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Top-down games really give us perspective, I mean quite literally that is. They’re one of the best outlets to explore new and different gameplay styles and genres. With so many amazing top-down titles making their way to numerous platforms in 2023 here are 10 you should definitely keep an eye on.
#21 20 Minutes Till Dawn
Platform: PC
Release Date: JUNE 08, 2023
When the monsters of the night come from you, you must do all you can to survive until dawn. The sun will rise in just twenty minutes. But the question is, can you last that long?
That’s what 20 Minutes Till Dawn will have you answer as you work your way through hordes of monsters to survive. But how you choose to fight them is up to you. You’ll have access to various weapons and abilities that’ll allow you to take on the monstrous threat in front of you.
Use upgrades, runes, and clever combinations to stay alive. Or die and try to do better in the next run.
#20 Big Ambitions
Platform: PC
Release Date: March 10, 2023
Have you ever wanted to run a business? Have you ever wanted to run multiple businesses? Have you ever dreamed of being so rich and powerful that you could basically take over New York City? If you said “yes” to any of these, you’d want to get Big Ambitions. This simulator title puts you as someone on the literal bottom of the totem pole, but you have dreams of making your way up it! You’ll start building businesses and profiting from your work as best you can. How you take things and where you go next are up to you! The more you do, the more you can achieve. Just make sure that the money keeps flowing it!
#19 Night is Coming
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2023
At first, Night is Coming will feel like your basic civilization builder title. You’re in charge of a settlement and must build them up properly.
However, the game is infused with Slavic folklore, so outside of building homes and other things, you’ll need to train your people to fight monsters! Plus, there is a great darkness coming that the people fear. So you’ll need to let them explore the world so they can learn the truth!
Plus, nature won’t be your ally in the game. So prepare yourself for treacherous conditions as you fight for the survival of your people! Will you survive the nights to come?
#18 Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
Platform: PC
Release Date: 2023
If you loved the original version of the dwarven game, you’d love the spinoff of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. In the title, you won’t be teaming up with friends to take on the hordes of monsters in the places you go for your job. Instead, you’ll have to do everything on your own!
The good news is that you’ll have all the weapons of the original game at your disposal. That means you can upgrade your character however you like and use whatever you wish to take on the aliens you find at your job sites.
So load up and make sure you come back in one piece!
#17 Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Platform: PC PS5 XSX|S
Release Date: April 18, 2023
To some, being a cursed individual would be a bad thing. But for you and your pirate crew? It’s just par for the course. In Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, you’ll play as a group of resurrected pirates tasked with taking on the Inquisition during an alternate version of the age of piracy.
Your mission is to seek out an incredible power that can help even the odds for pirates like you. But it’s your job to lead your crew and pick out the members who can help you in the upcoming fights. Each has a special ability of supernatural nature. So learn what they can do, then set sail for an adventure unlike any you’ve seen before.
#16 The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story
Platform: PC PS4 Xbox One PS5 XSX|S Switch
Release Date: April 18, 2023
Riot Games has been making lots of money off of its beloved property. But they’ve also been seeking ways to expand their lore and gaming reach by making spinoff titles focused on singular characters.
In The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story, you’ll play Sylas, a character who can steal magic and was once imprisoned by the vile Mageseekers. But now, you must use your freedom to take back your home, free those like you, and stop the cruel reign of the Mageseekers.
Magic is your bread and better. Use it to create a unique style of play and then unleash your magical abilities on all your foes.
#15 Super Zoo Story
Platform: PC PS4 Xbox One PS5 XSX|S Switch
Release Date: 2023
Have you ever wanted to own a zoo? To have a whole swath of animals under your purview and to see if you could entertain the masses?
Well, in Super Zoo Story, you’ll have that chance. The game places you on an island your father owned but has decayed since his passing. Your job is to reinvigorate the place and make it something that can house all sorts of animals and bring in people.
You’ll explore your island in numerous ways and even build relationships with some locals. So what are you waiting for? Your story awaits, and it’s up to you to see where it goes.
#14 Mina the Hollower
Platform: PC PS5 XSX|S
Release Date: 2023
You know the team at Yacht Club Games, right? They’re the team that brought the character of Shovel Knight to life and has been working hard to show off the power of old-school-style games in the modern world.
Their latest creation that was funded on Kickstarter is Mina the Hollower.
She’s been sent to an island that happens to be cursed, and it’s up to her to save it! It won’t be easy, as she’ll have to deal with enemies big and small and explore vast regions within the island. Find weapons and items to boost Mina’s abilities, and do what you can to save the day!
13 Mighty DOOM
Platform: iOS Android
Release Date: March 21, 2023
Bethesda has been doing its best to bring back the mighty Doomslayer to the world and has had great success so far. But now, they’re attempting to bring him back in a new way via Mighty DOOM.
In the game, you’ll play a miniaturized version of the beloved character and get to kill demons and monsters in an arcade-style setting.
You’ll no doubt enjoy the animated take on the franchise and how the violence and gore is represented. It’s not meant to break the mold, but it should be a fun experience for those who love the franchise. So get ready to unleash the adorable powers of destruction.
#12 Noobs Want to Live
Platform: PC
Release Date: February 14, 2023
Many games out right now have players choosing a character and testing their skills against an unrelenting horde of foes to see if they can survive. Noobs Want to Live is another in that line of titles but with a twist of its own.
You’ll get to choose between several types of characters to send against the horde. They range from swordsmen, sorcerers, and more classic types to those who are atypical, like a “Master of Bacon.”
