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Олександр КузьменкоGameDev Eng
31 December 2024, 09:00
2024-12-31
Cozy puzzles, crazy races, card roguelikes and one shooter that has been awaited for over a decade. What pleased the Ukrainian game dev in 2024
Last year, we already told you which games in a winter setting are worth playing during the New Year holidays. With each year of the full-scale Russian invasion, the festive mood in Ukraine becomes less and less, and the reasons to rally and support your loved ones become more and more. Therefore, this time we have prepared a material about games from Ukrainian developers that were released in 2024. There is a lot to tell about, because this year the Ukrainian game developer pleased not only with STALKER 2.
Last year, we already told you which games in a winter setting are worth playing during the New Year holidays. With each year of the full-scale Russian invasion, the festive mood in Ukraine becomes less and less, and the reasons to rally and support your loved ones become more and more. Therefore, this time we have prepared a material about games from Ukrainian developers that were released in 2024. There is a lot to tell about, because this year the Ukrainian game developer pleased not only with STALKER 2.
Content
Corsairs Legacy
The open-world pirate RPG Corsairs Legacy from Ukrainian studio Mauris was released in early 2024. The developers planned to release the full version in six months, but it is still in early access and continues to receive major updates that significantly change the mechanics and gameplay.
For example, one of the major updates added a freeplay mode, a new save system, and more, but at the cost of deleting all previous player progress. In the latest update on December 24, the developers released an update that congratulated players on the holidays and added new quests for delivering passengers, redesigned the visuals of the global map, introduced a ship upgrade system, and much more.
The project boasts full Ukrainian localization, including voice acting. However, Corsairs Legacy is also available for purchase in Russia and has a Russian translation, for which the game was criticized by Ukrainian players. The developers explained this decision by the principle of operation of Steam algorithms. Currently, the game is available with a 20% discount for 300 UAH.
Players can assemble an elite pit crew (up to 4 players) that must fix their cars in time to win. Speed Crew features four racing championships spanning four decades, from the 70s to the 00s, to «give an unforgettable beating to the anti-hero Dominion Torrento.» So in addition to the chaotic co-op that tests friendships, the game is also full of humor.
On Steam, Speed Crew has exceptionally positive reviews and a 50% discount, with which the game costs 175 UAH.
Puzzles For Clef
A cute puzzle game created by the indie duo of Kyiv developers Weasel Token, was released this spring. It is a pleasant adventure game about the heroine of the same name. Rabbit Clef receives a letter from her sister Cres and sets off to her ancestral island in search of treasures… During her journey, she will walk through a land of beauty, magic and mystery, where every place is filled with puzzles, forgotten secrets and her family’s legacy.
Players will find nine diverse locations, from a quiet bamboo forest to a luxurious air palace, each with its own unique atmosphere and a wealth of secrets.
Puzzles For Clef has received very positive reviews (89% positive) from players on Steam and is currently offered for 191 UAH with a discount during the winter sale. The authors of the project are already working on their new game Soul Shuffler. This is a card roguelite about a demon who collects the souls of various inanimate objects and uses them in soul duels against other demons.
Stunt Paradise
The stunt racing game Stunt Paradise from Ukrainian studio Brinemedia was released on PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch in March, and in the fall it arrived on the PlayStation console.
The game features twenty unique cars and 50 crazy levels of increasing difficulty. «Develop your driving skills by performing crazy stunts, including jumping off ramps, flipping through the air, and smashing explosive obstacles!» the developers urge players.
Stunt Paradise has very positive reviews on Steam, where it costs 181 UAH.
This is a remaster of his first game on a new engine and with additional content. The game was proposed to be created by the console publisher of the original Shapik: The Quest, who provided the Ukrainian developer with a laptop and tablet to work on the remaster. The development of Shapik: The Quest began in difficult conditions: water had to be collected from a well, the Internet connection was difficult to catch, and missiles flew over the house from time to time.
This is a simple but enjoyable game in the spirit of the Czech studio Amanita Design, known for games like Machinarium, Botanicula and others, which takes about 2 hours to complete. Shapik: The Quest is already available on mobile devices in the App Store and Google Play, as well as on PC on Steam, where the game has the lowest regional price for Ukraine. Currently, the project is available at a discount of 96 UAH.
Codename: Ocean Keeper
Ukrainian game outsourcing studio RetroStyle Games released its debut game Codename: Ocean Keeper in early access this summer. The developers were inspired by such popular projects as Vampire Survivors and Doom Keeper, and the plot and setting are reminiscent of Subnautica.
The main character is a miner whose spaceship crashed on a planet filled with underwater monsters. To survive, you need to find resources and artifacts to purchase valuable upgrades. The developers warn that each new game session will reveal new secrets of the underwater world, and battles with sea monsters will become more and more difficult.
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival is still in early access on Steam, and the full release is planned for the first half of 2025. The project is currently available with a 70% discount for 56 UAH.
Railroad Corporation 2
Ukrainian studio Corbie Games released the sequel to Railroad Corporation in Steam Early Access in October of this year. It’s a railroad game set at the turn of the 20th century.
