Walker continues to plug away at Mortal Crux, with the game seeming to dominate most of his spare time. I did not have dark fantasy soulslike action RPG starring humanoid cats on Dark And Darker Gold my 2023 bingo card, but if you did, congratulations! 

I asked if Elden Ring had changed how the developer might approach a Soulslike, but development eats up so much of his attention he still hasn't checked out FromSoft's monster blockbuster and our 2022 Game of the Year. Mortal Crux does not yet have a set release date, but you can wishlist the game on Steam.

Indie developers Astral Clocktower Studios are granting your wish and filling in that space with Kristala, its in-development debut title where your absolutely adorable widdle warrior must master the magic of six sacred crystals to fight a terrible curse that has mutated the other creatures of the world into monsters.

That is presumably, of course, if your ickle bitty cutie warrior can stop trying to jump on top of the bookshelves and/or catch the laser pointer. I mean just look at them, they're such precise little housecat faces. Cute cate jokes aside, it looks like some interesting ARPG stuff. 

The game promises to have weapons, spells, armor sets, and items to collect and upgrade as you explore its environment and complete your quest to prove yourself by gathering your sacred crystal powers. Some mousey-looking helmets have designs reminiscent of ears on them, for example—just brilliant stuff.

The world design also intrigues me, even if it definitely makes me laugh because of how hard it leans into the cat tropes. The main enemy is, of course, an army of scary humanoid rats, and Dark And Darker Gold Coins the most recent trailer shows a scary fish to fight as well. But the design is inventive!