“Tools Up!” makes skin-of-the-pants painting and decorating a frantic multiplayer pursuit. Image: courtesy of The Knights of Unity/All in! Games via AFP Relaxnews
Renovate apartments in record time with “Tools Up!”, reminisce on a life’s full journey in “Arise: A Simple Story” and save the world as two Horsemen of the Apocalypse in “Darksiders Genesis”; tweet and Tweet in bird photography frolick “Toripon”, rebuild a kingdom in “Queen’s Wish: The Conqueror” and thread together a survival network one battle at a time in “Phoenix Point”.
Tools Up!
Can be played on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC (Steam).
Get together with up to four pals and renovate a series of apartments from top to bottom before time runs out. Unlockable characters, hectic gameplay, split specialties and some risky acrobatics thrown in for good measure.
Arise: A Simple Story
Can be played on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC (Epic Games Store).
Take an old man on a strange afterlife journey, retrieving and reliving his memories, causing seasons to change in a moment in order to continue onward through joy and sorrow.
Darksiders Genesis
Can be played on Windows PC (Steam, GOG) and Stadia.
Myths-and-legends franchise “Darksiders” switches genres and transforms into an action role-playing game (like “Diablo” or “Path of Exile”), sending two of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on a mission to confound Lucifer’s chaotic plans.
Toripon
Can be played on Windows PC (Itch.io).
Take photos of over 40 breeds of cute birds and post them to a pretend social network or the real Twitter. Sweet and simple.
Queen’s Wish: The Conqueror
Can be played on iPhone and iPad.
Well-received role-playing epic with an old-school style in which you, as the heir to the throne, must prove yourself to the reigning queen: bring rebellious states back under the flag of the empire, using might in combat, cunning, and diplomatic means to do so while constructing fortresses and dealing with relatives at the same time. Debuted a little earlier in the year on Mac and PC.
Phoenix Point
Can be played on PC (Epic Games Store).
Sci-fi, turn-based strategy set amid an earth-ravaging alien invasion that adds extreme weather conditions and a twist on managing soldiers’ physical and mental strength to the “X-COM” formula, from the creator of the “X-COM” franchise itself. IB/JB
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