Kotaku’s Weekend Guide: 5 Great Games We Can’t Wait To Get Back To

Image: Chronocle / Deep Field Games / Messhof

We’ve hit peak summer and probably the biggest lull in the release calendar we’re going to get until the holiday. That doesn’t mean a lot of great stuff didn’t still come out this week. What it does mean is that we have time to highlight things that might not otherwise have gotten their due.

Two games you won’t see on this week’s roundup are the new Soulslike Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and the inventive space pirate heist shooter Wildgate. The first of those is surprisingly decent and you can read about it here. The second is a PVP shooter from ex-Blizzard devs that we’re still wrapping our heads around. Hopefully, we’ll have more on it next week. Another class-based PVP shooter? In this economy? Except this one lets you fly spaceships and steal artifacts.

I hope it can pull off the “Sea of Thieves in space” fantasy I’ve been imagining for it ever since Wildgate was first revealed last year. In the meantime, here are five other games we recommend you check out this weekend.

Play it on: PC

Current goal: Beat the third boss

What do you get if you mix Loop Hero, Vampire Survivors, and a pinch of Balatro? Something like He Is Coming, a streamlined auto battler roguelike about hunting for loot around an 8-bit overworld before the bosses find you and mercilessly put you down. Time passes with each square of movement you make as you collect gear and battle minions for money that can buy upgrades. The goal is to synergize your build for each upcoming boss fight.

Make the wrong choices or pursue a strategy that’s not carefully catered to the upcoming fight and you’ll get stomped, as I have, time and again. Runs are short, though, and it’s fun to keep exploring new builds. I just wish the map itself was more interesting to explore, but maybe that happens when you make it deeper into each playthrough. It’s in Early Access right now on Steam so there’s plenty of time to build it out into something really cool. — Ethan Gach

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Current goal: Find better wheels

Wheel World is like Mario Kart World if the open map was actually fun to explore. It’s not as full of mysteries, treasure, or NPCs to run into as I’d like, and the game is one or two mechanics shy of feeling like a really robust racer, but as a walking sim on wheels, it’s really nice. The cel-shaded art is pretty, the music is nice, and the pastoral seaside routes you race through feel like getting a small taste of that vacation to the South of France you’ll never be able to afford.

The writing can be kind of silly—you’re basically helping a ghost find its special bike parts so it can ride an extra-dimensional slip-stream or something—but I like the absurd conversations you have with all manner of cyclist gangs just waiting to be challenged for supremacy on their home turf. Throughout the adventure you earn better bike parts that can be used to customize your stats for racing, with each win and special objective unlocking extra rep that lets you compete in tougher races. It has the pacing of a Pokémon game if you were shredding down gravel paths instead of mashing Pikachu’s thunderbolt over and over again. — Ethan Gach

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Current goal: Get back into this cool survival game

Abiotic Factor isn’t a new game, but it is out of early access and now on consoles. So I’ve hopped back in after being away for a few months, and it’s remarkable how much better this already great survival game is now. If you’re a fan of the OG Half-Life and have some buddies looking for a survival co-op game to play together that isn’t just about breaking trees and hiding in caves, I’d highly recommend Abiotic Factor. 

It’s strange, but in a cool way. And it can get creepy, too. It’s out now on Xbox and PlayStation as well as PC and supports crossplay. Just be warned: You might spend a lot of time hanging out in bathrooms and drinking toilet water. —Zack Zwiezen

Play it on: Steam

Current goal: Jam out

Last time I wrote about Fretless for a Kotaku Weekend Guide, I was playing it for review. I wanted to recommend the game to people but couldn’t, as it wasn’t even out yet. Now, the full rhythm-based deckbuilder is out, and I can scream from the rooftops that you should play it. It’s super charming, strategic, has a banger soundtrack, and you can easily knock it out in a weekend. Do it. Do it now. — Kenneth Shepard

Play it on: Switch 2

Current goal: Discover what awaits in the planet’s core

Look, it’s very simple: banana. In fact, I may even go so far as to say, Oh, banana! Of course, Donkey Kong Bananza is a delight because of its destructible terrain, its joy of movement, the different powers associated with all your “bananza” transformations, all that good, gamey stuff. But it’s also delightful because of Donkey Kong’s wonderful redesign, which makes him seem less the crafty figure he was in the Donkey Kong Country games and more just a pure, head-empty being of enthusiasm and uncomplicated love, both for bananas and for his pal Pauline.

When her confidence falters and she looks into that big, sweet face of his and finds the courage to belt out a song, I think to myself that we all could use that friend whose love for us and belief in us is so straightforward and so pure that one look into their eyes lets us see ourselves how they see us, and all of our fear and shame is gone. What an icon. I’m so glad he’s back in what may well be his best game ever. — Carolyn Petit