Cybercade #28 2025 | Rebuild, Rewind, Reclaim
Dear Friends,
Welcome to this week’s edition of Cybercade.
If you're new here, Cybercade is a weekly game discovery newsletter where I hand-pick upcoming releases—indies, reboots, expansions, and everything in between.
This week I have five new titles across Action, Adventure, Casual, Early Access, Indie, Simulation, and Strategy. Plus, we revisit one iconic RTS game.
Let’s get to it.
| Upcoming Games
Dawn Apart
A gritty space-colony and factory sim with fully destructible terrain. Mine resources, automate production, and defend your people—or rise up and rebel against your corporate overlords.
🧭 Genre: Simulation, Strategy, Early Access
📅 Release: 14 Jul, 2025
🎮 Developer: Industrial Technology and Witchcraft
🔗 Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1866300
Island Robot Farm
Build your dream island farm with the help of tireless robots in this cozy idle sim. Plant crops, raise animals, automate tasks, and let your island thrive—even when the game is minimized.
🧭 Genre: Casual, Indie, Simulation
📅 Release: 15 Jul, 2025
🎮 Developer: MoraCoco
🔗 Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3196520
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition
Return to the desert with this expanded remaster of the legendary castle-sim. Defend, besiege, and strategize across huge new maps with revamped visuals, new lords, and modern multiplayer.
🧭 Genre: Simulation, Strategy
📅 Release: 15 Jul, 2025
🎮 Developer: FireFly Studios
🔗 Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3024040
RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business
A standalone expansion to RoboCop: Rogue City. Battle your way up OmniTower in this vertical campaign full of explosive firefights and moral dilemmas. Serve the public trust—even if it kills you again.
🧭 Genre: Action, Adventure
📅 Release: 17 Jul, 2025
🎮 Developer: Teyon
🔗 Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3527760
The Drifter
A gritty, pulp-inspired point-and-click thriller. A murdered man awakens—alive, seconds before his own death. Help him escape a vast conspiracy, hunted and haunted, in this tense pixel adventure.
🧭 Genre: Adventure, Indie
📅 Release: 17 Jul, 2025
🎮 Developer: Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd
🔗 Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170570
| From the Vault
Age of Empires (1997) – The Dawn of a Strategy Legend
Developer: Ensemble Studios
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Year: 1997
Platforms: Windows PC (later Mac, Windows Mobile)
Genre: Real-Time Strategy (RTS)
Modes: Single-player, Multiplayer
What is Age of Empires About?
Age of Empires puts you in command of an ancient civilization, leading your people through the Stone, Tool, Bronze, and Iron Ages. Gather resources, advance technologies, and build a military to shape your own version of history.
Twelve distinct civilizations each offer unique bonuses, with multiple victory paths—domination, wonder-building, or survival. Its blend of accessible design and strategic depth made it a new standard for the genre.
What Makes Age of Empires So Special?
Age of Empires was revolutionary for bringing real-world history and diverse civilizations to the real-time strategy genre, which had been dominated by fantasy and science fiction themes. Its blend of accessible gameplay, historical depth, and competitive multiplayer made it a global hit, selling millions of copies and spawning a beloved franchise.
| This Week in Gaming
Xbox Layoffs: Arkane Founder Blasts Game Pass Model
After recent Xbox layoffs, the founder of Arkane (Dishonored, Prey) criticized Game Pass, calling its model “unsustainable” and asking why nobody’s addressing the obvious.
Pokémon Go Teases Paradox Pokémon from Scarlet/Violet
Paradox Pokémon are coming to Pokémon Go! Niantic dropped new teaser art, but fans are split over how they'll roll out.
Mario Kart World: The Surprise Hit of Switch 2
It launched with skepticism, but Mario Kart World has become the surprise daily addiction for many—including critics who doubted it.
| What to Listen to This Week?
Hyper Light Drifter – Complete OST
A stunning, synth-heavy soundtrack from a atmospheric indie game.
| Final Thoughts
Thanks for tuning in!
If any of these titles caught your eye, I'd love to hear from you. Share the newsletter, forward it to a friend, or just hit reply with your thoughts.
Until next time,
– Belane
* Some screenshots in this issue are sourced from MobyGames.
Hyper Light Drifter soundtrack is 🔥🔥🔥