Weekly Notes (April 28 - May 04): Builds, Cozy Catastrophes, and Audience Anomalies

Niklas Borglund

Author

2025-05-05

Happy Monday everybody! Last week's notes brought the bombshell drop of Oblivion Remastered and the breakout debut of Clair Obscur. This week? Not quite the same headlines — but still packed with interesting launches and promising Early Access graduates

🌍 New Feature: Audience Breakdown Is Live!

One of the hidden gems in Steam review data is the language reviewers choose when leaving feedback.

That language often reflects their region — and now, Niklas Notes surfaces it.

With the new Audience Breakdown feature, you can see how different language groups responded to a game:

• How many reviews they left
• What percentage of the player base they represent
• And their average rating

It’s a simple way to spot regional outliers or discover where your game is resonating most.

👉 You’ll find this new tab on every game dashboard.

This feature was originally suggested by someone in the community, and I loved the idea — so I built it. Got other ideas? Just reach out. I'm always listening.

🛠️ Deadzone: Rogue by Prophecy Games

One of this week's very top releases is Deadzone: Rogue. A fast paced roguelite FPS - I'm getting a bit of Halo mixed with Doom vibes when looking at the videos and screenshots.

It's in Early Access and it got a steady 83% positive. People love the gunplay and the general feel of the game, but they note issues with difficulty balancing and lack of content. Something they will most likely iron out during early access.

Interesting anomaly in core audience ⚠️

At the time of writing, this game has about ~1600 reviews on steam. Checking the audience breakdown, shows that the chinese speaking audience alone would give this game only 54% positive! And in this case, they seem to be around 20% of the players.

All the other marked languages seem to give it around 90%. What could it be? Server issues? Localization issues? Cultural issues? It’s not clear yet — but it’s a pattern worth tracking.

🛠️ Conquest Dark by Eldritch Sword Games

Conquest Dark dropped into Early Access: quick-hit ARPG runs wrapped in grim, ritual-fueled progression. Players seem to love the core gameplay loop, calling it both fun and addictive, and early signs point to strong class design and satisfying power growth.

But like many Early Access titles, the cracks are showing too. Players highlight a grindy feel, some late-game fatigue, and a unique bleed mechanic that’s become a pain point.

Still — the tone, the aesthetic, and the promise of “Diablo meets cosmic horror” has struck a chord.

🛠️ Infinity Nikki by Infold Games

Infinity Nikki is a fashion-focused adventure game set in a colorful open world, blending cozy sim activities with platforming, puzzles, and magical outfits that unlock new abilities.

But reception has been sharply mixed. With ~4,500 reviews and just 54% positive, what went wrong?

The sentiment analysis reveals the story: Besides bugs, technical issues and a lack of updates - the players are angry about the monetization practices of the game and how the developers managed the game.

🛠️ Games leaving Early Access this week

Several games exited Early Access:

• Ratopia: A strategy and simulation game. Some players enjoy the complex mechanics, but others find them poorly explained and confusing.
• MEMORIAPOLIS: A city builder focused on realism and spanning through the ages. Players like the depth, fun factor but dislike the lack of challenge and lack of replayability.
• Vellum: A fantasy co-op roguelike. Players love the gameplay, replayability and art. Although many notes its bugs, difficulty issues and repetitiveness.

🔥 Full List: Top Releases for April 28 – May 05, 2025

🔥 BONUS: Top Releases for all of April

Since it's a new month - I thought I'd also share the entire list of the top releases in April 2025.

Let me know what caught your eye this week — always curious what others are playing.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it — or support me on Patreon to help make this site sustainable and unlock exclusive features!