Weekly Notes (Aug 18 – Aug 24): The Gamescom Effect and Corporate Satire

Niklas Borglund

Author

2025-08-25

Fairly slow week in terms of releases last week. I assume that it might be a sort of "Gamescom Effect" - all the attention is directed to what is being revealed in Cologne, making developers who are ready to press the release button opt to wait until its over.

Still, some interesting releases managed to break through the noise, from corporate ladder-climbing combat to atmospheric surfing adventures.

Stick It to the Stickman by Free Lives

Largest audiences: ~62% English, ~11% Chinese (Simplified), ~9% Russian

In a very whimsical, rag-doll physics way, you can alone or with a friend literally fight yourself up the corporate ladder.

It's connecting with players who appreciate its humor and players find the gameplay highly engaging and addictive, often leading to extended play sessions. The humor and satire get consistent praise, along with the unique stickman art style that sets it apart from other titles. The fun combat mechanics allow for creative play styles, and players appreciate the value for money.

However, some report minor technical issues like bugs and performance problems, though these don't significantly detract from the experience. The corporate satire clearly resonates with players looking for lighthearted fun.

The Rogue Prince of Persia by Evil Empire

Largest audiences: ~53% English, ~15% Chinese (Simplified), ~7% French

This is actually exiting Early Access. Usually I keep the Early Access Graduates in their own section, but I only found this one and it's from a well known franchise.

The Rogue Prince of Persia is a roguelite installment going back to the series' side scrolling roots. Players love the fluid movement and engagement. The soundtrack is consistently getting praise - and the game itself has improved it's total score over time. Looking only at the last months it's around 92% positive.

The critique it's been getting is regarding performance issues, that some find the story generic and the levels can be repetitive.

VOID/BREAKER by Stubby Games

Largest audiences: ~77% English, ~7% Chinese (Simplified), ~5% Russian

A fast-paced first-person shooter where players are trapped in a relentless cycle of combat against a hostile AI. Players appreciate the fast-paced gameplay that keeps them engaged and entertained. The gunplay and combat mechanics get frequent praise for being satisfying and responsive

However, quite a few mention balancing issues, particularly regarding enemy difficulty and weapon effectiveness. Players note limitations in content and polish that may affect the experience, and some find enemy designs repetitive.

With over 90% positive at the time of writing, they seem to have gotten a good start for their Early Access phase.

纸房子 by 开心茶房

Largest audiences: ~100% Chinese (Simplified)

A narrative-driven game set in a small city, featuring multiple characters and endings that tackle themes of violence and mental health issues. The game supports ONLY Simplified Chinese, and it's gaining some popularity. It's more of a hunch than anything, but I get the feeling that narrative heavy games like this has the opportunity to do quite well with this audience.

The other game that comes to mind is 情感反诈模拟器 - which was one of the most popular games among Simplified Chinese speakers in Q2 2025.

Players praise this game's ability to evoke strong emotions through its narrative and character arcs. The character development gets consistent praise - players connect deeply with their stories. The art and visual design is praised for its beauty and effectiveness in conveying the story's themes, along with quality soundtrack and realistic themes that resonate with players' personal experiences.

Sword of the Sea by Giant Squid

Largest audiences: ~72% English, ~6% Chinese (Simplified), ~5% French

An atmospheric surfing adventure from the creators of ABZÛ and Journey, where players surf across magnificent waves of sand and water on an epic quest to restore a lost ocean.

Players consistently praise the game's breathtaking art style and graphics, enhancing the overall experience. The incredible soundtrack gets highlighted as a standout feature that adds emotional depth.

However, several players report significant performance issues, including lag and poor optimization that detract from the experience. Many mention the game's brief length as a drawback considering the price, and some feel the gameplay lacks complexity and depth for long-term engagement.

Up next on Niklas Notes

When checking the review analysis of a number of games, I noticed that one data point is missing. Upvotes! Right now we can see the reviews, but we don't get a feel for how many clicked on it, basically saying - "Hey, I agree with this!"

Still a work in progress, but I like where it's going. Not too fond of the color choice or the wording, but it will accumulate the analyzed reviews' votes and summarize them on the page like this.

Custom Reports

I've been able to do this using my own scripts for a while, but one thing that I've been wanting to give for a long time is custom analyses for backers.

It's quite powerful to be able to isolate a specific audience, a specific time period, just the negative reviews or all of them combined.

The downside is that it's quite slow. So once I'm done with the UI/UX surrounding it, I will work a bit on the performance before I release it live.

Things will likely be slowing down a bit

I've been working quite a lot lately on adding features to Niklas Notes - both large and small. I love having a project like this where I can provide something useful to the community and to myself. Trying to find out new and creative ways to show and present data has become a bit of an addiction lately - and it's a lot of fun!

However! My wife and I are welcoming a new baby boy to our family quite soon, which I'm most excited about :)
I will keep writing and updating these weekly blog posts, fixing small bugs & adding QoL features, but the work on adding large features will slow down a bit.

Full List: Top Releases for August 18 - 24 (2025)

And that's it! Thank you for reading!

Stay tuned! If you enjoyed this, feel free to share it with someone who you think it'd bring value to - or get your hands on the advanced & visual search (and other features) by supporting me on Patreon.