What We're Playing

What you could play this weekend

Plus what we're playing
By Graham Smith
"My origins are a mystery, even to me," says Gideon, a knight, with long pale blue hair, standing in an atrium.

I am back from my Scottish absence, which means that instead of being prepared a week in advance, this article is being written in real-time. Click on it quick enough and you can see my cursor still scrabbling across the screen, laying out words about three new games you might like to try this coming weekend - and, as a new bonus, adding words from the Jank crew on what we're hoping to divert ourselves with this weekend.

Let us know in the comments, as always, what you're going to be playing.

Sovereign Tower

A golden-haired knight called Gwendan, surrounded by UI elements related to their skills and quests.

I've been reading Tower Dungeon, Tsutomu Nihei's manga which answers the question: what if there was a big tower? This RPG makes you the manager of such a place, with a Round Table of hot knights to send on quests and keep happy. I love the loose lines of the character artwork and UI, and am encouraged by the ability to turn back time (via a demon in the basement) to reverse previous decisions.

Doloc Town

Several platforms, viewed from the side in 2D, covered in plants. The character wears a white coat and welding mask.

If I encountered Doloc Town when it launched in Early Access last year, I forgot about it, but this sidescrolling survival-farming game has now hit 1.0. You're transforming a post-climate collapse world into a new, flourishing home, as in so many games, but the platforming perspective gives the screenshots their own distinct identity.

ReStory

A "Pokia" branded mobile phone, that looks like an old Nokia, above a blue cutting mat.

There are plenty of games about repairing items for customers and hearing their little stories in between. I'm personally fond of Limbs Repair Station, an old free game in which you fix cyberpunk hands legs. ReStory has an added bit of cosy resonance by having you fix old electronics, like off-brand iPods, PSPs, Polaroid cameras and Nokia handsets. I think the real core of the fantasy here, however, is: wouldn't it be nice to have a window above your desk and to talk to some friendly people throughout your day? Alas.

What we're playing

Graham: I'm tempted by both Doloc Town and Sovereign Tower, although now that Emuurom is out of my system, I have Scarlet Deer Inn and The Mermaid Mask both rolling their eyes at me and wondering if they're about to sink back into the mists of my Steam library. I'll also definitely be playing Abiotic Factor - we're over 50 hours in, now - and hopefully some of the newly released Big Walk with big pals.

Brendy: I played the wet but not very wild walking simulator Pools last weekend and it has me in the mood for dandering through more eerie architecture. I heard Dreamcore is a similar jaunt. But I think I need other recommendations - if you know a good low-key walking sim, please tell me.

Jonty: [Jonty started as he means to continue and failed to get me a paragraph in time. We'll update this later.]

That's us, sort of, as requested in the comments a couple of weeks ago. I am always keen to respond to feedback, and to have more opportunities to bother Jon and Brendan into writing things for me, so keep it up.

Tell us what you're playing down below, in the internet's best and only comment section.

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What We're Playing
Graham Smith

Graham Smith

Graham is a former editorial director of Rock Paper Shotgun and editor-in-chief of PC Gamer. He has now been a games journalist for over twenty years, and retains a bottomless appetite for playing new games and tinkering with old ones.