Leikir Studio’s Synergy may at first glance look like another entry in the well-tread city-building genre, but spend a few hours with it and you’ll discover a game that both honors the genre’s traditions and thoughtfully redefines them. It’s a beautifully rendered, mechanically rich experience that goes beyond the standard loop of gathering resources and expanding territory. Instead, Synergy asks you to slow down, look closer, and learn — not just about your citizens and their needs, but about the very world they inhabit.

Great mechanics boosting an already great game

At its core, Synergy does follow the beats fans of city builders will recognize: construct buildings, balance food and housing, keep your people healthy and productive. But its most distinctive mechanic — studying — sets it apart in a significant way. This isn’t a game where you simply click through a tech tree and watch numbers go up. Instead, you’re building a city on a completely alien world, and that means nothing is known. Every plant, rock, and mineral has to be carefully researched. What does this purple shrub do? Why is this strange rock formation killing the vegetation around it? How can we harvest this plant without causing its population to collapse?

This approach to research brings an unexpected depth and sense of responsibility to your decisions. Harvesting too aggressively or ignorantly can lead to the extinction of a useful plant species, severely impacting your supply chains. Some plant species or minerals may hinder other species’ growth, meaning you might need to plan around — or even remove — certain invasive fauna to ensure your agricultural districts thrive. It’s a brilliant mechanic that not only reinforces the game’s themes of sustainability and adaptation but also creates a satisfying gameplay loop that constantly pushes you to explore and understand.

You’re not alone, in a good way

Studying doesn’t stop at your immediate surroundings either. To accompany your researchers in the city, you can also send out expeditions to investigate new regions. These trips are more than just fast travel events — they require careful planning. You must ensure the group has enough supplies to survive the trip, while still leaving enough capacity to carry back whatever they find — relics, resources, ancient tablets, as well as establishing trade routes with nearby settlements. These expeditions are an exciting way to break up the slower pace of city life and bring a sense of adventure to the game’s otherwise grounded rhythm.

Visually stunning

The visual presentation of Synergy deserves special mention. The hand-drawn art style is absolutely stunning — every building, every plant, every map element looks like it was lifted from a Moebius comic or a classic science fiction illustrated novel. The world feels organic and otherworldly, yet lived-in and thoughtful. There’s a peaceful serenity to it all, even when things start to get hectic. The UI is clean and non-intrusive, and the sound design — from the ambient environmental sounds to the tranquil soundtrack — ties the entire aesthetic together beautifully.

That said, this gorgeous visual direction does come with one minor compromise: you can’t rotate around your city. In most 3D city builders, the ability to rotate the camera is essential for planning and navigation. Here, due to the 2D nature of the art and how each element is drawn to fit a specific perspective, the camera is locked. While this decision is completely understandable given the style, it can sometimes be frustrating when you’re trying to place buildings just so, or when taller structures obscure smaller ones behind them. It’s a small price to pay, though, for the unique visual charm Synergy delivers.

My conclusion

All in all, Synergy is a breath of fresh air in the city-building genre. It doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel entirely, but the way it rethinks environmental interaction and research injects a surprising amount of life into the experience. It’s not just about expanding — it’s about learning, respecting, and coexisting with your environment. The sense of discovery and stewardship that comes from studying the land around you is unlike anything else in the genre right now. If you’re a fan of city builders and looking for something that challenges you to think differently about how you manage your resources and surroundings, Synergy is absolutely worth your time.

Bionic Bay is one of those rare platformers that immediately captivates not with words or exposition, but through pure atmosphere, smart design, and a deep sense of place. Developed by indie studio Mureena, the game drops you into a hauntingly beautiful dystopian world, and trusts you to figure out the rest. From its opening moments, Bionic Bay establishes itself as a visual and mechanical standout in the genre.

A beautifully eerie atmosphere

The first thing that hits you is the art style—striking, moody, and full of texture. The environments are a fusion of organic decay and machine ruin, like rusted tech part of a living being. Lighting plays a massive role in setting the tone. Subtle glows, dynamic shadows, and radiant flares create this eerie stillness that both unsettles and mesmerizes. What’s even better is that the game knows when to give you space. Between sequences of tight, on-point platforming, Bionic Bay lets you breathe—often placing you in scenic, quiet moments where you can just soak in the backdrop. These moments aren’t just visual flourishes; they’re emotional punctuation.

Incredibly memorable puzzles

Mechanically, the game is deceptively simple. You’re not handed a massive toolkit or flashy powers. The standout mechanic is the “swap” ability, letting you switch places with designated objects in the environment. It sounds straightforward, and it is—but the level of creativity in how the game uses this is just outstanding. Each new environment doesn’t just introduce new challenges—it teaches you new ways to see the ability. The pacing is absolutely nailed. Nothing feels forced or out of place. It’s one of those games where the learning curve feels invisible, like you’re discovering rather than being taught.

