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Dominic Tarason

@dominictarason.com
15K followers 3.4K following 21K posts

Lead staff writer at SteamHype.com - PC gaming demystified - Veteran games crit, news & curation. Hyped for games of all shapes & sizes. Formerly RPS, PC Gamer & PCGamesN. He/Him Find my other work, Steam Curator page & emails at dominictarason.com

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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 3h
More than bad piss-coloured art, the most common trait among AI-heavy indie games I see thrown my way is incredibly bland UIs. Just walls of boxes and sliders without graphics, just slightly different colors and plain text. It's obviously not a foolproof metric but 'UI design by AI' is a thing.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 3h
Control Resonant really is a Rorschach test of a game. Every time I see someone praising it, or even a singular element of it, I'll see a diametrically opposed comment from someone depressed or frustrated at how miserable it makes them. It's a game that gives people big feelings, but zero concensus
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 3h
The latest in my Steam Hype guest columns for IGN! Welcome to my very mess thoughts on the current state of VR, which I adore.
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Len @len.bsky.social · 12h
This might be the funniest achievement Paradox has ever added.
Papal Bull
Make your Puppet Pope sleep with your spouse
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 4h
Oh dang, another Mechwarrior 5 expansion next month, again going heavy on the story and cutscenes. 18 mission campaign, 13 new mechs. Piranha Games are hanging on for dear life and swinging harder and higher than they ever have.
store.steampowered.com
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries - Ashes and Ascension on Steam
Lead your Mercenary Company through a new 18-mission campaign, 13 new 'Mechs, new Inner Sphere OmniMechs, variants, weapons, ground units, and more. As the Inner Sphere goes on the offensive and takes...
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 5h
Really looking forward to digging into this expansion. You get to play as the Egyptian Space Bastards, and their gimmick is that they hit enemy infantry with the 'subjugation' debuff. It removes positive buffs to those units, and if an infantry unit dies while subjugated, they before a cyber-zombie
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 5h
One of the best texture artists in the Quake modding scene. You could make SO many games with these textures.
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Makkon @makkon.bsky.social · 6h
I'm immensely proud to announce that my texture library that's been in the making for nearly a decade is now available on my itchio store for indie devs to purchase commercial licenses. makkon.itch.io
screenshot of my itchio store, showing several texture packs available for purchse
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 6h
Ha, the Kickstarter for Snaptic went up a couple hours ago and it has almost immediately hit the initial goal. www.kickstarter.com/projects/sna... Not surprising. That trailer/short a while back was COMPELLING. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2K2...
youtube.com
glass memory
YouTube video by snaptic
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Anatoly Shashkin💾 @dosnostalgic.bsky.social · 11h
Somehow missed that "Vangers" got a big official update during the summer. 60 fps support has been merged into the main branch, but also a bunch of mission hiccups that were in the game since 1998 have been fixed as well! store.steampowered.com/news/app/264...
store.steampowered.com
Vangers - 60 FPS and more! - Steam News
A global update and bug fixes to celebrate 28 years since the game's release
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 6h
This is a great example of how the dynamics of games have changed. The Witcher 3 - a story-driven, purely single-player RPG with only a moderately active mod scene - has been a consistent hit for over a decade and hit new player-count heights ELEVEN YEARS after launch.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 6h
Out now! The original Petal Crash was like Yoshi's Cookie but Better and with online FGC-style multiplayer with rollback netcode and lobbies. Action puzzle sickos, this hole was made for you.
