We’re well into the third decade of the 21st Century, everything is accelerating, and why shouldn’t game developers’ creativity keep up with the established pace?
Early access not only offers players a convenient insight into what’s going on with the title they all have been so diligently waiting for, but also provides devs/publishers with a batch of pre-impressions (the game isn’t officially released, so we cannot name them first impressions) as well as the next tranche of funding which helps them dev the game to its final stage.
Sometimes, though, games in pre-beta are so absolutely riveting, they are bound to become hits. Anyway, cutting to the case, here are 10 best early access games all of you should look into right away!
Lethal Company
| Release date: | 2023-10-23 |
| Genre: | Coop |
| Developer: | Zeekerss |
So here we have a game which craftily exploits the exploitation trope, upon which it was based.
We work as scavengers for nameless corporation known only as The Company, and sell scrap to meet the profit quota.
We get to rummage through facilities on various abandoned moons, avoiding many hazards in the likes of unpredictable weather conditions, nightmarish monsters lurking in the murky crevasses, shady corridors, etc. What really makes the game, though, is its atmosphere and the genuine team-oriented character. Clunky, cel-shaded graphics and glitch-like animations only add to its one-of-a-kind atmosphere of don’t-give-any-FAXX attitude.
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Phasmophobia
| Release date: | 2020-09-18 |
| Genre: | coop |
| Developer: | Kinetic Games |
Another co-op horror game on our list, yet completely different from its predecessor as regards overall gameplay experience.
Ever wondered how would it feel to experience a paranormal close encounter of the third kind? What genuine ghost busters go through when they’re after some malicious banshee? Or what’s it like to actually be inside one of Insidious movies?
Well, wonder no more, because Phasmophobia is here and will raise a hair on your head. Use the professional ghost investigator equipment to nail down what kind of abomination haunts particular places. Nightvision cameras, EMF meters and other contraptions help you with your task of finding evidence of paranormal activity in several different locations. Did we mention the sound design is an absolute blast!?
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Voyagers of Nera
| Release date: | TBD |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Treehouse Games |
We leave the shadowy corridors with ghosts playing hide ’n seek, and embark on a journey into the Nera, an oceanic world full of sun and vibrant colors, where we need to govern the newly formed island, and bring peace to the unstable water masses.
Graphic-wise, Voyagers of Nera has a really addictive Avatar-ish vibe that gets you hooked on pretty easily. If you’re up for an outstanding adventure in the water world full of spirited islands, villages on the verge of peril, and picturesque yet dangerous archipelagos, then Voyagers of Nera is the game you really should put on your “to-play” list.
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Cyber Knights Flashpoint
| Release date: | 2023-10-17 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Trese Brothers |
Fancy a game which spells “full-blown tactics” with capital letters?
Cyber Knights Flashpoint is exactly a title like that! Complex, evolving characters of members of your infiltration team, extremely branched out skill trees, and tons of other modifiable details and options, creates a unique gameplay.
There’s a lot to do before the actual heist too. You need to decide who to bribe, and with whom to trade favors to make your incoming mission less encumbering. Some say it resembles a lovechild of XCOM and Shadowrun. We say, go play it and judge for yourself!
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Witchfire
| Release date: | 2023-09-20 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | The Astronauts |
The world is at war with witches and their unholy machinations are to be eradicated once and for all by the Papal one-man army, a witch hunter called Preyer (how wonderful a wordplay!), who sets out on a mission to retrieve an artifact which can turn the tide of the conflict.
Clearly being a spiritual successor to a 2004 hit by People Can Fly studio, Painkiller, Witchfire offers a wild variety of kick-ass weapons, which our witch hunter receives courtesy of Papal engineers/sorcerers. The list of adversaries to slay is amazing. The same goes with the game difficulty, which is rather demanding, so make sure you gear up well in your charterhouse, look through the magic mirror to update your arsenal regularly, and cross your fingers.