Players take on the role of a railroad tycoon building their own new railroad corporation. In Railroad Corporation 2, players will need to connect regions using railroads to facilitate trade and transportation.
Railroad Corporation 2 builds on the first game and adds new locomotives, expanded track-laying capabilities, new departments and staff functions, and an expanded financial model. The game currently has mostly positive reviews (77% positive) and is offered at a 20% discount for UAH 480.
Unmasked: An Inner Journey features five unique and picturesque levels with atmospheric sound effects and a captivating soundtrack. The story is told without any dialogue — the narrative unfolds through a series of picturesque scenes that hint at events from the protagonist’s past, leaving the player with room for interpretation.
Ukrainian indie developer Artem «Flatcoon» Bazdyrev released his new game Menace from the Deep in November. The project stands out for its full Ukrainian localization, including voice acting.
It’s a roguelike card game with a deck builder. It’s set in the United States in the 1920s around a secret occult society. According to the developer, it’s a dark and mysterious world inspired by Howard Lovecraft and his pantheon of Cthulhu and other Old Gods.
In the Ukrainian segment of social networks, disputes flared up around the project when players noticed that Menace from the Deep was available for purchase in the Russian region of Steam and was included in numerous bundles with Chinese games. Subsequently, Artem «Flatcoon» Bazdyrev commented on the dissatisfaction of Ukrainian players and announced that he had filed a request with Steam to remove the game from sales in the Russian Federation. He admitted that he had «overlooked» certain points, because he was working on Menace from the Deep alone.
The game is currently available with a 25% discount for 270 UAH on Steam .
«STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl»
This game from GSC Game World can be called the most anticipated project for Ukrainian gamers in many years without any undue modesty. And so, after a series of delayed release dates due to a full-scale Russian invasion and a fire in an office in Prague, STALKER 2 finally saw the light of day on November 20.
At launch, it became clear why the developers postponed the game’s release so many times — even now, after a series of huge patches containing literally thousands of fixes, it has performance issues and various shortcomings. This is partly why STALKER 2 received lukewarm reviews from critics .
GSC Game World has carefully ported the work from the previous installments, released a decade and a half ago, to the modern Unreal Engine 5 game engine (with all its pros and cons). And despite the developers' statements that they are fully aimed at new players, STALKER 2 also resonates in the hearts of a loyal audience, some of whom have not left the Zone all these years, returning to it with each new complex modification.
«I’m sure Vova would be grateful to the developers for such an attitude towards Ukrainian culture.» The brother of the deceased STALKER developer spoke about the significance of the release of «Hearts of Chernobyl»
And yet, it is a very Ukrainian game. There is no other project of this scale in which the main character could engage in a fight with a monster at night on an abandoned ship stuck in the Chernobyl swamp to the accompaniment of «Shchedryk» playing on the radio. The characters of STALKER 2 speak in lively Ukrainian with the voices of famous Ukrainian actors, on the bar counter there may be matches with a Cossack on a box that makes Western game journalists tremble, at any moment the player can meet another piece of Ukrainian culture, history, or simply our meme about «9 or 10?» or the Poltava paliya.
GSC Game World has managed to do the most important thing — create a very atmospheric, original game that is really fun to play even despite its technical flaws. And if the developers follow the path of the authors of No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 (and not Anthem) and find the opportunity to refine their project, then STALKER 2 will become no less, and perhaps even more iconic, than the original.
«It’s not just a commercial success, it’s a huge cultural achievement.» The owner of GSC Game World said that STALKER 2 has already paid for itself and is starting to make a profit
«Навіть для виробників трун і пам’ятників я писав тексти». Як стати game-тестувальником під час війни: історія колишнього металурга, страховика, копірайтера
34-річний Андрій Зубков під час війни увійшов в IT, докорінно змінивши свою кар'єру і буденне життя. Тепер він QA Engineer у компанії Pingle Game Studio — тестує ігри. А до цього працював на металургійному комбінаті, в страхуванні та навіть копірайтером. Свою історію про вхід в нове життя Андрій розповів dev.ua.
Хто такий Unity Developer: основні задачі, обов’язки та зона відповідальності. Огляд професії від Team Lead Unity у Pingle Game Studio
Продовжуємо цикл матеріалів про ІТ-спеціальності. Кожну описує «типовий представник» — досвідчений фахівець і просто авторитетний колега, та сама людина, яка знає всі таємні куточки своєї професії. Ми сподіваємося, ці матеріали допоможуть школярам, студентам, перекваліфікантам, студентам і всім тим, хто зацікавлений у виборі ІТ-спеціальності. Цикл не тільки допоможе оцінити перспективи, а й дасть можливість краще зрозуміти індустрію і особливості професії зсередини. Обговорюйте і доповнюйте матеріал в коментарях, щоб зробити його ще корисніше.
Про професію Unity Developer розповідає Володимир Мельничук, Team Lead Unity у Pingle Game Studio.
