Matan Basteker – GamerDEAL

September 2, 2026September 13, 2026

Daedalic at Gamescom 2026: Ghost Haunting, Hordeguard and Star Trek’s Q Trials

Ghost Haunting Brings Classic Point and Click Design Back to Life

During our meeting with Daedalic at Gamescom 2026, the first game presented to us was Ghost Haunting, a handcrafted 2D point and click adventure developed by Cologne based studio Creative Monkeys. We did not play the game ourselves during the meeting, but the presentation provided a detailed look at its story, visual direction and accessibility systems. The project is heavily inspired by the LucasArts adventure games of the 1990s, combining low resolution pixel art, linear storytelling, environmental puzzles, item combinations and conversations with strange characters. The developers want the game to look like something from the classic era while still benefiting from three decades of improvements in game design. Every pixel has reportedly been created and adjusted by hand, reinforcing the feeling that this is a carefully produced adventure rather than a quick attempt to imitate retro graphics.

The story follows Gigi, an unpredictable eight and a half year old girl whose grandmother was the only person who truly understood her. After her grandmother dies, Gigi is not given a proper explanation of what happened and assumes that she has simply travelled to the realm of the dead. She later discovers Baron Butternut, a demon trapped inside a talking pumpkin, as well as the truth about her grandfather’s secret work hunting ghosts and monsters. Gigi decides that if spirits can travel from the realm of the dead into the world of the living, she should be able to make the same journey in reverse and bring her grandmother home. Despite the subject of death, the game is built around absurd comedy, including a toilet dwelling goblin, an organisation of verified vegan vampires and a suspicious character named Dr. Calligraphy. The adventure is set in Germany’s Eifel region, with forests, castles, legends and real locations used to give the fictional world a strong local identity.

August 31, 2026September 13, 2026

Asetek Virtual Button Box Hands On at Gamescom 2026: The Touchscreen Feature That Made Sim Racing Feel More Natural

Gamescom is usually full of products fighting for attention with bigger screens, stronger motors and increasingly complicated specifications, but one of the sim racing ideas that stayed with me after Gamescom 2026 was surprisingly simple. During my time with Asetek Racing, I had the opportunity to experience its Virtual Button Box as part of a complete racing setup, and what impressed me was not a single headline specification. It was how naturally everything worked together once I was actually racing. The steering wheel felt comfortable in my hands, the feedback from the simulator made the car feel far more physical than I expected, and having interactive controls directly in the center of the wheel meant I could manage different functions without feeling like I was operating a collection of separate peripherals. For me, that combination made the experience feel much closer to sitting inside a purpose-built racing cockpit than simply playing a racing game with expensive hardware.

August 15, 2026August 15, 2026

Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.5 Brings a Summer Trip to Astropolis on August 26

A New Stop in Astropolis

Honkai: Star Rail Version 4.5, titled To Roll the Stars in Astropolis, launches on August 26, 2026, taking the Trailblazer away from Planarcadia and into Astropolis, one of the Interastral Peace Corporation’s major strongholds. Following the appearance of the Voracity and the new crisis threatening Planarcadia, the story will focus on finding the power needed to protect the region while navigating the IPC’s upper management. Astropolis also introduces a much lighter side to the update, with Robin and Aventurine joining the Trailblazer for an interstellar summer vacation alongside the main storyline.

August 12, 2026August 12, 2026

Business Resilience in the Gaming Industry: How Ukraine Keeps Building, Working and Showing Up

Two years ago, direct flights from Israel to Gamescom were canceled. My team and I found ourselves checking bizarre airlines, looking for boats, and eventually flying to Cyprus. We slept there for a night and caught a flight to Germany the next day. It was expensive. It was mentally exhausting. When we finally reached the booth, we felt like we had survived a military drill.

Then I sent a message to Elena (Olena) Lobova 🔜 gamescom on LinkedIn. Reading her answers made my Cyprus connection suddenly sound like an all inclusive vacation.

I reached out to Olena, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Burny Games , to interview her for Inside the Game. I wanted to bring a different perspective. As an Israeli, waking up for work completely exhausted because of air raid sirens all night is not a theoretical concept. Dropping a Zoom call to run to a shelter is our reality. I knew she would understand exactly what I was talking about.

July 21, 2026August 9, 2026

I Know a Spot Review: Cozy Camping Game to Unwind With

A Camping Game That Wants You to Do Almost Nothing

I Know a Spot is one of those games that makes its intentions clear almost immediately. There are no enemies to defeat, objectives constantly flashing on the screen, timers pushing you forward, or complicated progression systems demanding your attention. Instead, you arrive at a peaceful outdoor location, unpack your camping equipment, decorate the area however you like, customize your vehicle, and spend some quiet time surrounded by nature and your dog. It is an incredibly simple concept, but after playing it, I realized that simplicity is also its biggest strength. If I had a difficult week and wanted a game that required almost no mental energy from me, this is exactly the kind of experience I could see myself launching just to relax for a while.