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Zero Sievert
| Release date: | 2022-11-15 |
| Genre: | |
| Developer: | CABO Studio |
Become an agile run-and-gun scavenger of relics, equipment and other useful stuff in the world whose natural order has been eradicated by the nuclear apocalypse and its wildlife mutated beyond recognition.
Your safe house is the Bunker where you may apply the scavenged items in many different ways, i.e. to improve your arsenal, trade the loot, etc. Explore the procedurally generated maps wisely, for you never know what might hide behind the bushes. A top-down perspective and a pixel art graphics make this shooter a real-deal Stalker, but with weapons way bigger than their bearers.
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Satisfactory
| Release date: | 2020-06-08 |
| Genre: | Building |
| Developer: | Coffee Stain Studios |
Now, that’s a fancy take on tycoon games, for we rarely see any with a first person perspective.
In Satisfactory you are to become a space engineer/entrepreneur who is to build a gargantuan factory on an alien planet full of resources.
In order to make your factory a “satis” one ( 😉 ), there are many causal dependencies to be learned and utilized on your part. An example? Be our guest. Your smelter is lagging because too much iron ore is being loaded into it via a conveyor belt connected to your automatic miner? Why don’t you build another smelter and use a conveyor splitter? And out of the sudden, it’s like that with everything! The snowball effect it generates really keeps you occupied not only as an engineer but also a janitor, production optimization specialist, logistician, etc.
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Kerbal Space Program 2
| Release date: | 2023-02-24 |
| Genre: | |
| Developer: | Intercept Games |
How many of you have ever wanted to become an astronaut? I bet quite a few. Now, how many of you have ever dreamed of becoming a head of space agency?
Well, thanks to Kerbal Space Program 2, you’ll definitely reconsider your dreams! Build rockets, test the propulsion engines, collect data for the R&D department to improve your know-how on the fuselage construction, deploy your astronauts to the spacewalk missions. Finally, devise alternative drives straight from the aeronautics history, and aim for the stars, literally!
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Windblown
| Release date: | 2020-08-28 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | 5 Lives Studios |
When a fast-paced action of Sonic the Hedgehog seems like a sloth playing chess, you should know something fabulous is in store.
And, boy, some fabulous thing it is! You are a Leaper, a lightning-fast warrior of the floating island world called The Ark, which is threatened to get devoured by an ominous Vortex.
A sparkling cel-shaded graphics, hyper-fast action, colors so vibrant they verge on fluorescence, there’s nothing that would discourage you from NOT playing the game! So become the quickest Leaper and the ultimate warrior with the deadliest weapon there is. Beware, though! Mastery requires sacrifices, and you will sacrifice a lot. Including your life. Again and again…
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Shadows of Doubt
| Release date: | 2023-04-24 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | ColePowered Games |
Combine a protagonist in the vein of Philip Marlowe, Minecraft-like graphics, and a procedurally generated world, and you’ll get the gist of what our last early-access game on the list is all about.
Set in the 1979 hyper-industrialized version of the US, Shadows of Doubt is a game in which you are a private dick who solves not only various murder cases but also side investigations.
Being literally a detective simulator, Shadows of doubt allows your investigative skills to shine brighter than the supernovae, offering a nice blend of freedom of choice, improvisation and deduction. Are you low on lock picks? Go check washing machines in the local laundromat for hairpins. Don’t know if someone is in their apartment? Kneel down and peek under the door to see if the light is on. The culprit’s lips are sealed and all the persuasion fails?
Break their fingers and they’ll squeal. There are literally hundreds of options to use, and the feeling of ensuing immersion is simply incredible. Cast away any shadows of your doubts whether to play it or not! Do it now! After all, the crimes aren’t going to solve themselves, are they?
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We’re more than sure the above list of early access games will definitely catch your attention. Some of the titles are already a rock-solid material, others need more polishing. With your feedback, they will turn into smashing hits, without—they might fade into oblivion. Wait no more and fetch them at our marketplace now.