Welcome to Digitally Downloaded’s weekly catch-up news feature, the catch-up coffee. With each issue I will bring you the best news that you may have missed. Grab the biggest mug you’ve got, fill it with your favourite brew, and catch up with us (and our favourite news anchor, Dee Dee)!
Cute crime poker drama Sunshine Shuffle launches later this month
Sunshine Shuffle is just adorable, to the point of squeeing over its characters. The game is a narrative poked adventure that features talking animals, each with criminal posts and adorable outfits. The Morning Shift is a group of working class creatures, would-be Robin Hoods who crossed the Fishie Mob. Most lived to tel the tale. As the story unravels, lean how the largest bank on the Eastern Seaboard was robbed in a single afternoon.
Win hands to earn tokens, and use those tokens to decode the S.S. Sunshine with new light fixtures, chairs, card decks, and more. Stare into the cold eyes of a 12-year-old kitten with nothing to lost to an original ska soundtrack. The deep neo-noir story is told with style, care, and the pain of hindsight. Unlockable conversations further reveal the story of the Morning Shift, and their lives before forming the heist crew.
Developed and published by Strange Scaffold, Sunshine Shuffle will be released for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch on May 24.
Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow also launches later this month
With last week being the first in the month of May, it makes sense that a bunch of games were announced as releasing later in the month… that’s just how it is! Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow is an atmospheric action adventure game also set to be released late this month for PC (consoles will happen later). The game follows Griffin as he is trapped in an unknown and unwelcoming world, with only his teddy bear to count on.
Griffin will need to solve puzzles and run away from scary monsters on his path to discovering there is more to the world than nightmares. It won’t be easy, as Griffin and his bear will traverse the expanse of both light and darkness, transforming the his memories into new feelings. The bear, Birly, can help out. He can be sent where Griffin cannot reach, like getting tossed over a high beam, running a tricky mechanism, or crawling into a tiny hole. Combined, the pair can move heavy objects, overcomes traps, and succeed at difficult challenges.
Developed by Frozen Line and published by Ravenage, Daydream: Forgotten Sorry will be released for PC via Steam/Epic/GOG on May 24. Console versions are planned for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
Learn more about We Love Katamari Reroll’s Royal Reverie part
The game is technically called We Love Katamari + Royal Reverie, so the Royal Reverie part is actually pretty important! Briefly, though, here’s what Katamari is about: rolling up stuff. Yep, that’s basically it. Roll up stuff to as big as you can! The series is super chill and cute, so I’m happy these Reroll titles are happening (the first was Katamari Damacy Reroll). In this case, there’s that added mode to wonder about. But wonder no more!
The Kind of All Cosmos grew up under the strict upbringing of Papa. Royal Reverie brings players back to that time, inspired by the first interlude movie of the main game that shows King as a child. Players will take on five challenges: mind, heart, sense, body, and spirit. Play through the stages as a young King, but also as Prince and his Cousins.
Developed and published by Bandai Namco, We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One in June 2 worldwide; the console versions launch in Japan a day earlier.
PS1-style mystery horror The Tartarus Key launches at the end of the month
I love me a good retro horror game. It doesn’t matter what numbers of bits there are, I just like that developers still use older styles to make games. The Tartarus Key is styles after PlayStation 1 graphics (think chunky); it’s a mystery horror game about a woman who wakes up in a strange mansions, with all doors locked by traps or bizarre puzzles. There are cameras everywhere, and she’s seeing… things… out of the corner or her eye. She’ll need to keep her wits about her to escape. Brains over brawn!
The game features three different endings, and digs into the hear of the mansion, its strange secrets, and the captor’s hold. Puzzles and challenges are similar to escape-the-room type games, but in unsettling scenarios. The gameplay relies entirely on these puzzles and the plot to get by, there’s no combat or chase sequences. (Which means no stealth! Score! I’m terrible at stealth.)
Developed by Vertical Reach and published by Armor Games Studios, The Tartarus Key will be released for PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One on May 31.
