Welcome back to This Week In Games Australia! This week: an anomaly. For whatever reason, every major publisher with a game to launch in the last week of July has become very interested in Friday, July 29. Indeed, this coming Friday is so overloaded with games that it’s hard to remember the last time a week was this bottom-heavy. From Xenoblade Chronicles 3 to Valve Index hardware restocks, this week has it all.
July 28
Blastronaut (PC)
Blastronaut is a 2D building and exploration game in the vein of Rimworld or Terraria, but with what appears to be many more lasers. This one hadn’t crossed my radar before today, but has certainly piqued my interest. I’ll be grabbing this one to check out over the weekend, I think.
Valve Index (VR)
A PSA in case you’d like to secure one: Valve Index stock is back at EB Games this week. You can get the headset on its own, the headset bundled with a spare controller, or the complete kit with base station.
July 29
Digimon Survive (NS, PS4)
As entries in the series go, Digimon Survive is a bit of a different beast. A genre mashup of visual novel elements with grid-based tactics fights, it’s a title the Digimon faithful have been waiting on for some time.
Lawnmowing Simulator: Landmark Edition (PS5, PS4)
If PowerWash Simulator got you in the mood for more digital yard work, Lawnmowing Simulator: Landmark Edition is coming to scratch your lawn care itch. The Landmark Edition contains two DLC packs: the Ancient Britain pack, and the Dino Safari pack. If, however, you’d prefer to try the base game, it’s going free on the Epic Games Store on Friday. The base game is also available on Game Pass for console, Cloud and PC.
Sweet Transit (PC)
I played the demo for Sweet Transit during the recent Steam Next Fest period. What I found was a game that felt a lot like Anno 1800, if the primary mode of transportation (and indeed interacting with the world) was through rail infrastructure. It’s an interesting premise, and I’m keen to dig into it a little more deeply.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (NS, PS4, XBO) (Retail)
Though the game has been out digitally in Australia for a few weeks now, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is now getting a local launch at retail as well. If you’d like a boxed copy for posterity, now you can grab one.
The Sims 4: High School Years (PC)
You might be thinking to yourself “this seems like something Ruby is going to absolutely love,” and you’d be right. My understanding is that Ruby intends to use this expansion to create horrible goblin teenagers and send them off to boarding school for someone else to deal with. Look forward to hearing about her adventures on the site in the near future.
Xenoblade Chronicles (NS)
Whether it’s accurate or not, I’ve always thought of Xenoblade Chronicles as a series with a small though dedicated fanbase. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 feels like it might be the game that finally cuts through because I’m seeing a significant swell of interest in this game. JRPG lovers need only apply.
Yacht Mechanic Simulator (PC)
You know I love a needlessly detailed job simulator, and my oh my, have we hit paydirt this week. We’re gonna strip some yachts down, pull them apart, and put them back together in the service of the kinds of obscenely wealthy people who would own a huge yacht. I will do my part by sabotaging all yachts I am asked to fix and sending them back out on the water in the hope that they will sink within minutes. I will turn this game into Billionaire Just Desserts Simulator or perish nobly in the attempt.
And that’s it for This Week In Games Australia! See anything you like this week? Are you picking anything up? Did we miss anything you think we should have included? Are you a local Aussie dev with a game we could drop into the list? Let us know in the comments below.
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