Video Games
More Game Boy-Styled Horror in ‘The Third Shift’
Way back at the start of June, we mentioned a new Game Boy horror game you can play for free called Deadeus. Leave it to the crowd over at itch.io to have another one in the works with Teebowah Games’ The Third Shift.
While not exactly a Game Boy game (more “a Game Boy styled horror game”), The Third Shift is certainly styled to look like it belongs on Nintendo’s beloved grey brick. The story for the game is simple: You are the new employee at the Roanoke Museum of History and Wonder. You have to earn your paycheck. Switching between first and second/third person, you must watch your stamina and sustain your mental faculties as you patrol the halls and complete your third shift.
The Third Shift is still in development at the moment, but you can download the demo, either for PC or for Android devices. The demo contains about an hour’s worth of gameplay, with a good combination of horror and puzzle-solving.
Props to DreadXP for finding this one.
Video Games
Demo Now Available for First-Person Action Title ‘Vampire Hunter: Nightrise’, Coming July 14 [Trailer]
Over the Moon Games has announced that their upcoming first-person title Vampire Hunter: Nightrise will launch on Steam on July 14. You won’t have to wait until Steam Next Fest next week to get a chance to get your vampire slaying fix in, as the game’s demo is available now.
Touted as “Castlevania meets Tunic,” Nightrise puts players into a vampire’s castle with a single goal: reach him before nightfall. Of course, it’s easier said than done, since you’ll be needing to deal with the castle itself. Rotating fireplaces, moving bookshelves, watching portraits, and hidden passages are open from the start, but they only give way once the player understands how the place works. No keys, only knowledge.
Meanwhile, despite not having a whip, you’re equipped with something just as cool in a stake launcher that pins enemies to walls. You can also fire stakes through flame to ignite them, and even turn the castle’s own furniture into ammunition.
Underneath it all, the player’s faith is a major gameplay mechanic, functioning as as a literal resource that the castle constantly tempts them to trade away for power, quietly shaping how the story ends. As your conviction weakens, the castle’s influence grows stronger. You’ll have to manage faith as carefully as ammunition.
“In Nightrise, almost everything is open to you from the very beginning, if you know how to reach it,” explains Over the Moon Games’ John Warner. “There is something deeply rewarding about learning to overcome an obstacle instead of just finding a key. It creates a real sense of power and wonder. We took huge inspiration from Tunic in that respect, and from Outer Wilds.”