Top secret: our insider tips from Gamescom 2024

At Gamescom, Phil and I played and saw over 50 games. We also had a go at smaller titles alongside big blockbusters from the mega-publishers. Many of these got lost in the hustle and bustle of Gamescom – so we thought we’d set things right.

Here are our insider tips from Gamescom 2024 that you definitely don’t want to miss.

Domagoj: Dinolords – dinosaurs in the Middle Ages

At first glance, Dinolords looks like Age of Empires but with dinosaurs. «This game’s so much more than that,» one of the developers assures me during the demo. And he’s right.

In Dinolords, you control a musclebound hero on the battlefield and take an active part in skirmishes. The developers compare this aspect of the gameplay to hack-and-slash titles such as Diablo. At the same time, the hero also issues orders to their troops – a bit like in Nintendo’s strategy game Pikmin. «Go there», «defend this place», «attack these troops». The third part of the gameplay mix is base building. Between battles, you collect resources, expand your castle and prepare for upcoming attacks.

The mixture of hack-and-slash and strategy, dubbed by developers as hack-and-strat, is rounded off with a large helping of dinosaurs. On the battlefield, you fight at lightning speed on the back of velociraptors. And you use a T-Rex to tear down enemy castle walls. With an Ankylosaurus’s tail club, you can kill several enemy troops at once. A dream for dinosaur fans like me.

When: to be announced
Where: PC

Phil: Bonaparte – mechs instead of Napoleon

One of the more unusual games I was introduced to at Gamescom was Bonaparte. You take on the role of Céline or César Bonaparte and influence the future of France in 1798. Napoleon doesn’t exist in this parallel universe. Instead, there are mechanical combat robots that fight for or against the revolution in turn-based battles.

But combat is only one part of the game. The political decisions you make and which factions you support is almost more important. Developer Imugi says you should be able to remake France in your image. The systems already seemed quite complex during the demo, and you could immediately sense the developers’ background in history. If you’ve ever wanted to play Fire Emblem mixed with a political simulation, you should add Bonaparte to your wish list.

When? Q1 2025
Where: PC

Domagoj: Date Everything – what the...?!

Date Everything is a somewhat special dating simulation. In the game, you’re given a pair of glasses that bring all the objects in your home to life. Your coffee table becomes a muscular bodybuilder, the spinning globe a sexy explorer. In total, there should be over 100 objects in the game that can be transformed using your glasses.

Each character has a love, hate or friend ending, depending on how you interact with these everyday objects in dialogues. It’s entirely up to you which outcome you aim for. If you like, you can also hate everything instead of dating.

The game was inspired by voice-over artists who have worked on titles such as Final Fantasy and Persona. Its 70,000+ lines of dialogue were dubbed by actors of varying popularity from film, television, theatre and games. I’ve no idea whether the dialogue-heavy gameplay will keep me hooked in the long run, but the bizarre demo at Gamescom made me curious.

Release date: 24 October
Where: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC

Phil: Lonely Mountains: Snow Rider – ski and powder snow, downhill bike

Just like in its predecessor Lonely Mountains: Downhill, you try to race down a mountain as fast as possible. Instead of a downhill bike, you’re on skis. As well as changing the physics involved in movement, it also affects the tricks you can perform.

The snow-covered landscapes look great, and the sound of driving through snow is incredibly meditative. That’s a good thing, because surviving the descents without making mistakes requires a lot of finesse. I had to contain myself a few times during my short play session so as not to swear out loud when I kept banging into the same rock. What’s useful is that you can see your tracks in the snow, showing exactly where you last fell down the cliffs.

When? 2024
Where: PC

Domagoj: Mio: Memories in Orbit – this Metroidvania is beautiful and damn hard

Don’t be fooled by the picturesque façade of Mio. Behind the beautiful visuals lies a damn difficult Metroidvania. The Gamescom demo demanded everything of me. I must’ve been defeated by one particularly nasty boss more than ten times.

But I was never frustrated, even when the checkpoints were sometimes too far apart. How could I be mad at this game?! You need to check it out – it’s so beautiful. Not only do the controls feel precise, the characters’ moveset is interesting and stands out from others in this genre. In particular, I like how you have the ability to scramble along walls for a bit.