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🌸Petal Crash 2 is OUT NOW!!🌸 @petalcrash.com · 29/09/2026
Petal Crash 2 is releasing in Early Access TOMORROW!! To celebrate, and to let everyone know everything that's ready to enjoy in the Early Access version, I put together a special presentation! It'll debut at 3:00 PM PST tomorrow! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHPc...
youtube.com
Petal Crash 2 Early Access Release!
YouTube video by GalaxyTrail
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 8h
It's kinda wild that we got Blood of Dawnwalker and Nighthawks so close to each other. You wait forever for a good vampire RPG and two come along at once.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 13h
TONS of good stuff in this pick n' mix bundle. I especially recommend Blood West, Utopia Must Fall, Redout Ultimate, Amid Evil + Dusk, Final Vendetta, Stasis: Bone Totem, Wild Guns Reloaded, Ex-Zodiac (best Star Fox-like around IMO) and Grapple Dogs. £1.50 each. The rest look pretty dang good too!
fanatical.com
Build your own Retro Revival Bundle | Fanatical
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it's Lazzie B! once again!! 😱 @lazzieb.bsky.social · 11h
perhaps little-known is that Vangers (1998) is part of the same narrative continuum as the game Perimeter (2004), also by K-D Lab. i've posted about it before, but the story is genuinely fascinating. a lot of depth was lost in translation, but has been restored to an extent in a recent Steam patch.
youtube.com
Perimeter INTRO MOVIE
YouTube video by GOG
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 11h
Oh dang, was just informed that Vangers - one of the weirdest games ever - got a big update so it runs at 60fps. It's being maintained by fans now, after the original developer passed away a couple years ago.
store.steampowered.com
Vangers on Steam
Mind-altering sandbox game that can be described as a racing role-playing adventure game with a complicated storyline. You’ll find a unique atmosphere, complete freedom and lots of gameplay hours to f...
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 11h
Aaaaaaaaaa cannot wait for Ace Combat 8, but also not paying an extra £20 for a two-day head start.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 12h
It's nice to see a 'cozy' game in a setting that doesn't sugarcoat things. Ecological collapse, crime and stress abounds, but you also get to run a street corner restaurant or nightclub and hang out with the regulars. Word is this one's a performance hog, though.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 13h
TONS of good stuff in this pick n' mix bundle. I especially recommend Blood West, Utopia Must Fall, Redout Ultimate, Amid Evil + Dusk, Final Vendetta, Stasis: Bone Totem, Wild Guns Reloaded, Ex-Zodiac (best Star Fox-like around IMO) and Grapple Dogs. £1.50 each. The rest look pretty dang good too!
fanatical.com
Build your own Retro Revival Bundle | Fanatical
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 17h
Eleven years old, and still going strong. And still able to make my 5090 sweat. The new path-traced lighting is lovely, but yeah, only for the Excessive Hardware crowd.
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rooshoes @roo.shoes · 28/09/2026
very pleased that multiple people get this
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 29/09/2026
Also an interesting action-roguelike about making absurd projectiles-triggering-projectiles builds. It's a bit light on the audio front, but compelling enough in the 'if you do this right the entire screen just explodes into numbers' kinda way.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 29/09/2026
The mech crowd really should check this out. It's like Mechwarrior 2's combat but with a whole galactic strategy layer and battles that can grow WAY larger than just a couple squads. Infantry, tanks, jets and choppers on both sides.
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Steam Hype @steamhype.com · 28/09/2026
Command a Galactic Mech War from the Front Lines in Drop Command
steamhype.com
Command a Galactic Mech War from the Front Lines in Drop Command
Old-school MechWarrior combat meets 4X strategy
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Steam Hype @steamhype.com · 28/09/2026
Be the Critter with the Gun That Ends the World in Weird Western Roguelike Shooter Amossum
steamhype.com
Be the Critter with the Gun That Ends the World in Weird Western Roguelike Shooter Amossum
