Gaming

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga

I'll say up front that it's a niche game and isn't for everyone. This is especially true because most of its aspects outside of the gameplay are pretty unremarkable. But if this is your thing, it's really your thing.

What makes it so special is that it's core gameplay loop is a very satisfying meld of Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle - essentially a turn-based strategy RPG where you control semi-autonomous squads instead of individual characters. And if that description made you perk up just by reading it, you need to go buy this game ASAP.

Now, if that description didn't immediately pique your interest, I'd check out some gameplay videos instead. Because it fills such an obscure niche, it's actually hard to know if you'll like this game just from a brief description. There's a good chance you've never played anything like this, and it will scratch an itch you never knew you had.

I'd personally recommend Rain World, although it has a reputation for being hard, and you'll probably die a lot so this game has to be approached with patience

If you like RW/DF, look into Factorio, Satisfactory, Oxygen Not Included. They're all sim/logistics games with different focuses. Factorio is more logistics/big factory minded. Satisfactory has more exploration. Oxygen Not Included is very physics based, you'll need to understand heat transfer by mid game.

I like Deep Rock Galactic a lot more than I thought I would. I don't usually like FPS's. It's coop only. There's mining, and the terrain is 100% destructible. The movement powers are amazing! I love the platform gun. Also, playing dress up with my chunky, ugly dwarf is the BEST.

Hardspace Shipbreaker is amazing. It's shorter than I want, but it's SO well done. I want more of it! You play a disassembler, taking ships apart and chucking the parts into their respective bins. However, the dystopian management has zero worker safety, so it's not so simple. The music is amazing. The voice acting, superb.

Pyre by Supergiant - You have likely heard of Hades by this studio, but Pyre is a whole different beast. It's basically fantasy basketball set in the underworld, with a variety of magical species with different abilities in the game. It also has (as is this studio's habit) absolutely stellar writing, music, and 3 dimensional characters.