Most anticipated? O reader, you are a tender, innocent child. Listen, you come here with flexible joints, eyes as clear as spring water, and the scent of hope in your hair. I'm old, dear reader. I no longer feel this emotion called “anticipation,” just as I don’t remember the taste of strawberries in the Shire. The years of waiting for another Legacy of Kain game have broken my spirit. My heart is a sponge of sadness. My beard curls around my ankles like a lethargic cat. Everything turned gray.
However, I vaguely remember a younger version of myself, perhaps the one I saw a couple of weeks ago when I was writing a list of games that could potentially come out in 2026 that they were looking forward to. There I found dusty paper. Let me light a candle and look at it. Ahh! I set my beard on fire. Quickly, while it is burning, read the list in the stinking glow.
People emerging
This interesting indie strategy simulator, in fact, represents the first round of development of Civilization, which stretched over hundreds of years. In it, you play as a tribe of primitive hunter-gatherers exploring a world of changing weather patterns and fragile food webs. You don't just “research technology” such as learning how to sharpen flints; you'll also cultivate values such as hedonism, develop social systems, and help individuals in the tribe get along across generations. I think this is the most intriguing 4X in a long time, partly because it refuses to completely become one.
Martian tactics
Dear Prime Minister Tim Curry, I regret to inform you that space has been corrupted by capitalism, but take heart: the revolution that never took hold of the Blue Marble is starting anew on the Red Planet. That is, provided that we can secure our airfield and organize decent hydroponics. Mars Tactics is a turn-based tactical strategy game from developers Takibi Games and publisher Hooded Horse. You command the forces of Capital or Labor, expanding facilities and supply lines while sending your grizzled custom infantry to fight each other XCOM-style across destructible maps. I like this asymmetry: Capital starts from a stronger position but is a monolith dependent on Terran shareholders for resources, while Labor has to gain momentum but has passion and ingenuity on its side.
Subnautica 2
The next game from Unknown Worlds started life as an underwater survival game with brand new co-op features, but they've since turned it into legal exhaustion simulator from which all references to strange fish were carefully removed. This new version Subnautica 2 still supports multiplayer mode, but is now a turn-based game that can only be played by millionaires and billionaires; the real game developers only appear as background decorations, desperately trying to tell you about the biomes while lawyers scream about incriminating ChatGPT logs. Please, please, Unknown Worlds – please find a way to turn Subnautica 2 back into an underwater survival game before it's released. I thought the first one was very, very good. I would like to experience these feelings again.
Noisy world
There are two things you need to know about The Busty World. First of all, this is an RPG for everyone. You can be a general. You can be a bandit. You might be the guy with exactly one vase to his name. You can be a martial artist, a city architect, or a professional chef. Anyway, that's the theory. In practice, I'm wondering if this game will fall apart like a giant airplane made of duct tape. Secondly, “The Busty World” is a peach. Textile! Those paper lanterns! These bright, crowded streets! Even if the game's social simulation and job selection collapse under the weight of its ambition, I think it's worth playing just to take some screenshots.
Cicadamata
Damn, I love the trailer for this flexible and pearlescent first-person shooter. It's like drinking Red Bull with your eyes and ears. The hissing and screeching of stage props, the throwing and banging of weapons, the Republic of Designers-esque backgrounds, the erratic steam sound… I know I'm going to be rubbish in Cicadamat. I probably just cluttered this up with a bunch of misleading links. But, nevertheless, for me this game is the reincarnation of my old favorite game Jumping Flash for PS1, which taught itself parkour and replaced Robbit's blaster with a double-barreled shotgun.
