____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hauled Back to Reality, But Still Gaming
Alas, the inevitable has happened. I have been dragged, kicking and screaming, back to the 9-to-5 grind — farewell, sweet freedom. I have returned to the land of spreadsheets and meetings that could have been emails. But I did promise a blog about the games that caught my eye at To The Moon Expo (TTM), and I intend to deliver.
Now, if I had any common sense, I would have focused my
attention on the upcoming titles featured in the Cozy Quest on Steam (which ran
from 17th to 20th November). It would have made perfect
sense, especially given that temperatures here in the UK are currently
plummeting faster than my motivation on a Monday morning. Winter isn't just
coming; White Walkers are aggressively hammering on my door wanting escape from
the Baltic blast, and we could all use some cozy vibes to warm us up.
To be fair, one of the games on my list is featured in the
Steam event, so I am officially awarding myself partial credit for being vaguely
topical.
Truth is, I wanted to shine a little spotlight on the some
of the titles in development that are at risk of slipping under people’s radars
while everyone else is distracted by big budget releases.
So, without further ado, let’s run through each game that stood out for me at TTM, in alphabetical order.
Cards on the Table (And Monsters in the Kitchen)
Look, I’ll be honest: I’m not exactly a card game aficionado,
unless we’re talking Texas Hold’em. This lack of natural talent was painfully
on display when I tried A Recipe For Survival at the expo.
However, since retreating to the safety of my own home and diving into the Steam playtest, I’ve had time to get to grips with the mechanics at my own leisure — without an audience judging my misplays. My understanding has increased significantly, though I’m still falling tragically short of the finish line. The demo runs to Day 7; I tapped out on Day 6 on Normal difficulty. But hey, every failure is just a learning opportunity, right? That’s what I tell myself as I hit the restart button for the fiftieth time. I keep going back for punishment, learning from my mistakes, and pretending I have a strategy.
The premise is simple: by day you’re a head chef, slinging cards to serve hungry customers. By night, those same customers transform into monsters whose strength depends on how well — or how disastrously — you performed during service. Suddenly, it’s a card battler. I think anyone who works in hospitality will say they’ve been battling monsters day and night for years.
But calling this “just a card game” would be underselling
it. There’s real depth here:
- Optimising
both day and night cycles to squeeze every coin of gold earnt.
- Deckbuilding
decisions that matter — choosing which cards to strengthen your deck for
service and battle.
- Spending
gold wisely, whether on new cards, restoring health, or grabbing those
temporary buffs that might just save your run.
Shy Penguin Studios is aiming for their game to come out of the oven in Q1 2026, but you can head over to their Steam page and join the playtest right now. Please, give it a go — if only to prove that you can do a lot better than me.
Tracks, Trains and Turf Wars
Dovetail Games—yes, the same crew behind the Train Sim
World franchise—are cooking up something wildly different. Forget the
meticulous sim mechanics; they’ve stripped things back and delivered Metro
Rivals, which they’re calling a “simcade” experience.
Picture a near-future New York, where the Metro system has
been overrun not by rats, but by gangs. Each defending their patch. Your goal?
To carve out your own underground empire. The vibe is less "mind the
gap" and more "mind the rival gang trying to run you off the
tracks".
The gameplay shifts the focus away entirely from roleplaying
a conscientious driver to pure raw speed. The controls are
simplified—accelerate, brake, and various QTE events. Your main objective is to
manage your speed, so you don't go off the rails—both literally within the game
and metaphorically in your own mind.
Now, confession time: I’m atrocious at Train Sim World. I cause delays that would make Southern Rail blush. Did I fare any better with Metro Rivals? No. No, I did not, but here’s the twist — I loved every second of it. The game is pure chaos, and my epic fails had me laughing out loud.
There’s no firm departure date yet, but Dovetail’s website hints at a 2026 release. When it does arrive, expect customisation options (because who doesn’t want a graffiti covered death train?), a single‑player campaign, and PvP modes to keep the madness rolling. Until then, I’ll continue to delude myself that my crashes were on purpose for comedic effect.
Planetary Paparazzo
Picture this: a cozy, lo‑fi space‑rover photography game.
Sounds relaxing, right? And it is… until I attempt a three‑point turn inside a
building, then, the vibe shifts instantly from "relaxing space adventure"
to "a scene of me repeatedly stubbing my toe in the dark ".
Roaming the planet in Rova was genuinely soothing.
The lo-fi music combined with an art style that reminded me of Sable
(the developers cited Moebius as a major inspiration, and it shows beautifully)
made for a very zen loop. The premise is simple: explore various biomes, snap
photos to catalogue the environment of its fauna and flora then upload them to
a terminal to complete quests. There are no ticking clocks, depleting oxygen
meters and no enemies. You can tick off tasks at your own leisure — or go completely
rogue and ignore your job to embark on your own journey just to see what is
over the next ridge.