The world is built around forests, lakes, mountains, seasonal scenery, soft lighting, natural ambience, and carefully arranged camping locations. The audio deserves particular attention because the sounds of nature, the campfire, and the general environmental atmosphere are probably some of the strongest parts of the experience. I could easily imagine leaving I Know a Spot running on a second monitor while studying, working, writing, or doing something else. In that sense, it almost feels like an interactive background environment rather than a traditional game. You can actively decorate when you feel like it, then simply leave the campsite on screen and enjoy the atmosphere. For players looking for constant interaction, that might sound boring. For the right person at the right moment, however, that lack of pressure is exactly what makes it appealing.

July 17, 2026August 9, 2026

OMEA.ai Demo: Can AI Tell a Good Story?

A Story That Made Me Reconsider AI-Driven Games

I went into the OMEA.ai demo with a fair amount of skepticism. The idea of playing a narrative game built so heavily around artificial intelligence immediately raised concerns for me, especially because storytelling is one of those areas where personality, pacing, tension, and consistency matter far more than technological novelty. Still, I wanted to give it a genuine chance, and the demo gradually became much more interesting than I expected. The adventure I played follows a group of Vikings who have been shipwrecked and washed ashore, while I control a protagonist who does not even know his own name. That simple mystery gives the opening an immediate sense of uncertainty, and the plot quickly develops into something surprisingly layered and tense. Instead of feeling like I was simply sending prompts to an AI system, I started becoming curious about the world, the characters around me, and most importantly, what would happen if I deliberately tried something the game had not prepared for.

What helps OMEA.ai stand apart is the way player interaction works. After each narrative section, I could type what I wanted my character to do using natural language, with up to 512 characters available for each action. That creates considerably more freedom than a traditional RPG dialogue wheel because I was not limited to deciding which developer written sentence best represented what I actually wanted to do. I could describe an action, question someone, investigate something suspicious, lie, avoid confrontation, or approach a situation from another direction entirely. OMEA also provides two predefined choices for players who do not want to write their own response every time, although this is one area where I think the demo could improve. Two options simply feel too restrictive, particularly in a game built around freedom of choice. Having three or four suggested responses would make the experience more accessible without undermining the free text system that makes OMEA interesting.

July 15, 2026July 26, 2026

4PGP Four-Player Grand Prix Review: Fast, Accessible Racing That Needs More Depth

Fast Formula Racing Built for Everyone

4PGP Four-Player Grand Prix delivers exactly what its name promises: quick formula racing designed around local multiplayer. The game supports split-screen races for up to four players, alongside Remote Play Together for players who want to compete with friends online. Its structure is immediately accessible, with four difficulty levels named Rookie, Novice, Veteran, and Expert, plus an assist mode and a detailed tutorial. I appreciated how quickly I could start racing without spending time navigating complicated menus or adjusting dozens of technical settings. The controls are tight, acceleration and braking can be controlled through analogue inputs, and both keyboard and gamepad layouts can be remapped.

The pace is extremely fast, which creates a strong sense of speed even when the mechanical side of the driving remains relatively simple. The colorful art style, smooth animation, and wide selection of camera angles help every race feel energetic. 4PGP also targets 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, and the consistent performance makes steering through crowded corners feel responsive. From a presentation perspective, the game understands that arcade racing needs to look exciting from the first lap, and watching a full grid of cars accelerate together is easily one of its strongest moments.

July 12, 2026July 12, 2026

Delta Force Announces Tactical Crossover With Rainbow Six Siege

The next major Delta Force season is shaping up to be its most ambitious update yet, and the newly announced crossover with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege immediately caught my attention. Instead of feeling like another random collaboration designed purely for marketing, this one feels surprisingly natural because both franchises have always been built around tactical teamwork, communication, and carefully planned engagements. Alongside the collaboration, Team Jade also confirmed a brand new Operations extraction map, a new Warfare battlefield, and another Operator joining the roster, making this one of the largest content drops the game has seen so far.

July 11, 2026July 12, 2026

Wuthering Waves Version 3.5 Expands the Adventure

Kuro Games has officially released Wuthering Waves Version 3.5, introducing one of the game’s largest content updates to date. The update expands the open world action RPG with a brand new region, additional Main Quest chapters, playable Resonators, new equipment, multiple limited time events, and a broad collection of gameplay and technical improvements. Version 3.5 also marks the official debut of Wuthering Waves on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, allowing Xbox players to join the adventure for the first time.

July 10, 2026July 12, 2026

Moduwar Major Update Expands the Campaign With New Factions, Organs, and Massive Gameplay Improvements

The latest Moduwar update, Version 0.7000, delivers the game’s largest content expansion so far, significantly extending both the campaign and the core gameplay systems. The update introduces three brand new campaign levels, three fully playable Modu factions, unique biological organs, expanded enemy forces, major balancing adjustments, and a long list of quality of life improvements. It also upgrades technical performance, localization, voice acting, and environmental systems, making this one of the most comprehensive updates since the game’s release.