What we’re feeding the Maw

Image credit: MicroProse Software

Happy new week of PC game releases, all! First, the customary paragraph of Maw musings. What we refer to as the Maw goes by many other names in different regions, as different cultures react to its cosmic incursions. Across the channel in Normandy, generations of monks have addressed the creature as La Bête des Trous. The Finnish know the Maw as Tuleva Syöjä. In the United States, meanwhile they call it Friday Night at Applebee’s.

The Maw reacts to every naming with delight, for each name is a fresh morsel of News. By all means add your own invention to its plate, once you’re done reading about some of those forthcoming PC games.

Monday 19th January

• Earth Of Oryn is a pretty medieval kingdom builder, out this day in early access, with some real-time military elements and changing seasons.
• Also coming to early access, Lunars is one of those multiplayer family boardgames where every board node is a minigame. In this case, it’s zodiac-themed, and the minigames seem relatively chaotic and Fall Guys-ish.
• In autobattler roguelike Carnedge, you are that one dude who has to carry the eternal flame to the lighthouse and save the world. The visuals remind me of North American dark fantasy animated films like The Secret of NIMH.

Tuesday 20th January

• Mio: Memories In Orbit is a lucent, painterly metroidvania in which you explore a huge colony spaceship.
• Protect the Earthglass Crystal! Deliver it to the Infernal Rift! Destroy the demon overlord Korghul! Shatter the Blightstone! In the turn-based strategy roguelike called Blightstone!
• Hark, the vaguely Latinate bellowing of male choirs! It can only be Strategos (pictured), the historical RTS in which 120 factions clang their shieldwalls together. There’s no world map functionality as such – I wonder if MicroProse will get mad at me for calling this Partial War.

Wednesday 21st January

• TR-49 is the archive-diving World War investigation sim with the spooky computer from Inkle, creators of Heaven’s Vault and A Highland Song.
• Duel Corp is a Souls-inspired action-RPG in which cursed immortals wander an MMO-lite open world. I like the grainy chibi characters and chunky little towns.

Thursday 22nd January

• Come see the big city through an 18-year-old’s eyes while nurturing their personality in Perfect Tides: Station to Station, a thoughtful point-and-click adventure. If you are an actual 18-year-old living in the big city, watch out, playing this might trigger some kind of Being John Malkovich scenario.
• Escape a very fancy magical boardgame by fitting inventory tiles into your board to defeat another player in Turnbound. “Like if Inventory Tetris and Hearthstone Battlegrounds had a baby”, apparently.
• Maketh swords and experienceth the story of the last human citadel in Bladesong.

Friday 23rd January

• After School Afterlife is a narrative platformer inspired by Peranakan culture, in which you rove a strange mansion doing favours for ghosts.
• Escape from Ever After is a Paper Mario-like RPG about a real-world corporation colonising the realm of fairytales. What, are you just going to sit back and let them turn the dragon’s castle into a godforsaken touchdown space? Quest forth, foe of human resources!

As for what we in the Treehouse are doing this week: there is complicated calamity unfolding that involves office keycards and toxic ramen. Could be Maw-related - I will leave you to speculate. On the brighter side, Jeremy is back from holiday. Hello Jeremy! Please, do something. As for the rest of you, let us know if there’s a new PC game we’ve ignored in our zealous pursuit of yet another dang roguelike or pre-industrial wargame.