The controller clicked under his thumb, the screen flickering with the faint glow of digital cards shuffling across a familiar board. In living rooms and quiet studies, players leaned forward on 16 July as several new titles dropped, each carving its own path through the mid-summer lull.
Culdcept Begins landed on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, with a PC version slated for later. The board and card strategy game brings more than 400 cards to bear in turn-based contests that blend movement across a physical-style map with tactical combat. Its roots stretch back to the Sega Saturn era, yet the new entry feels tuned for fresh audiences seeking depth without spectacle.
Heave Ho 2 followed on the same platforms plus PC, extending the original's chaotic co-operative platforming. Players swing, grab and hurl one another through physics-driven levels, the sort of setup that turns friends into temporary rivals and back again within minutes. A demo had already hinted at the tightrope balance between collaboration and comedy.
Elsewhere, Moss: The Forgotten Relic arrived on PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and Xbox. The puzzle-adventure merges earlier Moss experiences with new material and thoughtful accessibility features, including an option to skip combat. It continues the gentle tale of a mouse hero navigating storybook realms, now adapted beyond virtual reality for broader reach.
The Mermaid Mask, a mystery adventure, also released that day, while a high-resolution remaster of the 1999 Japan-only scrolling shooter Geppy-X made its worldwide debut. The 70s-style robot anime title, updated with modern visuals drawn from original Betacam footage and supplemented by fresh story elements, now reaches PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S for the first time outside its home market.
Other launches dotted the calendar too. Go-Go Town!, Ratatan, eBaseball Pro Spirit 2026 and assorted indie projects joined the fray, creating one of the busier mid-July windows in recent memory. Physical editions for certain games, including Culdcept Begins in Europe and North America, would surface in September.
