And breathe... We did it! We made it through the first three months of 2022, potentially the busiest first quarter of any year to date. By comparison, April 2022 almost seems a little light when it comes to new PC releases. Only one AAA blockbuster launching this month? How quaint.
Still, this relatively quiet period finally gives indie games a chance to breathe again. There are a ton of super interesting, smaller titles launching on PC this month that I’m excited to share with you all today. From epic turn-based RPGs based on English mythology to offbeat walking simulators about free will, there’s something for everyone launching on PC this month.
Worst case, if nothing from this list strikes your fancy, you’ll finally have a chance to finish Elden Ring. Imagine that! A whole month to try and defeat the Crucible Knight. What a treat!
If you like moving images set to words and music, you can have a watch of the video above. But, if you prefer text, then read on.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (April 5th)
Who's it by? TT Games
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? £40/€50/$50
It’s been three years since Traveller’s Tales last released a Lego game, which is kind of hard to believe considering the team was pumping out multiple brick-based entries every year for the best part of a decade. Thankfully this small hiatus is set to change with the release of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on April 5th. Featuring playable versions of all nine mainline Star Wars films (nine!? When did that happen?), Skywalker Saga will let you wield mini lightsabers and ride plastic TaunTauns to your blocky heart’s content. Core systems - which have remained largely untouched since 2005 - have received a total overhaul this time around, with combat in particular receiving the biggest changes. A combo system makes close quarters bust-ups more dynamic whereas blaster battles now handle like those found in a traditional third-person shooter.
I’ve always found the Lego games to be very comforting. Easy-going and pleasant, always trying to make you smile with their exaggerated depictions of classic franchises. I have high hopes for The Skywalker Saga and thankfully, it’s not long until we can all experience TT’s hard work for ourselves.
Chinatown Detective Agency (April 7th)
Who's it by? General Interactive Co.
Where can I get it? Steam | GOG
How much is it? TBC
Evoking classic point-and-click adventures from yesteryear, Chinatown Detective Agency opens for business on April 7th. As private investigator Amira Darma, it’s up to you to solve a number of high-profile mysteries as you travel the world in search of answers. Intriguingly, clues aren’t just limited to things you can find in-game. Indeed, Chinatown Detective Agency will apparently task you with doing your own research, searching the actual internet for things like Airport codes or real-world quotes. Detective games have always struggled with ways to make a player feel like an actual sleuth, with the genre’s best allowing you to uncover details organically to piece together solutions in a way that doesn’t feel scripted. Could the answer be as a simple as asking you to alt-tab away from the game to perform a Google search? I’m excited to find out.
Sephonie (April 12th)
Who's it by? Melos Han-Tani, Marina Kittaka
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? TBC
I’m finding it hard to fully pin down what Sephonie actually is, but based on trailers it appears to be a 3D platformer featuring three playable characters set within a beautiful, muted world. Think Super Mario 64, but greyer and all the Goombas are inside out. The team’s previous title, Anodyne 2, was a Zelda-inspired adventure that frequently transitioned between fully 3D environments and 2D pixel-art dungeons. It’s probably a safe bet to suggest we should all expect the unexpected when Sephonie releases on April 12th.
Cat Cafe Manager (April 14th)
Who's it by? Roost Games
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? TBC
Cat Cafes are weird. Don’t get me wrong, I love cats. I have a cat, and I think she’s great, but the worst part about opening up your home to an animal is having to eat around them. Our cat will ignore us for the majority of the day but the second you make yourself some lunch she drops all of her previous reservations about personal space, sprinting the full-length of the house to smush her snout into my tuna sandwich. A cat cafe is basically that experience isolated and multiplied by 20. Oh, and also, you have to pay to be there. My idea of a pleasant afternoon doesn’t involve Mr Sniffles pawing the cheese out of a mediocre toastie that cost me £10.
Thankfully, Cat Cafe Manager lets you experience the joy of running a feline-stuffed establishment without any of the minor annoyances I should probably work through in my free time. You can build rooms and decorate them with furniture before adopting a number of cuddly critters. There’s even an entire town to explore and quirky residents to befriend. It launches on Steam on April 14th.
The Iron Oath (April 19th)
Who's it by? Curious Panda Games
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? TBC
Entering early access on April 19th, The Iron Oath is a turn-based tactics RPG with a lick of fantasy paint. As the leader of a mercenary group, your decisions both on and off the battlefield will decide the fate of your company of adventurers. As you explore an ever-changing overworld over the course of multiple decades, your recruits will age, eventually retiring or outright dying. Although the majority of your time will be spent defeating enemies in turn-based isometric battles, you’re also responsible for your guild's finances and maintaining political alliances with other factions. This early access launch will feature approximately 15 hours worth of stuff to do, with the game’s full release scheduled to drop in around a year’s time.
