VCMI 0.99

This one I have been waiting for: VCMI 0.99! VCMI is a Free engine that runs Heroes of Might and Magic III and it's expansions. Probably one of the best games ever made, and now you can play it with loads of improvements! VCMI has support for high resolutions, has much smarter AI than the original, has advanced support for mods and a much better random map generator. And that is only for starters. If you are even remotely interested in the Heroes series or turn-based strategy games in general, this is a must to check out!

And epic battle taking place in Heroes 3-engine VCMI.

A Dark Place

A Dark Place is a first-person survival-horror game. It focuses on exploration, puzzles and stealth and has some very nice graphics. It doesn't have a release yet, but it looks so very promising I just had to mention it here. Have a look on it's project page for some additional awesome screenshots!

An almost tangible atmosphere in A Dark Place.

Nox Imperii 0.5.1

Did I mention space exploration game Nox Imperii has very active development? I was just informed that a new release has come out since my last post. 0.5.1 has a new looting system that seems to make piracy a more viable option (Nice, I like to play pirate!), AI ships have got individual names, player progression has been re-balanced, the shipyard UI has got improvements and it's possible to purchase  maps of surrounding systems. The usual list of smaller tweaks and bug-fixes is included as well. :) This game is certainly building up to a space adventure of massive proportions - one I'd like to sink my teeth into once I get the time.

Rich space backgrounds when exploring in Nox Imperii.

Endless Sky - 0.9.4

The very polished and well-made space exploration game Endless Sky has seen loads of development since I last mentioned it. The latest stable release is 0.9.4 and together with a few of the previous releases it comes with new ships and missions, lots of UI and engine improvements, mineable asteroids, tooltips, various improvements to graphics, sound and AI, pop-up mini-map when jumping, a dynamic economy system, new capabilities for weapons, and lots of other things. It has without doubt become a very impressive and fine game!

An epic space-battle taking place in Endless Sky.

OpenRA 20161015

Fancy a game of Command & Conquer, Red Alert or Dune 2000? Now might be the time, since the OpenRA project just released 20161015. New in this version is a much more advanced Content Installer, that can now download more content automatically as well as fetch it from more types of media. There are several new campaign-missions implemented and players in multiplayer matches are now awarded a total score based on several variables, making other things than kills and deaths count. There are also lots of fixes, re-balancing and other minor features and visual additions. It's a big release for an already very stable and complete game.

OpenRA's new score-screen in action. It certainly makes multiplayer feel more exciting and dynamic.

Burning trees is a new visual effect in OpenRA.

Nikki and the Robots

Nikki and the Robots is a retro-classic 2D-platformer inspired by the greats of the genre from the 80:s and 90:s. Besides cute and nice graphics it has a unique and interesting gameplay element: various robots in the game can be taken control of through hacking, and can then be used to solve puzzles or in other ways help the protagonist advance thorugh the stages. The game is at 1.0, so it should be finished and fully playable.

Very nice looking pixels in Nikki and the Robots.

Nox Imperii

Nox Imperii is a space exploration game that seems to be built upon the great Naev-project. Nox Imperii has many new things though, like random systems and planets, a dynamic trade system, a crew system and the ability for missions and events to affect and change the universe. Sounds really cool to me! Nox Imperii also has lots of new art and development seems highly active. I'll be bookmarking this one!

Fighting barbarian ships in Nox Imperii.

The Ur-Quan Masters

The Ur-Quan Masters is a Free version of the classic sci-fi game Star Control 2. This open-ended game has story-driven space exploration and a whole lot of content to discover. There are 25 different types of aliens to meet and interact with as well as loads of star-systems and planets to visit. Graphics are retro, but don't let that deter you if you fancy more modern stuff, this critically acclaimed game is very fun and well worth a try. The Ur-Quan Masters contains all data and features from the original, so it's just to download and play.

Earth as seen in The Ur-Quan Masters; not quite the color I remember...

OpenMW 0.40.0

The OpenMW project has reached another milestone in it's quest to implement the classic RPG Morrowind in a modern and Free game engine. It appears that the game is basically playable in this release and focus is now on polish, fixes and optimization rather than implementing features. Click here to have a look at the entire changelog as well as a few videos from the release.

A cosy tavern with a few visitors from OpenMW.

The Pandoran War - 1.0

The Pandoran War has reached a major milestone: 1.0! That's right, the game is now feature-complete and contains 67 main missions spread out through a campaign, 8 training missions, 5 extra-missions and loads of challenges and throphies. There is certainly a lot of content here, and it's a highly polished and very fun game. Well worth a try!

Giant spaceships and lots of cannons and lasers in The Pandoran War.