Wallet threat level: the calm before the storm?

, | Games

I thought this week would be the calm before the storm — stay tuned! — but there are enough big releases to keep your wallet threatened in advance. We have a pottery-breaking game from Double Fine; a new Peter Molyneux god game entering early access; the follow-up to Vampire Survivors; the minimalist sequel to minimalist shapez; breakout game Caromble’s breakout from early access after 11 years; and the Seumus McNally Grand Prize winner from this year’s Independent Games Festival. Maybe this is actually the storm before the storm?

Monday (4/20/26):​

  • TownsFolk (PC) – “A survival strategy game where every choice shapes your frontier’s destiny. Lead your people into an uncharted world as they rebuild after ruin, endure harsh challenges, and carve out a thriving settlement. Manage scarce resources, face dynamic events, and never forget to pay tribute to the kingdom.”

Tuesday (4/21/26):​

  • Vampire Crawlers (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) – “Deal world-ending combos and blitz through infested dungeons! Vampire Crawlers: the turbo wildcard from Vampire Survivors is a casual, turn‑based deckbuilder with roguelite elements. Master the Turboturn with your own hand of cards!”
  • Below The Crown (PC) – “Explore the dungeons Below the Crown, in this love letter to Roguelikes, Dungeon Crawlers, and Chess. Prepare for strategy, game-changing spells, psychological tests, and challenges from your fellow players. From the award-winning creators of Duskers & A Virus Named Tom.”

Wednesday (4/22/26):​

  • Caromble (PC) – “Caromble! is the ultimate brick breaker. A 3D physics-based adventure that blends brick breaking with pinball, platforming and trick-shot puzzles. Guide the ball through a dynamic world, battle challenging bosses, and unlock game-changing powerups. Save the ball. Save the world.”
  • Masters of Albion (PC Early Access) – “A bold reimagining of the god game genre from the creator who defined it. Shape a living world as a god – or step into it and experience it through your people. Build, guide and defend your town by day, then survive the night when everything is under threat. There is no single solution. Only yours.”
  • Tides of Tomorrow (PS5, Xbox, PC) – “In a flooded world struggling to survive, you embark on a singleplayer-mission – yet you’ll never be alone. You’ll constantly feel the presence of other Tidewalkers through the echoes of those that came before you.”

Thursday (4/23/26):​

  • Titanium Court (PC) – “A surreal strategy game for clowns and criminals. Also the winner of the 2026 Seaumus McNally prize from the Independent Games Festival.”
  • Causal Loop (PS5, Xbox, PC) – “Exo-archaeologist Bale arrives on Tor Ulsat with his colleague Jen, an exo-linguist, to study the ruins of the lost Tor civilisation. But when he unwittingly activates the Chronolith – an ancient alien device – reality shatters. Jen vanishes, and Bale is trapped in a fractured world where time loops and echoes of the past and future bleed together.”
  • Kiln (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – “Double Fine Productions presents Kiln, a pottery power-fantasy that celebrates both Creativity and Destruction: the pleasure that comes from both making beautiful things, and then smashing those things to smithereens.”
  • Shapez 2 (PC) – “Dive into a factory-building game with the focus on just that – building huge space factories! Design sprawling multi-level factories and satisfying production lines without limits. Tackle progressively challenging automation goals at your own pace, without the threat of enemies.”
  • Sudden Strike 5 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – “We’ve just taken the bridge at Remagen – made a breakthrough they never saw coming. Speed was our ally. The day was chill, no snow luckily, but nevertheless our breath was forming clouds in the crisp air. And yet, we took to action, flanked their Pak 40 positions with our Shermans, locked down the east bank with a barrage by 75mm M1 Howitzer and pushed forward before they could react.”
  • Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis (PC) – ““Yunyun Syndrome!? Rhythm Psychosis” is a rhythm adventure game about a psychotic hikikomori girl – also an avid anonymous poster – who corrupts the world with her severe brain rot from listening to too many denpa songs. Yunyun all over this :heart::heart::heart::heart: world with your degen otaku-posting.”

Friday (4/24/26):​

  • Network Notation (PC) – “You are a lost artificial intelligence adrift on the internet. Infiltrate abstract computer networks filled with defensive complications to expand your world. Improve your capabilities to overcome ever greater challenges. Learn about the state of the world and what you were made for.”
  • Tell the Ocean (PC) – “Type your thoughts. Bottle them. Release them into the ocean or burn them in a fire. Learn to let go. Meditate for five minutes. Climb a tower. Write your to-do list. A quiet game about clearing your mind before you begin or getting you unstuck when you have writer’s block.”
  • Frontier Paladin (PC) – “Begin your first quest as a Paladin in this isometric Action RPG with weighty, stamina driven combat. Delve into the depths of the Crater, then fortify your positions and survive relentless enemy waves in tactical action-tower defense battles. Can you rebuild a shattered Order?”
Email
​