“Pal” is a tainted word to my Scottish brain Palworldhas a new trailer. Watch the trailer, you’ll see. And by “crafting” I mean you could build a garden or a spaceship or a pyramid. Palworld is being developed by Pocketpair, who previously worked on the similarly expansiveCraftopiaand similarly maximalist tower defense gameOverdungeon. That’s my only dadtake for tonight, I promise. Palworld is seemingly still aiming to release this yearon Steam.

Check out the trailer if you missed it on Thursday, its quite charming. Theres a feel of theOriseries and older platformers such asAnother Worldto Planet Of Lana. Said robots rattle about on spindly spider-legs so I find them unsettling. The game wasannouncedat last years Summer Game Fest and is styled as an off-Earth odyssey. Planet Of Lana will release onSteamthis year, but we havent been given a firm date beyond that....

Well, those brothers are now Team Clout and that game now exists, albeit called simplyIll. Resident Evil but injected with your most virulent 2022 strain. So much unsettling body horror in just a few seconds! Questions questions, everywhere, and not a drop to think! Start your own wild speculating below, while we wait for literally any more information whatsoever.

Get your wholesome discourse takes prepared, because in 2022 and beyond it’s all about plants and witches. As for the witches? I have no logical explanation for that, but they’re fucking everywhere. Basically, if you claim you could’t find an unproblematic witch game then you are a liar. We’re looking at bears (possibly for the large pun potential) and frogs, people. Get your cats out of here! It’s too easy to make them cute!...

This real-time switching means Morbid Metal moves very quickly. Morbid Metal is, like most games these days, set in a post-human future. Robots, of course, are harder to grow over, especially when they’re running about so much. Crash these cereal-box-worthy figures into robots and big smashy bosses - but beware the slightly proc-gen world! TheSteam pageis unclear on that point). My confession about this is that I think the action looks cool, but kind of weightless....

I’m not being facetious with my headline, either.

The devs describe their game as a narrative-driven side-scroller where you play as a digital medium. Imagine something halfway betweenObserverandDetention, then, and you’ll be on the right lines. I mean, all that this game is missing to be bang on-trend right now is a time loop.

Weeeeey apples and pears! So, er, Blending a few things, here. Key takeaway is that everyone in this has a faced like a slapped Bulldog’s bum. Nobody is having a fun time. Sunday Gold does, however, look very cool. and “WHAM!” Cinematic bits are comics-y too, using appearing panels to move the action on. I’m not sure about the consequences for fucking up, but they’re probably bad. But that’s a worry for later down the line....

Gotta start somewhere, right? Who do you think I am, Santa? You think I can slow time to infinity when I need it? So I’ve done you a little roundup of the games that caught my eye this time. There’s some action, some horror and some puzzles. Fun for all the family! I recommend you take a look at theSteam Event pagefor a longer (though still not exhaustive) list. But this’ll give you a place to start!...

The Entropy Centres due out this year. Although it could probably be out whenever it likes if it fires at a calendar of games releases. Have your ideas about physics turned upside down when you watch the trailer below. Or is it above? Its not actually a time-gun after all. Entropys the scientific concept that identifies the tendency the Universe has towards disorder, innit. You know whats disordered? Better shoot them with your blaster in short order, then....

Would you store your ketchup in this fridge? Consequently I’m a fan of horror anthologies in the vein of No Code’sStories Untold. Look out for it in 2022, but the trailer says there’s afree demo on Steam now. You know, standard stuff. Personally, I’m into it. The Fridge Is Red has a good vibe. Who would get a red fridge, though? Aren’t they usually mega expensive?

Castlevania on roids Anyone up for side-scrollingBloodborne? Thats the distinct vibe emitting from every gothic orifice ofThe Last Faith, a Metroidvania coming this year. Some more footage of the thwack em up platformer was shown off at todays Future Games Show. Developers Kumi Souls Games say the combat is precise, and theres a huge range of custom executions. Erm, thanks, I guess? All the beastie-fighting is to subvert a hidden prophecy, apparently....

Gravity Falls meets Pikmin Tinykin is about an astronaut named Milo returning to earth after a long space voyage. Milo might reasonably fall to his knees and scream “You blew it up, damn you!” It really is very obviously inspired by Pikmin. It’s a good time for fans of being wee.