Terraformers (April 21st)
Who's it by? Asteroid Lab
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? TBC
Also entering early access a few days later on April 21st, Terraformers is a colony management sim about making Mars hospitable enough to sustain human life. You begin underground, mining the planet’s massive glowing crystals before shifting your population to the surface. There, you can start to do very normal activities like smashing asteroids into the ground to create lakes that will contribute towards a breathable atmosphere so humans can safely pop their helmets off before drivng to their closest branch of Space McDonalds. Reviews for the game’s free prologue are largely positive, praising Terraformers unique card-based gameplay and polished visuals. I really like the look of this one. It’s rare that a city-builder goes all-in on the management side of things, but with a task as substantial as colonising the red planet, maybe it’s for the best I’m forced to consider more important things like air rather than the placement of moon parks and galactic roundabouts.
Turbo Overkill (April 22nd)
Who's it by? Trigger Happy Interactive
Where can I get it? Steam | GOG
How much is it? TBC
The trailer for Turbo Overkill begins with its cyborg protagonist using their chainsaw leg to render their shotgun into a sawn-off variant. Do I need to tell you more? I do? Sorry, did you miss the bit about the chainsaw leg? Right OK, well, how about this then: the main character is called Johnny Turbo and he’s on a mission to rid the cyberpunk city of Paradise from a rogue AI named Syn. Convinced yet? You should be.
I’m a sucker for a big dumb shooter, and they arguably don’t come as big or as dumb as Turbo Overkill. Players are able to navigate battlegrounds with an impressive amount of fluidity (no surprise, considering the developer cites Apex Legends as a big influence) with Mr Turbo capable of sliding and dicing cyborg cultists with his chainsaw leg like an ice skating butcher. Weapons are equally as rad, with Ol’ Johnny able to wield huge miniguns, devastating flamethrowers and black-hole creating shotguns. It all looks pleasingly ridiculous. April 22nd can’t come quickly enough.
King Arthur: Knight’s Tale (April 26th)
Who's it by? NeocoreGames
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? £30/€45/$45
OK, so. What if - right - someone made a version of XCOM that was based on an old English myth. It would never happen, right? Wrong. King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is exactly that, an XCOM-style turn-based tactics game that offers a dark twist on the legend of King Arthur. In Knight’s Tale, Arthur is an undying monarch hell-bent on transforming Britain into a corrupted hellscape. Well. Moreso than it already is, I suppose. Har har.
As Sir Mordred, it’s your task to lead a gang of Knights on a quest to kill Arthur and lift the curse he’s inflicted upon this green and pleasant land. Battles are your traditional Xcom fare, with units able to travel certain distances across the battlefield before whacking enemies with big swords. Knight’s Tale has been in early access for a spell since it was fully funded on Kickstarter, garnering a bunch of very positive reviews in the meantime. If you ever watched Disney’s The Sword In The Stone and thought “I’ve had enough of this guy”, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is probably the game for you.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (April 27th)
Who's it by? Crows Crows Crows
Where can I get it? Steam
How much is it? TBC
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has been delayed so many times at this point it's hard to distinguish whether or not this is in an actual product that will eventually be released or if this whole pre-release period has been in itself some kind of meta-commentary. The recently revealed release date of April 27th appears to be concrete this time, but the team over at Crows Crows Crows are a tricksy bunch. You should always question authority, after all. I learned that from a video game I played ten years ago called The Stanley Parable.
For those not in the know, The Stanley Parable is a hilarious reflection on video game design that pits the player against an omniscient narrator. By questioning what the narrator asks of you - going through the door on the left instead of the one on the right, for example - the game can shoot off into a number of wild directions, each one resulting in a completely different ending. Some are earnest. Some are reflective, pondering existential questions about free will. Some are just really daft. Although the game is sort of a re-release of the 2011 version, it’s also kind of not…? Crows Crows Crows promise new twists and endings to discover as you once again assume the role of the titular Stanley.
Dorfromantik (April 28th)
Who's it by? Toukana Interactive
Where can I get it? Steam | GOG
How much is it? £10/€10/$10
After spending a year in early access, chill puzzler Dorformantik will launch in full on April 29th. Dorformantik was one of my favourite games of 2021, allowing players to construct miniature landscapes using a finite stack of randomly drawn tiles. Additional tiles are acquired by completing small quests that task you with placing matching types of tiles next to one other, resulting in sprawling rivers and dense forests that spiral out from all corners of your ever-expanding environment. It’s a truly compelling thing to play around with, its relaxing vibes disguising an intensely addictive experience that is hard to walk away from. A raft of new features have been added to the game since launch - including new biomes and a much-requested undo button - but the developers insist that 1.0 is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see what exciting new delights they have in store for this truly sensational game.
So there we have it, 10 great games launching for the PC in April 2022. What are you planning to play this month? Something old? Something new? Something borrowed? Something blue? Let me know in the comments below.