Six Bullets - more than enough to kill anything that moves when each explodes into 72 more
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Steam Hype @steamhype.com · 28/09/2026
"Play with Friends with No Restrictions" - Seamless Co-Op Comes to Dark Souls II Thanks to This Mod
steamhype.com
"Play with Friends with No Restrictions" - Seamless Co-Op Comes to Dark Souls II Thanks to This Mod
Play the entire game with friends!
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Steam Hype @steamhype.com · 28/09/2026
Got A Spare Five Minutes? You Need To Play This Amazing Musical Tribute To Sega's Arcade Heritage (Image: @Dungeonmans)
steamhype.com
Got A Spare Five Minutes? You Need To Play This Amazing Musical Tribute To Sega's Arcade Heritage
"The game exists because of the song"
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Steam Hype @steamhype.com · 28/09/2026
HR: Human Remains Is a Horrific First-Person Reminder That Your Job Could Be SO Much Worse
steamhype.com
HR: Human Remains Is a Horrific First-Person Reminder That Your Job Could Be SO Much Worse
Okay, it can be argued that working for demons still beats retail
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 28/09/2026
Was just looking through this week's releases and I was not prepared for an Adam Sessler jumpscare. He's every bit as himself as you'd expect in the trailer.
store.steampowered.com
Subterfuge on Steam
A week-long multiplayer game of strategy, diplomacy, and betrayal. Schedule moves for hours in the future, forge fragile alliances, and time the perfect backstab as events unfold in real time. Coming ...
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 14/09/2026
It's TIME! TO! GET! HYPE! Today, I get to proudly unveil Steam Hype, the project I've been working on with the help of @hookshot.media for the past two and a half months. A new PC gaming site which aims to demystify PC gaming, cut through the 100+ daily releases and spotlight indies as much as AAA
steamhype.com
Steam Hype
Steam Hype is your go-to destination for discovering the latest, greatest, and most talked-about games on Steam.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
It's great to see Normal Golf Game being so popular. If you're in the market for more esoteric golf, consider The Last Golfer. It's very good, tragically undersold and just A Whole Mood. store.steampowered.com/app/2537630/... Yes, that is combat and boss battles in a golf game.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 27/09/2026
One of the best platform run-and-gunners this side of Contra and Metal Slug. Great '80s pulp sci-fi vibes, gorgeous sprites, varied bosses. Just good all the way through. The roguelike prequel/spinoff, Huntdown: Overtime is shaping up nicely in early access, too.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 28/09/2026
Just giving an extra shout-out for Knuckle Jet. Great, gorgeous platformer with a hand-made aesthetic. Technically part of the Teslagrad/World to the West series, but perfectly fine as a standalone thing. Also has *multiple* SatAM/pop-punk songs about punching the rich and powerful in the face.
store.steampowered.com
Knuckle Jet on Steam
What's this? An off-the-wall, riveting jetpunk nose-breaking ricochet action platformer, lovingly crafted by the oddballs behind the Teslagrad series!
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 28/09/2026
Really looking forward to Drop Command tomorrow. Mechwarrior 2-styled combat in a full 4X strategy game.
store.steampowered.com
Drop Command on Steam
'90s Mech combat at a grand scale! Build an empire across the stars. Pilot Mechs, Tanks, Infantry and Aircraft in combined arms combat on many worlds across the star cluster. Rise to command entire ba...
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adrienne ✨ Truth Scrapper @insertdisc5.com · 27/09/2026
go play one of the best demos every Right Now. heed my words traveler
steam review from me: “I was so stunned... this is absolutely incredible. Can't believe how far you're pushing Ren'Py with this, the cinematography is gorgeous... will be waiting with bated breath.”
Adrienne Bazir (In Stars and Time, Truth Scrapper)
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Eniko Fox @enikofox.com · 27/09/2026
i posted an epiphany i had about why i hate AI so much on fedi and i wanna post it here but it won't fit and i don't wanna cut it down to size so fuckit i'm just posting a screenshot
Eniko Fox
@eniko@mastodon.gamedev.place

