Nate Hermanson

An in-game screenshot of Time Flies. A fly sits on a vinyl record atop a record player that has had its power switch flicked on.

REVIEW: Time Flies makes the most of its short life

Even as it brought a newly heightened sense of my own ever-ticking life clock, I found that Time Flies was time well spent.

Nate Hermanson

Aug 17 min read

An in-game screenshot of Wheel World. A cyclist with a white cap and a cropped red hoodie pushes their bike along as they walk away from a series of statues showing a variety of other cyclists, each with some glowing bike part.

REVIEW: Wheel World - A chilled out open world where your PR is the hill to conquer

Hopping into Wheel World did feel "just like riding a bike" — it was easy to slide into its world and fall into a practiced rhythm.

Nate Hermanson

Jul 237 min read

An in-game screenshot from Popucom. A split-screen view of a mini-boss fight, with two characters running in an outdoor stage with a bipedal monster made of various colored blobs runs at them. One of its legs is shorter than the other, having been shot by the players through the match-3 color shooting mechanic.

REVIEW: Popucom's a brilliant bubble blasting co-op bash

Popucom is an absolute delight and one of the best co-op games we've played in years. It stands atop the mountain alongside experiences like Split Fiction and Portal 2.

Nate Hermanson

Jul 187 min read

A collage of three images side by side. Left to Right: Key art for Eat the Rich, a bald naked guy carrying a bunch of coins and running from an angry mob; Backseat Drivers screenshot, a guy with brown hair in the back seat of a car closely inspecting a cassette tape; DuneCrawl screenshot, a little guy using a sword to slice through an enemy with a clay pot for a head.

Steam Next Fest: Party up & get goofy in these 3 multiplayer games with demos

Games ranging from 2 to 10 players: Our top multiplayer picks from Steam Next Fest!

Nate Hermanson

Jun 165 min read

The key art for the game Downhill. A young woman wearing a long coat with a furry collar stands at the edge of a hill overlooking a large city. Three suns sit above the peak of a giant castle.

Steam Next Fest Mini-Preview: Downhill's fourth wall-breaking shows a ton of promise

Anybody seen a fourth wall around here? I can't find it.

Nate Hermanson

Jun 146 min read

The collected key arts of the three games featured in this article. Ambrosia Sky, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream, and Generation Exile.

3 games from the PC Gaming Show you can (and need to) try today

Hands-on with some incredible indies on display at the PC Gaming Show 2025.

Nate Hermanson

Jun 96 min read

Key art for each of the following showcases (in two rows, left to right): Wholesome Direct 2025, Women-Led Games 2025, Latin American Games 2025, Southeast Asian Games Showcase 2025, Future Games Show Summer 2025, Frosty Games Fest 2025.

Six standout games from SGF's Saturday indie powerhouse block

What you may have missed amid nearly 300 indie games showcased on Saturday.

Nate and Julie

Jun 88 min read

A four panel collage of the key art images for four gaming showcases: Access-Ability Summer Showcase, Summer Game Fest, Day of the Devs, and BALL X PIT: The Kenny Sun Story.

Geoff Keighley and his three gaming showcase friends made for a hell of a day

Summer Game Fest is in full swing, and with 100+ games showcased in one day, we've never been more excited.

Nate and Julie

Jun 77 min read

The State of Play key art, with the PlayStation symbols in an artistic design and details about its date and time on June 4 at 2 p.m. PT.

PlayStation rejoins the week of summer showcases with a surprising and exciting State of Play

Suda51 is cooking again, Silent Hill f gets a release date, and 20-year-old classic Lumines unexpectedly gets a successor.

Nate Hermanson

Jun 45 min read

The MIX Summer Game Showcase key art. Four video game consoles with bodies descend on a city landscape.

Six indie highlights from the MIX Summer Game Showcase

Most of them have post-MIX Showcase demos out now!

Nate Hermanson

Jun 37 min read

The Summer Game Fest key art. It has one orchid-colored bubble at the center with text in the center: Summer Game Fest. Multicolored sands are the background, with beads or colored water droplets atop the sands.

Summer Game Fest 2025: June's showcase schedule

Live reacting to 14 Summer Game Fest events from June 3 to 8: Here's how to watch with us.

Nate and Julie

Jun 25 min read

An in-game screenshot of TMNT: Tactical Takedown. Michelangelo, an anthropomorphic turtle ninja with an orange hachimaki band around his eyes, stands triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air. He says: "There's nothing we can't do together, dude!" Donatello, an anthropomorphic ninja turtle with a purple hachimaki band around his eyes, beams back with pride. Behind their illustrated cutouts is the backdrop of a grid-based city street.

REVIEW: TMNT: Tactical Takedown turns beat-em-ups tactical without sacrificing any of the adrenaline

TMNT: Tactical Takedown is full of great ideas that, while only half-realized at times, make for an undeniably fun tactics experience for gamers of all levels.

Nate Hermanson

May 297 min read

An in-game screenshot of StarVaders. It depicts the game's combat screen. A wave of alien invaders descend downward through a tile-based grid. Two long snake-like aliens prepare shots that go straight forward and down two diagonals. Many of the invaders have blue shields around them. The player controls a red robot at the bottom of the screen by choosing from one of a few cards shown in their hand.

