Revival: Recolonization is a 4X game that, while still feeling familiar, offers its fair share of innovation. Though it can be slow at times, it has a ton to offer, and with its unique takes on mechanics and style, the game is sure to offer something for the tired 4X fan looking for something new. [Early Access Score = 80]

Lacking in great mechanical depth and with a disappointingly linear design, Yet Another Fantasy Title nevertheless kept me invested with its story and occasional bouts of good humor. If you’re in the mood for something simple and funny, Yet Another Fantasy Title just might be the game for you.

Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure has been released into Early Access with more than a solid foundation, and if we have nothing but further improvements to make, expect that players have a title worth really getting excited for. [Early Access Review]

No Rest For The Wicked is a highly promising game that can only improve during its time in Early Access. It makes exciting changes to the ARPG formula, has phenomenal art and visuals, and has fun combat. While I would like to see some changes addressed to the game’s balance (particularly in the ability for players to grind XP / levels), it has quickly become one of my new favorites. [Early Access Review]

This game deserves all the time in the world needed to accomplish its true vision, which is clearly something spectacular and deeply engaging, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get a pressing sense of impatience thinking about everything to come. Manor Lords has me absolutely hooked, as I’m sure it will have you as well, and while updates may be a little slow, I’m super excited to see them come. [Early Access Review]

Sker Ritual is a fantastic game that successfully pulls off a highly desired gameplay formula certain triple-A companies haven’t been able to in years. Though the game has one or two quirks, I would say that all that needs to change is adding dedicated servers and removing the peer-to-peer lag issues, and Sker Ritual would be the perfect Zombies game for fans itching to play the genre again.

RUNGORE is an impressively unique little roguelike that I feel deserves more attention. It’s fantastic art, and the ability to sell you on both comedic and dramatic atmospheres paired with a unique spin on the deckbuilding archetype makes for something that’s worth trying and easy to appreciate.

Overall, I’d say the game has a lot of promise; It just needs a little bit of paint and some tinkering under the hood. [Early Access Review]

As it currently stands, Necromantic is a solid bullet-hell title with some great gameplay and a super interesting setting. Some powers could be tweaked, some pathfinding glitches fixed, and above all else, a big focus on expanding the story and characters of the setting needs to happen before the game is ready to leave Early Access. Still, I feel like Necromantic is a promising title with a great future in story. [Early Access Review]

I think Soulmask has some good ideas but needs more work, especially on the non-mechanical side of things. The UI, menu navigation, building, and localization need some improvement before this game can shine as the ambitious survival craft the developers want it to be. [Early Access Review]

If your tribe has multiple clans or “units,” there is no reminder at the end of your turn to move them or an easy way to cycle between selecting multitudes of them. Sometime, the game will outright refuse to allow you to select your other clans, and you just have to watch them slowly die of starvation or predator attack as they are left defenseless and without direction. [Early Access Review]

Kristala already seems to be an exciting and unique entry into the Soulslike genre. With its unique setting and twists on the genre’s gameplay mechanics, the game has real promise. Though there are still bugs to be polished, optimization to be implemented, and tweaks to the controls and gameplay to be made before Kristala is ready to launch, Kristala has a lot to offer fans of Soulslike games, but it should be equally appealing for newcomers looking to make this cat-based world their first experience with the genre. [Early Access Review]

The roadmap for Bodycam promises bug fixes, more maps, and a zombie mode, of which I’m personally the most excited. Though I feel like the gun play could be improved and the game should allow for weapon progression and selection, I can safely say that even in Early Access, Bodycam will certainly have a dedicated player base, though $30 may be a bit too steep for what the game is offering. Also, if the devs are reading this, get rid of the Discord server launch prompt when you open the game. It feels invasive and will definitely put off potential players. [Early Access Review]

You’ll probably never see me saying this again, but Drug Dealer Simulator 2 has too much story...Drug Dealer Simulator 2 wants to sell you on the narrative of becoming a drug kingpin in a small archipelago nation, going from rags to riches as your small-time dope business grows into an all-drug-encompassing criminal empire. It’s an exciting fantasy, and it could easily be sold to a player through nothing more than the game’s basic tycoon-progression mechanics and a little imagination. Drug Dealer Simulator 2, however, has an almost campaign-like story alongside it. [Early Access Review]

Horror Tales: The Beggar is a nicely portioned, exciting, and interesting game that is well worth checking out. While not exactly what I’d call horror, the game offers plenty of interesting ideas and world-building at an incredibly fair price.