When? 2025
Where: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC

Phil: Knights in Tight Spaces – tactical little card game

With a predecessor called Fights in Tight Spaces, its successor could hardly have a more fitting name courtesy of studio Ground Shatter. It was chosen because they wanted to add fantasy elements to the tactical battles, not just because it sounds great. That’s why you control a whole troop of warriors, wizards and archers rather than just a John Wick lookalike.

You play cards to defeat your enemies in small playing arenas. Then you use them to dodge, fire a bow, cast spells, heal and so on. Playing the demo at 9 a.m. certainly brought me out in a sweat. It’s a lot of fun and the drawing style is also great.

When? soon
Where: PC

Domagoj: Sonokuni – Hotline Miami in Japanese?

The story behind Sonokuni is fascinating. The game was developed by a Japanese hip-hop band, the Don Yasa Crew. Since they were bored because they weren’t booked for live gigs during the first COVID lockdown, the group came up with the idea of developing their own game. The band members taught themselves everything from coding to design and created Sonokuni single-handedly. Amazing.

At Gamescom, I played an extensive demo and got a good 30 minutes of thrashing. The gameplay is reminiscent of titles like Hotline Miami. I fight my way through building complexes from a top-down perspective and slaughter various disgusting monsters, with the option to do so in slo-mo.

Every room feels like a puzzle. I die a lot and look for the best path through the hordes of enemies. With each new attempt, I kill a few more adversaries and survive a few seconds longer. And yet I never end up frustrated – quite the contrary. I don’t want to let the controller out of my sweaty hands.

When? 2024
Where: PC

Phil: Winter Burrow – a twee, ice-cold survival game

Videos and pictures don’t do justice to how beautiful Winter Burrow is. Its hand-drawn design looks enchanting. The gameplay also grabbed me after just a few minutes.

You play a little mouse in a wintry landscape. In typical survival game fashion, you collect resources and use them to renovate your house or turn grass into yarn and knit a thick jumper. The name of the game is about always being prepared for the cold, having enough to nibble on and not losing your bearings. I froze pretty quickly because I couldn’t find my way back to my tree trunk home in time. Winter Burrow is like a picture-book story come to life. I can’t wait to experience the rest.

When? 2025
Where: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Domagoj: The Edge of Allegoria – Game Boy nostalgia

The Edge of Allegoria looks like a game that was made specially for me. Solo developer Joe Pricknell confirms my first impression at the Gamescom kickoff event. The title pays homage to classic Game Boy RPGs. Behind the nostalgic façade, however, lies a modern, incredibly complex and extensive game.

Visually, The Edge of Allegoria is particularly reminiscent of the old Pokémon games. But unlike in Nintendo’s classic, I don’t have to catch 150+ monsters in The Edge of Allegoria. Instead, I brutally hunt them down, with over 90 weapons to choose from in turn-based battles.

The number of attacks and possible combos in battle is enormous. According to Joe, the game is a dream for data nerds. You could spend hours searching for the optimal attack combination to kill the hordes of monsters as efficiently as possible.

The map is also huge. It takes over an hour to get from one end to the other (excluding battles). Joe says it’ll take 30 to 60 hours to finish The Edge of Allegoria, depending on how much you want to familiarise yourself with the complex combat system and how many side quests you complete.

When? end of 2024
Where: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

## Phil: Eriksholm – stealthy teamwork

Eriksholm is a stealth game set in the early 20th century in the eponymous Scandinavian town. You take on the role of Hanna, who’s investigating the sudden disappearance of her brother.

It’s played from an isometric view. The level I saw was surprisingly extensive and allowed a lot of freedom in terms of outsmarting and sneaking past your pursuers. It reminded me a bit of immersive sims the likes of Dishonored, only without magic. You can move the camera freely to plan a route at your leisure.

As well as Hanna, there are two other characters you can control, which should allow for interesting combinations. In terms of the story, it’s told in elaborate cutscenes, animated like a blockbuster game. The rest of it also looks fantastic. It’s certainly at the top of my wish list for 2025.

When? 2025
Where: PC

You can see the rest of our highlights here:

And find out which titles at Gamescom disappointed us: