Agreed. Just at this point I think it’s fair to say that this policy is definitely not in effect.

It’s a comically bad experience.

I get it that it’s probably easier to setup a Discord server, than to run your own forum, but you can always get a managed solution or use reddit (I would prefer if Lemmy was used, but I am also realistic).

I likely still going to buy it and play (I am huge fan of VTMB), but I don’t expect it to be good.

Looks like they sold on half a million units in the 24 hours after release:

https://screenrant.com/clair-obscur-expedition-33-half-million-copies-sold/

Not bad at all for first release.

The community seems at least somewhat alive.

I’ve been waiting for a successor to Majesty since it’s released almost a quarter of a century ago.

I still play Majesty about once a year, but it would be great to find a high quality spiritual sequel.

So far the best option that I’ve found is Heroes of Orn: Darkness. Development has been rather slow. They do have a demo that is rather extensive, but it has no save function.

“chill out zone” 🙃

The spiritual sequel, Summer Island, recently had a 1.0 release. I have about ~15 hours in the EA version, it’s a fun game if you like tycoon/city-builders and the tourism in a tropical island theme.

Didn’t know it was available on mobile!

Cheers!

Some context on what the community is about would be helpful.

Haven’t tried the demo, but based on the screenshots it looks like it’s still in the early phase of development.

I really hope indie gamedevs start moving off Discord. Sometimes it’s the only source for finding help or reporting bugs.

Never played Balatro, but I like this visual.

Yeah, it’s a business SIM. The first person elements are part of the gameplay in the early game before you get employees. You have to do everything yourself.

Btw, I believe I was mistaken and this may actually be a demo (didn’t see a link to the mainline game steam store page), so it might be worth deleting this post.

I was wondering if this is the case due to the “first store label”, but I wasn’t abel to find a link to the Steam store page for the full game.

I guess I didn’t look well enough. :(

You should message the dev with this feature request.

Tried out the demo in late 2024. I really like the concept. It didn’t feel like all those "[retail store type] simulator] UE5 asset flips that are all over Steam. It has it’s own visual style and IMO has more refined core gameplay mechanics. Sure, some of the gamplay is similar (and can be very addicting), but you can see that thought was put into the gameplay mechanics.

If the 1st person store simulator concept seems intriguing, but you are looking for something beyond a quick UE5 asset flip, I would recommend to check this out.

I am surprised that it was released for free. I briefly interacted with the dev in late 2024 and I was under the impression that there would be a commercial release in 1H 2025.

Tried out the demo in late 2024. I really like the concept. It didn’t feel like all those "[retail store type] simulator] UE5 asset flips that are all over Steam. It has it’s own visual style and IMO has more refined core gameplay mechanics. Sure, some of the gamplay is similar (and can be very addicting), but you can see that thought was put into the gameplay mechanics.

If the 1st person store simulator concept seems intriguing, but you are looking for something beyond a quick UE5 asset flip, I would recommend to check this out.

I am surprised that it was released for free. I briefly interacted with the dev in late 2024 and I was under the impression that there would be a commercial release in 1H 2025.

Tried out the demo in late 2024. I really like the concept. It didn’t feel like all those “[retail store type] simulator” UE5 asset flips that are all over Steam. It has its own visual style and IMO has more refined core gameplay mechanics. Sure, some of the gamplay is similar (and can be very addicting), but you can see that thought was put into the gameplay mechanics.

If the 1st person store simulator concept seems intriguing, but you are looking for something beyond a quick UE5 asset flip, I would recommend to check this out.

I am surprised that it was released for free. I briefly interacted with the dev in late 2024 and I was under the impression that there would be a commercial release in 1H 2025.

I would recommend playing this game with original Ukrainian voice acting (it’s made by a Ukrainian indie developer) and English (or Japanese) subtitles.

Can’t speak for the English or Japanese voice acting, but the Ukrainian voice acting is really good.