Though the concept of a survival craft game based on Norse mythology has certainly been done before, ASKA stands out with its emphasis on immersion and village building. With amazing stylized graphics and a good balance between survival gameplay and city building, ASKA is a title that’s as fun to play as it is beautiful to look at. [Early Access Review]

Stuffed is an interesting take on the “Zombies” wave-defense style game. However, despite its great presentation and potential, the state of the game itself could use some work. With the state of weapon balance, performance optimization, and map design, I’d say Stuffed feels more like an Early Access title than a full release.

What Kingdom, Dungeon, and Hero lacks in strategic complexity, it makes up for in storytelling, classical RPG mechanics and an interesting wargame added almost as a cherry on top of it all.

Ark of Charon is an interesting title. While still in Early Access, I think a lot of what it needs to fix can easily be buffed out before the game’s full release, making for a truly great colony sim/tower defense combination. [Early Access Review]

Governor of the West is a clever, strategically satisfying board-game-type title that is food for killing ten to twenty minutes fast. However, the game would shine with the addition of multiplayer, which it sorely lacks at the moment.

Norland is in a really solid place, even in its Early Access release. It has a solid grasp on what makes games like RimWorld, its main inspiration, fun, and adds to the formula with interesting diplomatic and lineage-building systems. It has cool, unique lore, nice graphics, a robust economy system, and well-polished, if not incredibly deep, combat mechanics. For anyone looking for a new colony sim, Norland certainly serves as a worthy contender on the market. [Early Access Review]

Lost Castle 2 is already at a great state in its Early Access release, and should prove to being a co-op favorite among Roguelike fans. [Early Access Review]

Farlands seems to have a long way to go before it leaves Early Access and becomes a full game. However, I think it has a lot of promise. If the game interests you and you want to support the developers as they continue to flesh out the game, purchasing it in Early Access definitely isn’t a bad idea. Otherwise, I would give the game time, but I recommend keeping a close eye on it as it evolves throughout its development. [Early Access Review]

7 Days to Die, in my opinion, is dated in a lot of ways. Some of the mechanics feel unnecessarily tedious, the game doesn’t look incredible, and the engine is undoubtedly on its last legs. In other ways, however, the game is revolutionary, featuring a core mechanic loop that I am shocked no other games have replicated and a surprising amount of player freedom in its gameplay. If nothing else, 7 Days to Die will quickly become the next Stardew Valley or Rogue, inspiring a variety of new games and becoming the forefather of its own genre.

Space For Sale is an interesting title, albeit not quite what I expected. If you’re into the idea of building towns on the galactic frontier with friends, this game may be for you, although you might find certain early access features to be wanting. If, however, you wanted to open up a farm and physically terraform an alien planet, Space For Sale will unfortunately leave you wanting, though we may see a shift in that direction as the game sees further development.

The formula is solid and straightforward enough that something would have to be very wrong for me to find something to criticize. Though still in early access, I struggle to imagine just how far Preserve can really go from here. The game is simple yet solid, and I think that’s just fine for its $12 price point. [Early Access Review]

It certainly has the concept for it. However, to do so, it needs to work on its balance and change up how aliens play the game and how players fight back against them. As it exists, the game is frustrating at worst and plain not scary at best. [Early Access Review]

For an early access title, Dawn of Defiance has a lot of promise. It goes a unique route for a survival crafting game, giving you the powers of a god as you progress through the game and having a unique setting that I haven’t yet seen in the genre. If the game could simply improve on its combat, adding in a more combo-oriented system, maybe adding in more combat skills and weapon sets, it could be a fantastic entry into the genre. While not totally necessary, I’d also like to see the game swap out its humanoid models and gear sets for more visually interesting ones, adding to the game’s unique flavor in visual areas where it, unfortunately, feels a little bland. [Early Access Review]