OH. right! i get it now!

i get why AI is so depressing to me. because covid already shrunk my world to almost nothing, where almost all of my life revolves around socializing and watching videos on the internet (which is being ruined by AI) and creating creative works through coding (which is being ruined by AI), often using open source tools and libraries (which are being ruined by AI)

i already had so little and now even that is being rotted away before my eyes
Sep 26, 2026, 06:16 PM
288 boosts
2 quotes
593 favorites
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 27/09/2026
There are so many games I'm looking forward to still this year... And I think the most Sickos.jpg of them all is the final (free) expansion for The Demon Rush remake. One of the few bad games I have bought because I wish to genuinely support the dev's ambitions. It is mesmerizing outsider art.
store.steampowered.com
The Demon Rush: Legends Corrupt on Steam
The Demon Rush: Legends Corrupt is an action RPG with an ensemble cast and multiple modes (Story Mode, Endless Dungeon, Onslaught, Conquest, Heist, Boulderball, Naval Conquest, Side Stories, RopeRange...
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Sean Jordan | Sharing Great Games You Probably Never Played! @greatestgames.substack.com · 27/09/2026
BTW, there are a ton of fan games, including some that remix the Castlevania games sort of in that mash-up style that Harmony of Despair went for. Here's a handy site that reviews many of them:
inverteddungeon.com
ICVD: Creatures of the Night, Exchanging Glances
A Castlevania site for information, discussion, and critique
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 27/09/2026
One of the best platform run-and-gunners this side of Contra and Metal Slug. Great '80s pulp sci-fi vibes, gorgeous sprites, varied bosses. Just good all the way through. The roguelike prequel/spinoff, Huntdown: Overtime is shaping up nicely in early access, too.
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Quest 64 Official @quest64official.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
@ghostbird12345.bsky.social
Pacman world 3 screen with Orson saying "uh oh I'm detecting a rise in energy in your sector pacman"

Pac-Man "details of my sectors energy should be between me and Ms Pac thank you very much"
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resnijars - Crescent Break gamedevs @resnijars.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
any streamers/vtubers out there that want to try out our upcoming game, Crescent Break? it's a fun and chaotic roguelike robo-shooty game a la MegaMan. we'd be happy to give you a Steam key to stream the game... especially any of you fellow furry creators out there! DM or discord us :3 #indiegame
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 27/09/2026
I am so glad that Remedy have decided to lean into their 'every chapter ends with a song' calling card. And increasingly diegetic with each game, too! But I still can't help but hear "And now... the weather." in my head when one begins.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
It's great to see Normal Golf Game being so popular. If you're in the market for more esoteric golf, consider The Last Golfer. It's very good, tragically undersold and just A Whole Mood. store.steampowered.com/app/2537630/... Yes, that is combat and boss battles in a golf game.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
Free game! Looks neat! It was meant to launch at the start of SAGE 2026, but Steam has been arbitrarily stalling a lot of indie launches recently.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
I really gotta play this one. Over on Steam it got hit by an initial wave of INCREDIBLY negative reviews. Like 15% positive. Usually indicating either complete trash. In a rare reversal, the 'most useful' reviews are a bunch of people going 'I have no idea what they're upset about, this game owns'
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
Such a fascinating, unique game, and an excellent remake. Essentially seven short, separate RPGs, each with a completely different setting, tone and structure. The only thing uniting them is a combat engine (which is almost entire absent for one)
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
Can't wait for this one. Backed it on Kickstarter ages ago, and it's shaping up to be a very fun mash-up of elements from Mischief Makers, Tomba and Klonoa.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
I just found an account on Steam that has reviewed over 21,600 games... Most of them indie. Almost all of them negatively and at least several paragraphs long. Misery given flesh.
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Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 26/09/2026
It's funny still seeing some people calling Ace Combat a 'flight sim'. It's a flight game, sure. But the entire series is pointedly unrealistic sci-fi melodrama for the most part with arcade combat. The first game literally WAS an arcade game, and it has only grown more over-the-top since then!
youtube.com
Air Combat\エアーコンバット (1992) Arcade [All Difficulties] [Longplay]
YouTube video by Retro Rumble Classic Gaming Streaming
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