Following up on their deck-building, roguelite hit, Monster Train, developer Shiny Shoe set their sights on making another roguelite; this time with a focus on turn-based mechanics and the ability to play with friends. Inkbound became available via Steam Early Access this past May and already showed a lot of promise. This past week it received its first free major update, "The Starship of Terrors," that added a bunch of new features and improved a number of things based on community feedback. We spoke with founder and CEO Mark Cooke about this update, along with inspirations for Inkbound and the challenges of balancing classes for solo and co-op play.

Inkbound, the new co-op roguelite from Monster Train developer Shiny Shoe, received a big update last week, titled "The Starship of Terrors." This was a significant milestone for the title as it not only added new content to the game - including a new character class, a new zone, a new daily challenge, and a new way to craft your ideal build via "trinkets" - but it also tweaked and refined a number of existing features; it's also entirely free.

Blackout Protocol is a newly-released roguelike from Ocean Dive Studio that combines elements third-person shooting, roguelike elements, and horror. Players take on the role of newly recruited security personnel for a corporation whose research base has been overrun by zombies and mercenaries. The game is built for 3-player online co-op, and it already plays really well, despite some balance issues.

A couple of years ago,  Finnish developer 10tons released DYSMANTLE, an action RPG with mild survival elements set in a zombie apocalypse. The studio is following up with DYSPLACED, a similar game in a new setting. This one sees players transported and displaced to a mysterious new world where they will battle Fortnite: Save the World-like mon...

Indie horror games can be a bit hit or miss. Sometimes, you end with some something truly imaginative and frightening. Other times, you get Holy Purge (yikes). We certainly hope that Eresys will fall into the first category when it arrives on Steam Early Access on April 20. This one allows up to 4 online players to become cultists who must work to push back an invasion of Lovecraftian horrors in a dark forest. That certainly sounds spooky!

We haven't had the full four player co-op crew together in a while, but no matter. Locke, Mike and Nick dove headfirst into Rift Loopers, a twin stick rogue-lite game that's part Vampire Survivors, and part Red Solstice. 

Daedalic Entertainment and developer Splitside Games call Fling to the Finish a racing game. It certainly is a racing game, but a platforming racer like Sonic R, not a kart racer. in Fling to the Finish, two local or online players control ball-like characters who are tethered by a rope and must work together to reach the end of each level, a process that ends up being riotously fun. This Steam Early Access game just got a new race type to enjoy as well as a progression system that ties everything together. Oh, and it's on sale through July 28!

Japanese developer HexaDrive has worked on plenty of games for big publishers, including titles like Super Bomberman R, Final Fantasy XV, and Okami HD. Now the studio is gearing up to unleash a PC game of its very own. VOIDCRISIS is a gorgeous "tower offense" game in which up to four players team up to pilot mechs and thwart mysterious alien invaders. It will launch on Steam Early Access at the beginning of August.

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles, the ball-themed 3D platformer from Exit Plan Games, has been available on Steam Early Access for a while now. Updates have seen the addition of new co-op minigames and huge campaign levels. The latest level, "Race to Space," is based on the real-life space race between the USA and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 60s. It's an absolutely massive level with lots for co-op and solo players to bang on about.

Almighty: Kill Your Gods is an action RPG from Versus Evil and developer RUNWILD Entertainment that launched on Steam Early Access in May. Despite the Early Access tag, the game already features truly impressive (perhaps even Monster Hunter-esque) graphics and online co-op. Almighty just got even mightier thanks to an update that adds a challenging subterranean Hollows realm to explore.

"Countryballs" is an art style/meme in which countries are depicted as flag-adorned balls. It's also the basis for Bang-On Balls: Chronicles, a Steam Early Access game that is also coming to Xbox later this year. Where else can 4 players team up online to roll and platform through historically themed levels? Bang-On Balls is a 3D p...

Mad Experiments: Escape Room, the escape room themed puzzle game from developer Play Together Studio, has made its way to Steam Early Access as it prepares for a full and final launch. As a press release states: “Invited by Professor Cheshire to his mysterious mansion, players are trapped in a room as subjects of mental tests. In groups or alone, players have 60 minutes to explore and find a way to escape from this strange place with its somewhat oppressive atmosphere.” Give us a group and sign us up.