What surprised me most was just how clever the platforming puzzles are. They don’t just test reflexes; they engage your brain without ever becoming frustrating. The physics-based nature of movement adds another layer to it all—momentum matters, and positioning becomes key. Yet nothing ever feels unfair. There’s a natural rhythm to how difficulty ramps up, and the game is careful not to overstay its welcome in any one idea.

It was difficult to find a fault

As for complaints, I have very few—and they’re nitpicks more than real issues. One has to do with the checkpoint system. While it’s generous (which can be a good thing), it’s sometimes a little too forgiving. In a few spots, I found myself brute-forcing a solution just to experiment, and my lifeless body would trigger a checkpoint… effectively bypassing the puzzle altogether. It’s a rare issue, but when it happens, it slightly undercuts the satisfaction of solving a well-crafted section.

The second critique is more of a heads-up: the multiplayer mode, while a cool addition, is better saved for after you’ve finished the main story. It includes speedrun challenges and leaderboard segments that are, in essence, slices of the actual story levels. Jumping in too early can spoil some of the environmental reveals or clever platforming moments. It’s not a huge issue, but it did take a bit of the magic away seeing a late-game level before I’d earned my way there. So yeah—play the story first, then dive into multiplayer.

My conclussion

Overall though, Bionic Bay is a triumph. It’s a masterclass in environmental storytelling, minimalist design, and mechanically rich platforming. It respects your time, rewards your curiosity, and most importantly, it feels incredible to play. Whether you’re here for the art, the puzzles, or just the vibes, there’s something truly special about this game. For fans of Inside, Black The Fall, or Planet of Lana, this is an easy recommendation—but even if you’re new to the genre, Bionic Bay is a great place to start.

A Lonely Descent into the Skies

In a genre teeming with survival games set in oceans, forests, and alien planets, Forever Skies carves out a unique identity by setting its story far above the Earth—among the rusted spires and crumbling remains of a planet long since smothered in toxic dust. Earth has fallen to ecological collapse, and humanity has retreated to space. Generations later, you return as a lone scientist with a mission: to understand what happened, to recover what was lost, and, perhaps, to find a cure. Alone or with friends.

But you’re not descending into a world full of people or guidance. You come back alone, and that isolation is felt. It’s in the empty corridors of ruined buildings, the howling winds beyond the hull of your airship, and the quiet that stretches out between destinations. Forever Skies doesn’t just simulate survival—it embodies solitude, wonder, and vulnerability in a setting that’s both breath-taking and unnerving.

A Ship That Becomes a Home

At the heart of Forever Skies is a concept that immediately sets it apart: a fully customizable flying airship that serves as your base, your lab, and your lifeline. You begin with the bare minimum—a cockpit, a balloon, and a dream. But with every journey into the ruins, every cache of resources found, your ship grows. You add research stations, gardening plots, power modules, decorations—each upgrade unfolding a new layer of depth and personal attachment.

This is not just about upgrading gear or stockpiling loot. The airship becomes a deeply personal space. Its modular design lets you choose form and function, with every extension serving as a reflection of your playstyle. Whether you prioritize self-sufficiency, exploration, or aesthetics, your ship will grow with you. It never feels static—it’s a living, floating representation of progress and perseverance. One of my favourite moments was finding an old, worn poster that I could bring back to my ship. Over several hours I found myself surrounded in posters that reminded me of the ruins I explored to get them, a small touch and yet it made me so happy to be a feature.

Exploration with Weight—Literal and Emotional

Where other games might focus on horizontal movement or undersea diving, Forever Skies demands vertical thinking. You’re constantly ascending towers, descending into ruins, and leaping across the void. The physicality of exploration is one of the game’s defining traits. There’s a real, visceral tension every time you leap from your airship to a distant ledge, knowing that a misstep could mean a plummet into the toxic haze below.

And the world isn’t empty. New threats have emerged in the sky, including airborne predators that can attack your ship if you’re not careful. The first time a warning takes you attention off the cockpit as a creature closes in on your home, it’s a chilling moment—a quick glimpse at the fact you may not be alone, but not in the comforting sense.

Despite its beauty, the game never lets you feel fully safe. The ruins are weathered, the ‘dust’ is thick and suffocating, and the atmosphere is deadlier the lower you go. For players used to the pressure of deep water, Forever Skies offers an familiar kind of anxiety.

A Story Told Through Silence and Scars

One of the most impressive evolutions since Early Access is how Forever Skies handles its narrative. Rather than relying on heavy exposition or constant dialogue, it trusts the player to pay attention. The story is etched into data logs, carved into derelict structures, and hinted at in the very design of the world.

This minimalist approach works in the game’s favour. You’re not being dragged through someone else’s story—you’re uncovering a shattered history and piecing it together yourself. And as you research the past and adapt to the present, the question lingers: is there a future to be found?

Amidst the desolation, there is a moment of warmth. At a certain point in your journey, you gain a small, charming companion. It not much, but its presence changes everything. The sense of loneliness dulls just enough to make space for reflection. In solo play especially, this companion serves as a gentle reminder that you’re still human—that even here, at the edge of the world, connection matters.

