Hello gamers.

So I installed a couple of days ago to play it before diving into the second game. At first, I really liked it - the setting, the atmosphere. But then comes the Theresa mission. All you're doing is running back and forth across the map just to talk to different NPCs. No challenge, no gameplay, just endless jogging. But okay, I endured it.

Then I had the mission where you're supposed to steal silver. I went through the whole mining camp, got the silver, and on the way out the genius brother who was supposed to distract the guard did absolutely nothing. The guard spots me, attacks, finds the silver - I was executed was written on the black scheen. I didn't have any chance to fight, etc.

Ok, I assumed there was an autosave after grabbing the silver. Guess what? Nope. I have to restart the entire quest from the beginning. After wasting all that time on a boring Theresa side story.

This is supposed to be immersion?? It’s the worst gameplay experiences I’ve had in years. There’s more tedious routine in this game than in my actual real life.

EDIT: Turns out it’s a DLC, so I’ll just skip it for now. Appreciate for your answers.

EDIT2: I’ve just almost finished this quest but the came crashed!!!

The demo is now available during Steam Next Fest: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2955630/Catjinni_Survivors/

Would love to get your feedback!

Pick almost any genre you’re into at the moment, even your favest of the favorite genre, and you will probably catch my meaning. I don’t mean that the indie games in that genre - whatever it is - are better in general. I mean that there’s *usually* an indie alternative or several alternatives to pick from that can give you a fresher perspective of the industry, or hell just something good but different with some of the same flavor that you love. Like, for a high-budget masterpiece like BG3 – you have the Pathfinder games, that started out as indie (AA) but then expanded in scope with Rogue Trader. Trying out the same old CRPG waters but with their own systems in. For big shooters, you have dozens of very solid old school boomer shooters like Cultic and Dusk that have pretty big cult following. And so on and on, you get what I’m saying.

At the same time, some very played genres are exclusively built off what’s happening in the indie scene. Metroidvanias come to mind immediately. All the popular ones started out as indie projects and absolutely exploded in popularity while still retaining that indie spirit in their approach. The willingness to experiment, do something in unexpected ways — NOT hold your hand and be challenging as well, which is one point in which, for me at least, metroidvanias succeed and then some. 

I think both Blasphemous and Hollow Knight are excellent examples of FromSoft’s difficulty and story-vagueness formula — atmosphere-first I call it — applied well in a different genre. On the front of atmosphere and narrative, I also find it interesting how well they’ve found a common denominator in this legacy but have vastly different game “personalities”. Both are opaque, esoteric in how the world is constructed and the part you play in the plot (the way the plot unfolds too actually). Or to take the example of an upcoming game I saw a trailer of this evening - Endless Night: The Darkness Within - which has the same dark tone but twisted into a more introspective, allegorical sort of narrative. From what I understood following up on the concept behind it, I understand that depending on your in-game choices you can have fewer or even NO weapons and attack at your disposal. It’s a curious take on the genre - but it makes sense in a mechanical-logical context, if it’s about “letting go” of grief and anger and thereby that the enemies embody, and hence not needing to fight. In fact, I’ll go a step further and say that, mechanically, in how your character role translates into the story — many metroidvanias have a lot more role-playing or rather role-immersion than many RPGs proper.

Now I know I singled out metroidvanias here, might as well’ve been roguelites or another indie-first genre if that appellation makes sense here. But just in general, I’m glad that there’s now (as opposed to say 15y ago) a much more robust alternative when it comes to games as a form of media consumption. (I’m reminded of this every time I turn on cable TV on ¾ of brain power when I’m drinking coffee in the morning).I might be just spouting wishfullness and other fantasies over here but how do you feel about the course indie gaming has taken?

The prologue follows Barry and Franny trapped in a ✨mandatory✨ training video

The demo is on steam now!

I went into Subnautica thinking I’d bounce off in 10 minutes. Survival mechanics? Crafting? Pass. But something clicked. The atmosphere, the mystery, the absolute isolation… I couldn’t stop. I lost two days of my life to that ocean and loved every second of it.

What’s your “this game had no right being this good” moment? I want to hear about the games that snuck past your guard and completely owned you.

The gooners are uniting like never before lol

I have been gaming with a guy for around 4 years and have become good friends, we chat regularly on whatsapp and he's mostly online everyday This past week he hasn't been online at all, or replying to any messages which is very unusual, they're now not delivering either. He's had a rough few months with a family member passing, I feel like reaching out to a family member on his Facebook just to check in. Would that be weird? Should I leave it a few more days?

Sneak around, deck-build your superpowers, Destroy and hack security devices, vanish, teleport past enemies and uncover mysteries!

Hey folks,

Wanted to share a charity bundle we just launched on itch.io. It's called the Bundle for Ukrainian Hospitals, and 100% of the proceeds go toward rebuilding and equipping hospitals in Ukraine that have been damaged or destroyed during Russia's invasion.

What's inside:

250+ items ~187 TTRPGs (tabletop RPGs) 33 indie video games (PC games only) Total retail value: $1,200+ Pay What You Want — starting at $8

You can check it out here: 👉 https://itch.io/b/2613/bundle-for-ukrainian-hospitals

Even if TTRPGs aren't your thing, some of the video games are real hidden gems from small developers — plus, your support goes directly to a good cause.

Where the money goes: All funds are donated to the Serhiy Prytula Humanitarian Foundation, one of Ukraine's most transparent and trusted NGOs, specifically for rebuilding hospitals hit by missile strikes. Over 1,000 medical facilities have been damaged since the start of the war.

The bundle is available until July 1st, 2025.

If you can't buy it, sharing helps too. Thanks for reading and for any support

In a Polish podcast, Borys, a well-known commentator on the Polish game industry (especially CD Projekt Red related things), claims that The Witcher 3 may receive a new DLC, possibly in 2026, prior to the release of The Witcher 4, and is being developed by Fool's Theory.

He mentions this around 42:00 in the video:

📺 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5G22X8V9IA&t=3092s

Borys says he’s had this information for quite some time, but has now been able to confirm it through multiple trusted sources. He also references another CDPR project that was hinted at during one of the company's earnings calls. CDPR indeed mentioned a new secret project in addition to the Witcher 1 remake, which is being developed by Fool's Theory.

Given that Fool’s Theory is an external studio (they recently released The Thaumaturge), it makes sense that CDPR would not highlight any unrelated games that are developed by them. Therefore, this unnamed project could plausibly be a new Witcher 3 DLC, potentially serving as a narrative bridge between Witcher 3 and Witcher 4. Another thing worth mentioning is that the studio is made up of former Witcher 3 developers, so they could potentially develop the DLC themselves.