Author: Marcus Orchard

Designer: Clarence SimpsonArtist: Léonard DupondPublisher: AllplayPlayer Count: 2–8+Playtime: 30–45 Minutes Getting a message from an alien in space might be pretty cool or creepy, depending on your personality. In A Message From the Stars, you don’t have to worry, since the alien message is really just from your buddy on the other side of the table. Unfortunately, they might as well come from space, because you don’t understand what they are saying. The aliens communicate through encrypted clues, while the scientists try to decode the message. Time to think hard and work together. A Brief How to Play Players split…

Marvelous has opened digital pre-orders for two upcoming titles, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma and Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar. Both games are slated for release later this year and will launch on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and Windows PC. New trailers for each title debuted this week. Both games will receive a Standard edition, a Digital Deluxe Edition, and a Super Digital Deluxe Edition. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma is scheduled to release on June 5, 2025. This new entry in the cozy sim and action RPG series takes players to Azuma, a previously unseen region inspired by…

Maliki: Poison of the Past, a turn-based RPG rooted in nature, family, and magic, is now available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Developed by Blue Banshee and published by Ankama, the game marks the first video game adaptation of the long-running French comic Maliki, which has sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. Poison of the Past serves as a standalone story to the franchise. Set in a vibrant world threatened by an invasive magical plant, the game follows protagonist Maliki and her found-family of adventurers as they travel through time to fix everything The game features turn-based combat that emphasizes “temporal…

Designer: Ivan LashinPublisher: Arcane WondersPlayer Count: 2–4Playtime: 30–45 Minutes Engine builders are fun, though there aren’t a lot of quick ones outside of Century. Furnace helps to fill the gap further while also giving players a unique auction. It also leans heavily into its neat 19th-century capitalist theme, making players acquire industries, extract resources, and turn it all into sweet, sweet profit. A Brief How to Play In Furnace, each player begins with a unique Capitalist power and a starter factory that produces basic resources or conversion options. The game takes place over four rounds, each divided into two phases:…

Dark Horse Books has announced Red & Blue: Monster Hunters, the English-language debut of a middle-grade graphic novel from Spanish cartoonist Sara Soler. Originally published in Spain, the story follows two young heroines as they navigate the ethics of monster hunting in a world where not everything is as heroic as it seems. Soler, known for her work on Season of the Bruja and Us, both co-created with comics writer Aaron Durán, serves as both writer and illustrator for the standalone story. The book is lettered by Joamette Gil (Castaways, Time Traveler Tales) and translated to English by Silvia Perea…

Conservas, a new solo bag-building game from designer Scott Almes and publisher 25th Century Games, is now available. In this one-player strategy game, players take on the role of a tinning company owner on the Spanish coast who must sustainably harvest fish while meeting monthly business goals. The game blends resource management and environmental balance. Each round, players fish from a bag filled with chits representing sea life and water, bringing select catches back to their facility while leaving others to repopulate the sea. The game offers a series of 12 different scenarios, randomized boat and upgrade cards, and unique…

Inside Up Games has launched the Kickstarter campaign for Earth: Animal Kingdom, the latest expansion for the engine-building board game Earth. The expansion introduces 36 new animals and a set of 56 animeeples. The expansion promises new asymmetrical strategies and movement-based gameplay. Each animal in Animal Kingdom has unique abilities, so players can build ecosystems that align with their chosen creatures. The animeeples, which move through cards in the tableau, trigger abilities as they traverse the terrain. Animal Kingdom also introduces new Fauna Objectives and Global Abilities. Fauna Objectives now interact directly with the animals in your tableau. Global Abilities…

Necrosoft Games and Ysbryd Games have announced that Demonschool, their school-life tactics RPG inspired by Persona and Italian horror cinema, will launch in Q3 2025. The game is coming to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Demonschool takes place in a haunted island university, and follows Faye, a freshman and the last demon hunter of her lineage. Players will investigate paranormal events, battle against possessed humans and demons, and build relationships with classmates. The game’s visuals and themes take influence from Japanese horror manga and Italian…

Developer: Jump Over The AgePublisher: Fellow TravellerGenre: RPG / Narrative AdventureReviewed For: Nintendo SwitchAlso Available On: PC, Xbox, PlayStation A few years ago, Citizen Sleeper blessed us with a bleak but beautiful world with gameplay inspired by tabletop games. Of course, we at Sequential Planet love both RPGs and board games, so it was easy to forgive the game being light on traditional gameplay. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector builds on that strong foundation with smart upgrades, new mechanics, deeper systems, and more excellent storytelling. Like the first game, Citizen Sleeper 2 excels at telling small, personal stories against a…

Strictly Limited and GIANTS Software announced Farming Simulator 16-Bit Edition, a new retro release designed for Mega Drive and Genesis-compatible consoles. The limited-edition collectible will launch in two formats: the Limited Edition on May 14, 2025, and the Deluxe Edition in July 2025. This retro adaptation follows the success of Farming Simulator 25 Collector’s Edition, featuring a cartridge-style PC release in November 2024. Positive feedback from fans and collectors encouraged GIANTS Software to develop a dedicated 16-bit version of the game, created in collaboration with Strictly Limited. Both the Limited and Deluxe Editions will be available exclusively through the Strictly…