REVIEW: I never want to stop playing StarVaders

StarVaders burns bright and is no flash in the pan. I can't stay away from it and neither should you.

Nate Hermanson

May 217 min read

The key art of Every Day We Fight. Three soldiers stand on a pile of rubble, each wearing a yellow band somewhere on their body to signify their team. Two floating orbs and a giant monolith loom behind them.

Mini-Preview: Every Day We Fight feels like the evolution the turn-based tactics genre needs

More active than the usual tactics game, but in a way that preserves why people love the genre.

Nate Hermanson

May 76 min read

The key art for the game Despelote. A photograph of a city is tinged with a dark pink tone while black and white line art of kids playing soccer on the street is overlaid. There is a black and white flag of Ecuador, a group of people sitting around a TV in plastic chairs, and various other people milling about.

REVIEW: Despelote's part-game part-documentary speaks to the power of sports in community and simpler times

Ecuador, 2001: A boy, a ball and a country on the cusp of greatness.

Nate Hermanson

May 57 min read

An animated GIF of Wanderstop. It starts with a sword flying through darkness before cutting to the main character Alta wincing and shaking her head on a bench. She's got white hair done up with a yellow bandana and what looks to be a black leather jacket. It cuts to serene shots of nature and hanging pots before cycling again.

REVIEW: Wanderstop's therapeutic and tactile tea-making brought me to tears

Walked a chamo-mile in Alta's worn warrior boots.

Nate Hermanson

Apr 298 min read

An in-game screenshot of Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3. A man with short brown hair who wears a green t-shirt and a black bulletproof vest stands with his hands at his sides and he speaks nervously to a tiny raptor with a pistol. Their conversation goes: "Freeze!" "You freeze! I've got a gun!" "OH MY GOD YOU TALK."

REVIEW: Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 - A matchroidvania RPG about a fake game series represents the rage of an entire industry

When passionate folks fight for the marvelously strange ideas, for the oddball characters, and for match-3 games, a clever little project like Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 just might make it to your PC against the odds.

Nate Hermanson

Apr 227 min read

An in-game screenshot of Promise Mascot Agency. It depicts a conversation between Pinky, the severed finger, and Tofu, a giant block of Tofu. Pinky says: "We're all about making dreams come true and if your dream is to make a difference in people's lives and crush old men under your boot, we're here to help."

REVIEW: The stray mascots of Promise Mascot Agency gave me hope we'll survive 2025

The last place I expected to find hope for the nightmare year that has been 2025 is in the giant sparkly eyes of a severed pinky. But that's just the kind of world we live in right now.

Nate Hermanson

Apr 108 min read

An in-game screenshot of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza. On the deck of a pirate ship, various crew members pose for a photo. Some cross their arms, some raise a fist in glory. In the front, the game's protagonist Majima points at the camera. Next to him, a young boy stands with his hands at his waist, and his father stands next to him in a backwards cap raising his fist. A baby tiger sits off to the side as well.

REVIEW: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the definition of a side story... and that's not a bad thing

Being a pirate captain for a "short" 40 hours in the Like a Dragon universe is a dream I never knew I had.

Nate Hermanson

Apr 78 min read

A collage of key art images for four roguelike games: Ballardo (pool balls soaring on a green background), Desktop Survivors 98 (a "Clippy-like" sword with eyes on a desktop background), Wordatro (a lined paper background with star-shaped stickers), and Maze Mice (mice running from menacing cats with blue orbs floating near).

Steam Next Fest '25 Mini-Preview: Seeking the next Balatro amidst four unique roguelikes

Four Steam Next Fest roguelike demos that'll hook anyone who loves to survive enemy hordes or make number go up.

Nate Hermanson

Mar 27 min read

REVIEW: Time Flies makes the most of its short life

REVIEW: Wheel World - A chilled out open world where your PR is the hill to conquer

REVIEW: Popucom's a brilliant bubble blasting co-op bash

Steam Next Fest: Party up & get goofy in these 3 multiplayer games with demos

Steam Next Fest Mini-Preview: Downhill's fourth wall-breaking shows a ton of promise

3 games from the PC Gaming Show you can (and need to) try today

Six standout games from SGF's Saturday indie powerhouse block

Geoff Keighley and his three gaming showcase friends made for a hell of a day

PlayStation rejoins the week of summer showcases with a surprising and exciting State of Play

Six indie highlights from the MIX Summer Game Showcase

Summer Game Fest 2025: June's showcase schedule

REVIEW: TMNT: Tactical Takedown turns beat-em-ups tactical without sacrificing any of the adrenaline

REVIEW: I never want to stop playing StarVaders

Mini-Preview: Every Day We Fight feels like the evolution the turn-based tactics genre needs

REVIEW: Despelote's part-game part-documentary speaks to the power of sports in community and simpler times

REVIEW: Wanderstop's therapeutic and tactile tea-making brought me to tears

REVIEW: Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 - A matchroidvania RPG about a fake game series represents the rage of an entire industry

REVIEW: The stray mascots of Promise Mascot Agency gave me hope we'll survive 2025

REVIEW: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is the definition of a side story... and that's not a bad thing

Steam Next Fest '25 Mini-Preview: Seeking the next Balatro amidst four unique roguelikes

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