement with its dynamic levels and engaging challenges that keep every adventure fresh and rewarding.
The Epic Games Store recently published its 2025 Year in Review, highlighting a record-breaking $400 million spent on third-party PC titles—a 57% increase over previous years. Total PC player spending hit $1.16 billion, supported by a catalog that has now expanded past 6,000 games. While these figures show aggressive growth, the platform still faces a long road to becoming a true competitor to Steam. Steam’s entrenched community features, social strength, and significantly larger library of niche and legacy titles continue to keep the majority of the gaming population rooted in that ecosystem. To keep the momentum, Epic is maintaining its developer-first approach, allowing studios to keep 100% of their first million dollars in revenue and offering flexible in-game payment solutions that bypass store fees.
Botany Manor: 19th-Century Estate Puzzles
Botany Manor free on Epic Games Store this week
Currently, you can claim Botany Manor for free until February 12 at 11:00 AM ET. This is a first-person puzzle game set in a Victorian estate where you play as a retired botanist researching how to bloom rare, forgotten seeds. It requires you to investigate clues throughout the manor, such as temperature charts and ancient textbooks, to solve the environmental conditions needed for each plant. If you prefer to have it on Valve’s platform, the Steam Store currently lists it at its full $24.99 price point. For a middle ground, the G2A Marketplace has keys available for approximately **$5.40**, which is a significant drop if you miss the Epic window.
Pixel Gun 3D: Poison Retro Set
Pixel Gun 3D
The second freebie this week is the Poison Retro Set for the competitive shooter Pixel Gun 3D. This DLC pack is a high-value claim for active players, bundling three poisonous variants of top-tier weaponry: the Digital Sunrise sniper, the Laser Cycler backup, and the Wave of Poison. It effectively gives you a pre-built, retro-themed loadout without the usual grinding or in-game currency cost. This set usually retails for $24.99 on the Steam Store, so claiming it on Epic for $0 is the most resourceful way to gear up before the rotation on February 12.
Store Engagement and Future Social Features
Epic’s Free Games Program remains its strongest hook, with 662 million titles claimed in 2025 alone. The report also notes that 78% of these games saw all-time peak concurrent player records during their free week on the store. Looking toward the rest of 2026, the company plans to launch “Epic Web Shops” and a completely rebuilt launcher architecture this summer to address long-standing stability and speed issues. They are also planning to introduce game-independent party systems and voice chat in the second quarter, features that are essential if they hope to eventually bridge the social gap that currently gives Steam its primary competitive advantage.
I was in the gift shop of a small art gallery the other day when I bought a postcard depicting a bunch of different keys. The postcard turned out to be a reproduction from the six-volume dictionary and encyclopedia Larousse du XXe siècle (me neither) and the keys come in a gorgeous range of shapes and sizes. The Roman key is broad and boot-shaped. The Merovingian looks like part of a crank.
We are just a matter of days away from the release of Resident Evil Requiem, but already leaks are running rampant, causing Capcom to ask its community to 'please, cut it out!'.
The latest set photos from Amazon's upcoming Tomb Raider TV series give us our first look at Martin Bobb-Semple's Zip, as well as Sophie Turner as Lara Croft holding a rather mysterious looking piece of kit.
If you're excited for Resident Evil: Requiem, you may want to stay clear of social media for a while, as leaks about the game's ending are popping up online.
The Resident Evil franchise is the bad kind of nightmare when it comes to adaptations. The movie series kickstarted by Paul W.S. Anderson back in 2002 found tonnes of success, but it's hard to suggest it was quality blockbuster filmmaking. Then came an even worse (despite all the reverence for the source material) movie in 2021, that failed to create a new continuity. And let's not talk about Netflix's 2022 series... Now, in 2026, we're waiting to see whether Barbarian and Weapons director Zach Cregger can right this ship.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 secured five awards at this week's Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' (AIAS) DICE Awards (not to be confused with EA's Stockholm studio of the same name), including the coveted Game of the Year prize, while Sucker Punch's Ghost of Yotei secured three, including for Adventure Game of the Year.
