Weekly Notes (Jun 16 – Jun 22): Roots, Chinese Revenge Dramas & Co-op Chaos

Niklas Borglund

Author

2025-06-23

Hello everyone! Hope you had a good midsommar!

Last week we had a literal TON of releases and early access graduates. I'm actually joining the list of releases myself along with my colleagues at Lavapotion with the release of our latest faction - Roots!

Songs of Conquest - Roots by Lavapotion

Largest audiences: ~64% English, ~18% Russian, ~9% Polish

This is what I've been working on for the last 6 months! This DLC adds a new faction, Roots, to our turn based strategy game Songs of Conquest. It's the second faction DLC we've created - and this one was a blast to develop and to play. The mechanics encourage you to keep your units closer together on the battlefield - even when it’s risky.

This time around we could also re-use a lot of the code I wrote regarding locking content behind a DLC, which spared me from writing boilerplate all over again.

The DLC seems to be well liked, which makes us very happy. Around 90% positive at the time of writing.

If this looks like a game you'd enjoy, please check it out! :)

P.S. We also released the game on Nintendo Switch last week!

捞女游戏 by 前方工作室

Largest audiences: ~98% Chinese (Simplified)

It’s not often a game with no English support climbs all the way to the top of the charts - but this one did. 捞女游戏 is a narrative-focused interactive film with over 470 minutes of live-action footage and 38 endings. It's directed by a Hong Kong filmmaker named Hu Yaohui. You play as Wu Yulun, a man who was emotionally exploited and now goes undercover to take down the organization that targeted him.

At the time of writing, it's sitting at a 97% Overwhelmingly Positive rating across almost 15,000 reviews. Most players love the story and acting, though some mention technical issues or feel the game promises more interactivity than it delivers.

Don't know if there's much more to say since it's basically unavailable for players not understanding Simplified Chinese - but I thought it was interesting to highlight since it topped the charts this week.

PEAK by Landfall and Aggro Crab

Largest audiences: ~70% English, ~10% Russian

Just 2 months after the release of Haste, Landfall dropped this collaboration with Aggro Crab. This co-op climbing game is already an instant hit and very popular on Twitch. In just 6 days they sold one million copies.

Players praise the fun gameplay, co-op experience and visual appeal. That said, it's also getting hit with complaints about frequent crashes and connection issues.

Still, Landfall keeps showing how to make something that gets people talking - and playing.

FBC: Firebreak by Remedy Entertainment

Largest audiences: ~71% English, ~8% Chinese (Simplified), ~7% Russian

Remedy tries something new here with FBC: Firebreak – a co-op FPS set in the Control universe. It’s a break from their usual ultra story-heavy single-player experiences.

The reception so far is mixed. Players like the co-op gameplay and atmosphere, and there’s optimism about future updates. But many mention technical issues, lack of content, and missing communication tools - no in-game voice or text chat is a frequent complaint.

The game also has an interesting audience anomaly with Chinese (Simplified). Out of ~100 Simplified Chinese reviews (about 8% of the total), only 25% are positive. I haven’t had time to dig deeper yet, but my guess is the lack of communication tools hits harder there.

If Remedy can follow through on content and polish, there’s a solid foundation here.

Broken Arrow by Steel Balalaika

Largest audiences: ~41% English, ~22% Russian, ~21% Chinese (Simplified)

Broken Arrow is a modern military tactics game where you command hundreds of units and build custom army decks.

The reception is mostly positive with some clear caveats. People enjoy the unit variety, engaging mechanics, and developer presence. But the game takes hits for lacking solid single-player features, having server stability issues, and allowing cheaters to slip into multiplayer.

Chinese (Simplified) stands out with a 56% rating and is 20+ percent of the player base. Hard to say if it’s cultural expectations or technical problems driving that, but the dip is significant, and something the devs may want to address early.

⚔️ Early Access Graduates

• Supermarket Simulator - You manage a supermarket. Players love the addictive gameplay, relaxing vibe, and frequent updates. Some dislike the repetitive loop, clunky AI, and recurring bugs.
• SCUM - A hyper-realistic survival sim. Players enjoy the wide range of activities, realism, and strong community. Common complaints include bugs, balancing issues, and awkward zombie mechanics.
• Soulstone Survivors - An action roguelite game where players slay hordes of enemies. Players praise the customization, constant updates, and satisfying gameplay. Criticism focuses on grind, visual clutter, and lack of multiplayer.
• Rooftops & Alleys: The Parkour Game - An immersive parkour simulator. Players enjoy the movement, especially in co-op. They point out repetitive content, limited customization, and lack of variety.
• Len's Island - An open-world survival crafting game. Overall well liked, but recent reception (especially over the past 6 months) has been mixed. Players like the relaxing gameplay and vibe. QoL requests and clunky controls are common complaints
• Yaoling: Mythical Journey - A creature collecting Eastern fantasy RPG. Players love the art, strategic depth, and core gameplay loop. Interface issues, uneven difficulty, and shallow story hurt the experience.
• Cube Chaos - A Rogue-lite strategy game where players place cubes with unique abilities to defeat enemies. Players enjoy the chaotic mechanics and gameplay depth. The minimalist graphics divide opinion.
• Suit for Hire - A Top-down action shooter where you play as a skilled assassin completing dangerous contracts. Players compare it to “John Wick” and love the action. Some feel the 1.0 release is rough around the edges and needs tuning.
• Ark Nova - A digital version of the board game where you build a zoo. Players praise the faithful adaptation, solid UI, and deep strategy. The steep learning curve and occasional bugs are the main downsides.

Notable Mentions

Here are some games and demos that were on the top but didn't get its own section in the weekly notes.

• Date Everything! - (Choose Your Own Adventure. Psychological Horror. Visual Novel)
• Dead by Daylight: Five Nights at Freddy’s - (Survival Horror. Strategy. Action)
• Cast n Chill - (Creature Collector. Idler. Resource Management)
• Tower Wizard - (Idler. Clicker. Resource Management)
• Kindergarten 3 - (Choose Your Own Adventure. Interactive Fiction. Puzzle)
• REMATCH - (Action RTS. Real Time Tactics. Sports)
• RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army - (Creature Collector. JRPG. Detective)
• Victoria 3: Charters of Commerce - (Grand Strategy. Resource Management. Political Sim)
• BitCraft Online - (Open World Survival Craft. MMORPG. Base Building)
• Crime Simulator - (Open World. Simulation. Heist)
• A Building Full of Cats 2 - (Creature Collector. Hidden Object. Collectathon)
• Lost in Random: The Eternal Die - (Traditional Roguelike. Hack and Slash. Dungeon Crawler)
• After Inc: Revival - (Outbreak Sim. 4X. City Builder)

📊 Full List: Top Releases for June 16 - June 22 (2025)

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