From Early Access to Full Potential

Players who were part of the Early Access period will find that Forever Skies has expanded significantly. The crafting systems are deeper, the biomes more varied, and the threats more dynamic. Most importantly, the narrative has matured from background lore into something with momentum and emotional weight.

The developers at Far From Home have clearly listened to feedback. Performance improvements, new systems like disease research and ship power management, and added narrative content all contribute to a version of the game that feels complete—not just technically, but emotionally.

Final Verdict

Forever Skies stands as a bold and elegant entry into the survival genre. It doesn’t try to compete with the fast-paced chaos of PvP survival or the crowded silly co-op experiences of similar titles. Instead, it offers something quieter, deeper, and more reflective: a solitary journey through beauty and ruin, driven by discovery and sustained by curiosity.

It’s a game that trusts you to take it slow, to get lost, and to find meaning in the silence. For those who love exploration, customizable bases, and stories told through the environment rather than exposition, this is a game that deserves your time.

Even if the skies make your knees weak.

Monaco 2 arrives over a decade after the cult-classic Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, and it’s immediately clear that this sequel isn’t just a rehash of what worked before. Developed by Pocketwatch Games, Monaco 2 keeps the heart of the original—a thrilling blend of stealth, strategy, and chaos—but moves the entire experience forward with a shift to 3D, procedural levels, and even more dynamic heist scenarios.

What’s Monaco?

At its core, Monaco 2 is still all about pulling off elaborate heists with a crew of specialists. Each character has a unique ability that can completely alter how a job plays out. Whether you’re sneaking in as a master of disguise, disabling security systems as a hacker, or causing distractions with a companion dog, your team composition matters. The game rewards creative problem-solving and improvisation, particularly when things go off the rails mid-mission (which they often do).

The most noticeable change from the original is the transition from top-down 2D to a 3D isometric viewpoint. This is more than just a cosmetic upgrade—it adds a new dimension (literally and figuratively) to gameplay. Verticality becomes a real consideration; players can now navigate different floors and elevations, which opens up complex infiltration paths and new lines of sight for both players and AI guards. It makes the world feel richer and more tactical, while still retaining the sharp visual clarity necessary for stealth gameplay.

Plenty to come back for

One of Monaco 2’s standout features is its procedural level generation. The main campaign is still a set of developer created levels so that everyone’s first playthrough is the same and allows players to fairly compete on leader boards. But adding a huge amount of replay-ability is the cleverly named “unreliable narrator” mode, where the game creates fresh layouts each time. Using the main missions objective and the themed handcrafted levels to create a whole new heist with greater rewards.

Before each heist, players are given access to a detailed “blueprint” view of the target location. This planning phase adds an extra layer of strategy, letting you scope out camera placements, possible entry points, and high-value targets. It’s a great touch that adds some realism to the fantasy of being a master thief, and it reinforces the idea that a good heist begins with a good plan.

And plenty of things to try

That said, planning can only take you so far. As in the original, chaos is part of the charm. Even the best-laid schemes can unravel due to a mistimed move, an overlooked camera, or a nosy civilian. It’s in these unscripted moments—when players are scrambling, adapting, and covering for one another—that Monaco 2 is at its best. The blend of tension and teamwork creates some genuinely memorable gaming moments, especially in co-op.

Speaking of co-op, the game is clearly built with multiplayer in mind. I have played through the entire main campaign solo at first and enjoyed myself a lot. But the experience shines brightest with friends. Coordinating a silent takedown, timing door breaches, or setting up decoys while someone else grabs the loot feels incredibly satisfying. It’s not just about execution—it’s about trust, timing, and adaptability. Communication becomes a stealth tool in its own right.

Colourful, fun, and infuriating.. in a good way

Visually, Monaco 2 keeps the series’ distinct style, though now with more depth and polish. The 3D models are clean and expressive, and the lighting design adds a lot to the atmosphere—dark corners, flickering security lights, and guards lurking in shadowy nooks. It walks a fine line between sleek and playful, never taking itself too seriously despite the high-stakes subject matter.

Complementing the action is a fantastic soundtrack by Austin Wintory. The music dynamically responds to your actions, ramping up during tense chases or slipping into a soft, jazzy groove when you’re undetected. It’s a stylish audio companion that elevates the whole experience.

If there’s a downside, it’s that I found some scenarios to not play out as intended. One particular scenario made me potentially more annoyed than it should have. In a prison break mission very early into the game it possible to open the cell doors, which led me to believe I can cause some chaos and while the guards fight prisoners, I can slip by. Was I very wrong. Both guards and prisoners will spot you and then work together to take you down. It made no sense, it was infuriating and

My conclusion

Monaco 2 is a smart, stylish sequel that evolves the series in meaningful ways. The move to 3D, the dynamic heists, and the emphasis on co-op gameplay make it feel fresh while still capturing the spirit of the original. Whether you’re a returning fan or a newcomer to the world of stylish digital burglary, this is one heist worth pulling off. For the price and the hours of replay-ability I can recommend the game to fans of stealth and pulling of complex plans, as well as those looking for chaos with friends.