Red Hook Studios has dropped a teaser for The Butcher's Asylum (the upcoming DLC for Darkest Dungeon II), and a full reveal is due at WePlay Expo in Shanghai

Most RTS games of the 90s were about gathering: ore, gold, lumber, spice. Z threw all of that out. The map was split into sectors, you took one by getting a unit to its flag, and every sector you held made all your factories build faster. So every fight was really about ground and time, and a lost flag on the far side of the map could snowball into a lost game.

I still think that is one of the cleanest strategy ideas ever, and almost nobody copied it. Curious if anyone here played it, and whether you know any newer games that use a similar territory-drives-production system.

(There is also a free open-source 3D fan remake of Z called OpenZ, if you want to see the idea in action again: https://github.com/playopenz/OpenZ)

"We are a craft studio": Creative Assembly clarify that they don't AI-generate art following Shogun 2 CE disaster, and are "investigating" an external partner.

A lifelong Stronghold fan shares first impressions of the Stronghold 4 Steam Next Fest demo. Discover why its frustrating honor system and dull visuals fail to live up to the RTS classics.

Dawn of War 4 is a very playable game but it's not got the same inventiveness of the games that came before it.

I made a small god game for the browser, phones too, no account. You never command the tribe: you are a hand over an island. Hold on the land to scoop up sand, water or lava, hold again to pour it. The tribe walks to three hearths on its own; then a wave comes in from the south and a lava spring wakes on the ridge, and the only strategy is the shape of the land you leave them.

Sand walls erode, water finds every gap, and lava poured into the sea cools into rock that holds, so the question each time is what to spend the hand on and where. The first island takes a few minutes. After it there is the rising sea: the towns you hold grow, every wave lifts the sea for good, and you choose which town to send uphill before the water cuts it off.

Everything, the island, the tribe and the ink look, is drawn in its own code. I read every reply: what you tried that the water broke, and what would make the land feel more like a plan.

The developers of Forgotten but Unbroken send Team Alpha after a cartel attorney preparing to flee to Mexico.

Here are my impressions of Crusader Kings 3's By God Alone expansion.

An exclusive early look at the upcoming playtest for Blood Bowl's next iteration.

Crasleen Games has confirmed that Veterum will leave Early Access and launch in full on September 7, 2026.

Publishers Hooded Horse have announced the first DLC pack for Terra Invicta. Called Dark Skies, it adds a couple of new starting scenarios and is out in July.

We can even become an endgame crisis ourselves, which sounds neat.

Firefly Studios continue working on their next-generation castle defence RTS - Stronghold 4, with a first demo now available to try it early.

"The stereotypical feudal giant": Creative Assembly discuss Total War: Medieval 3's first six factions, while calling for a vote on 23 others.

Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager challenges you to keep the fear high even when your guests are queuing. It's out in 2027 with a demo due this Halloween.

Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager on Steam (Planned Release Date: Q1 2027)

That is, if you can figure out how to achieve it.