Either way, you’ll need to master their powers and grow some more so that you can take on the challenges ahead and become a god!
#11 Company of Heroes 3
Platform: PC (February 30, 2023)
Release Date: PS5 XSX|S (May 30, 2023)
Many gamers out there prefer the strategic approach to combat versus rushing in guns blazing. Those strategists are the perfect people to check out Company of Heroes 3, the latest in the esteemed war franchise.
You’ll head to a new battlefield of World War II to see what the enemy has to throw at you. Overcome them by creating winning strategies for your units and deploying them with efficiency and tactics. Use the terrain to see the best path, and prepare for the counterattack by your enemies after you make your moves.
In war, no plan survives contact with the enemy, so prove you can overcome that with your strategy!
#10 Tiny Rogues
- Publisher: RubyDev
- Developer: RubyDev
- Platform: PC, Mac
- Release Date: September 23, 2022
Who doesn’t love a good Roguelike? Tiny Rogues is a brilliant fusion of classic dungeon crawlers and the bullet hell genre. The real charm of the game comes in its simplistic art style and fluid movement and combat systems. Fighting from room to room you’ll gradually level up your character with different abilities until ultimately you fight a boss at the end of each floor. With a total of 19 bosses to fight there’s plenty to enjoy here.
#9 HumanitZ
- Publisher: Freedom Games
- Developer: Yodubzz Studios
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: TBA
Playing either solo or in co-op, HumanitZ is a survival open-world zombie thriller akin to something like Project Zomboid or The Last Stand: Aftermath. You’ll be tasked with surviving the onslaught of zombies that have overrun the world. team cooperation is your best chance at survival as you scavenge resources, craft, and fortify your character to deal with the unforgiving wasteland you explore.
#8 Brotato
- Publisher: Blobfish
- Developer: Blobfish
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: September 27, 2022
Similar to Tiny Rogues, Brotato is a top-down action roguelike filled with personality. With an art style similar to The Binding of Isaac and classic flash games you’ll be fighting through hordes of alien invaders. You’ll have the option to level up your character by picking specific traits and items while also being able to wield up to six weapons at once until help arrives. The beauty of this is its ‘put down and pick up’ attitude to game design with each run only taking about 30 minutes.
#7 Space for Sale
- Publisher: THQ Nordic
- Developer: Mirage Game Studios
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: TBA
Maybe you don’t fancy something too intense or shooter-heavy? Space for Sale is a property management sim where you’re tasked with building extravagant homes for alien clients. You’ll search the galaxy for items to buy on the cheap in the hopes of making a profit on your next housing venture. If you want to enlist the help of a friend Space for Sale also contains a two-player drop-in/drop-out multiplayer setting allowing each of you to explore the procedurally generated world at your own ease.
#6 A Hero’s Rest
- Publisher: Vanargand Games
- Developer: Vanargand Games
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: October 12, 2022
Have you ever wanted to man the defenses and protect a town as its proprietor? A Hero’s Rest has everything from building shops and defenses to managing heroes under your hire. As you gather resources you’ll be able to upgrade and build new areas of your town. Alongside this, the hiring of heroes allows you to send them on quests to gather resources and in return, you can utilize the town’s Innkeeper to help protect them on their perilous journeys.
#5 Undead Horde 2: Necropolis
- Publisher: 10tons Ltd
- Developer: 10tons Ltd
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: TBA
For once you’re put in the shoes of the undead instead of cowering in fear of them. Undead Horde 2: Necropolis drops you into the shoes of the Undead King as you take vengeance on the living for the attack on the Necropolis. You’ll raise enemies from the dead as allies and take the fight to the living while simultaneously rebuilding the full might of the Necroplois. Undead Horde 2: Necropolis has it all infusing elements of strategy games, RPG titles, and hack’n’slash games into one big action adventure.
#4 Kakuriyo
- Publisher: SOMMIT GAMES
- Developer: SOMMIT GAMES
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: April 29, 2023
There’s only one thing that can heal most people’s fear of horror games and that’s pressuring your even more scared friend into playing them with you. Kakuriyo is a 1-4 player co-op survival horror experience that sees you and your friends investigating for clues of who a horrifying ghost’s next victim will be. Definitely, one to bring the family together.
#3 Shift of War
- Publisher: AlphaGames
- Developer: AlphaGames
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: September 30, 2022
Much like most action flicks involving Liam Neeson, Shift of War makes you a retired mercenary but instead of searching for whichever family member has managed to be kidnapped this time you’ll take on covert operations for varying governments or organizations. You can choose to run it alone or in 4-player co-op with friends and upon successful completion of each mission, you’ll gain money to further upgrade your squad.
#2 Approval
- Publisher: AnelaGamesStudio
- Developer: AECRNIA
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: TBA
Combining anime-style graphics with great music Approval is an action-adventure real-time roguelike with RPG elements. Approval allows you to develop your own village as you take on numerous runs through ‘Aprival’s’ randomly generated dungeons.
#1 SpellForce: Conquest of Eo
- Publisher: THQ Nordic
- Developer: Owned by Gravity, Owned by Gravity GmbH
- Platform: PC
- Release Date: TBA
Starting your journey in nothing but a wizard’s tower SpellForce: Conquest of Eo will have you exploring the lands of Eo in search of new spells for your grimoire and much more. Combining RPG mechanics with turn-based strategy combat SpellForce: Conquest of Eo allows you to explore and challenge its world in many different ways. With a procedurally generated campaign and the ability to recruit new heroes, this title looks like it will have you hooked for hours on end.