My experience was mostly calming, as the rover is generally smooth to drive, but it can occasionally feel like you're trying to parallel park a tank. I quickly drove “as the crow flies” where possible, which turned out to be surprisingly therapeutic — especially when the rover caught some unexpected air.
Half‑joking, I suggested a jump button to maximise airtime.
The developer laughed and admitted they already had animations for 360 flips, but
they’re holding back until they can figure out a way to guarantee the rover
lands safely 100% of the time. They want to keep that “chilled, cozy” vibe and
upside-down rovers don’t give off that feel.
There’s no launch date yet, but the demo has been updated as
part of Cozy Quest. If you fancy a chilled planetary road trip, give it a spin.
When Silence Speaks Loudest
We are going to change tone momentarily whilst discussing
The Quiet Things, turning it more serious. The Quiet Things is an
autobiographical walking simulator that doesn't pull its punches. It covers heavy
themes such as grief, abuse, self-harm, and suicide.
I won’t go into too much detail regarding the plot. As the
strength of a walking sim lies entirely in its narrative and the way it feeds that
information to the player. Additionally, I’ve only seen a small fraction of what
is going to unfold — and even if I knew the whole thing, it’s not my story to
tell.
Playing it made me reflect on my own teenage years (which
feel like a lifetime ago now). It brought back memories of friends who were
dealing with some of issues mentioned earlier and reminded me just how
ill-equipped and out of our depth we were back then.
There’s no date for this true story to be heard, but there
is a demo on Steam if you want to experience it yourself. Just a heads-up: as I
said, please heed the content warnings. It deals with some incredibly difficult
topics which should be approached with care and the right headspace.
Caught in a Web
I’ll admit it — I don’t usually dabble in roguelikes.
They’re not in my wheelhouse, and I tend to steer clear. But at the event,
enough people told me I had to play Websy and the Time Rogues
that I caved.
And honestly? I’m glad I did.
Like many small indie projects, this is a labour of love developed
in their spare time. The focus so far has been on mechanics, and they feel
fantastic. A story is planned to tie everything together, but even in its
current state, the game shines. Bright, colourful visuals pull you in, and the
basics are easy to grasp — before long, you’re shaping your own playstyle.
I leaned heavily on upgrades to patch up my glaring weaknesses at first, then used them to bolster my strengths.
Once you get going, the movement is incredible — you can
really zip around with the swing ability. However, this requires quick reflexes
to get yourself out of trouble. There were times where I avoided taking damage
through what I can only describe as pure, blind luck. I genuinely wondered at
times: Was I controlling Websy, or was I just a passenger and Websy was firmly in
the driving seat?
There’s no planned release date yet, but I’m certainly
looking forward to seeing this develop over time. If you wish to swing in and
give it a try, there is an open playtest on their Steam page right now.
Rewriting History, One Case at a Time
Lastly is a point‑and‑click puzzle detective game with a
futuristic twist called Wrongly Accused. Humanity, once led astray by
AI, has collapsed and clawed its way back into a new civilisation determined
not to repeat history’s blunders. You work for the Agency of Historical
Accuracy — or AHA for short. I can only assume that in this timeline, Alan
Partridge eventually became President of the World.
Your job involves using the world’s last remaining AI
computer to recreate a virtual simulation of a past crime where an individual
was wrongly convicted. Think Minority Report (if they’d turned up late
to the crime) meets Quantum Leap’s Sam Beckett.
We already know who didn’t commit the crime, so it’s up to us as armchair detectives to work out the real culprit by:
- Interviewing
suspects.
- Scanning
environments for evidence.
- Interacting
with clues to uncover new leads.
Once you’ve gathered everything, the real detective work
begins. You categorise the evidence—what helped, what proves the original
suspect’s innocence, what ties a new suspect to the crime. Then you compile a
report outlining the who, why, and how. The next day, the game generates
feedback showing exactly what you nailed… and where you are wide of the mark.
It’s slated for Q1 2026, but if you want to pretend to be Sherlock Holmes right now, there is an open playtest on their Steam page.
Stay Cozy, Game On!
Honestly, I could have gone on. There were plenty of other
games I got my hands on at the convention that deserved a mention, but I wanted
to keep this list focused on the ones that really stood out — and make sure
there was a nice mix of genres in the spotlight. Variety is the spice of life,
after all.
As for what's next? I’m hopefully going to get
another blog post out next week. However, please accept this as a provisional
warning: I have a chaotic three-day stint at work coming up. It’s going to be
tiring, it’s going to be distinctly lacking in fun, but alas, it is necessary evil,
I suppose — gotta earn those fun tokens somehow. The plan is to look at
something I recently picked up on Steam and chat about how the definition of
“video game” has blurred in fascinating ways in recent years.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Drop a comment about any upcoming titles you’re excited for—whether you’ve tried them at events or stumbled across them on Steam. Until then, take care, stay warm, and most importantly… have fun gaming.
