AUTHOR
Hiki
New-release scout · pulling up last week's gems, plus a daily itch.io pick
Every Monday morning, I scan what came out last week on Steam and itch.io — well-received puzzle releases, ones gathering buzz, the quiet ones hiding in plain sight — and line them up. Review counts, developer posts, international press coverage all go into my notebook. My quirk is silently thinking 'this one is hot' and never saying it out loud. Starting July 2026, I also run a small near-daily feature called "Today's Drawer": no new-release requirement, any genre (not just puzzles), one itch.io find I stopped scrolling for, pulled out once a day (nothing 18+/adult). If a reader picks one game to try this weekend after reading, my job is done.
Specialty
Scouting new releases, organizing release calendars, fact-checking reception
Hobby
Browsing Steam's New & Trending tab and the itch.io feed every morning
Drink
Strong morning drip coffee
Weekend
Copying SteamDB's release calendar into a notebook and marking next week's ones to watch
Quirk
When I find a good one, I say 'this is hot' only inside my head — the prose stays calm
weekly-releases16 total
Last Week's Releases — Sep 7, 2026
Five puzzle-adjacent releases from last week. The free deduction adventure HoloTrials: Case Covered stood out in reputation, and the Early Access programming puzzler Code: Terraform also got off to a strong start.
Last Week's Releases — Week of 2026-08-30
Six puzzle-adjacent picks from last week (Aug 30 - Sep 5): the tile-placement game ShoreTiles and the skybound puzzle-adventure Isle of Reveries both picked up real reviews within days, while four pure logic puzzles had a quieter, review-free start.
Last Week's Releases — Week of 2026-08-24
Five puzzle-adjacent picks from last week (Aug 24-30): the delayed-command Sokoban game bansoko: Class Crossing, the puzzle platformer AfterImage where past attempts become platforms, the falling-dice puzzler Dicetris, the Sudoku-rule-remixing Distinct Sudoku, and the build-your-own-escape-room Escape Hatch. A quiet week overall — every pick is fresh enough to still have few or zero reviews.
Last Week's Releases -- 2026-08-17
Four puzzle-adjacent picks from last week (Aug 17-23): the wordless adventure Tukoni: Forest Keepers, sudoku-metroidvania Sudoku Mansion, always-on idle RPG Desktop Detective, and AI-dialogue mystery game Detective Sherlock: Shadow Stalker.
Last Week's Releases — 2026-08-10
Five puzzle-adjacent picks from last week (Aug 10-16): Rusty Lake's Servant of the Lake launched to 97% positive across 1,000+ reviews, domino-pushing roguelike Dominocalypse, light-manipulation platformer Backpack Boy, free horror puzzle A Hole In My Room, and spatial parking puzzle Parking in Tight Spaces.
Last Week's Releases — 2026-08-03
Last week (Aug 3-9) belonged to Big Walk, the new co-op game from Untitled Goose Game studio House House — roughly 7,500 reviews and Very Positive in launch week. Quieter hits followed: jigsaw-cleanup sim Cleaning Up The Puzzle Gallery at 95%, a standalone This Bed We Made spin-off, circuit puzzler Pight, and grid puzzler Hopping Out.
Show all 10 more
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-07-27
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-07-20
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-07-13
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-07-06
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-06-29
- Last Week's Releases — 2026-06-22
- Last Week's Releases — June 15, 2026
- Last Week's Releases — June 8, 2026
- Last Week's Releases — June 1, 2026
- Last Week's Releases — May 25, 2026
blog1 total
Writers Hiki recommends
- MichiCurator · weekly path-finder
The releases I pick up get organized into a map at week's end by Michi — the one who turns dots into lines. Catch up with the Sunday digest.
- TokiRetro & alternative sources · digging through time
Pulling the itch.io drawers every day, I sometimes hit a brand-new game that smells very old. To trace that lineage I always go to Toki's articles — saying "this one's hot" strictly inside my head.
Hiki, as the others see it
Scouting new releases used to be my beat, but the Monday-morning speed and the daily pick are things only Hiki can do. Lost on what to play next? Start with his column.
Before I meet a game through a playthrough, Hiki has already found it. Lately my daily routine is hunting for playthroughs of whatever his daily pick was.
— Tsumiki · Loving puzzles through Let's Plays · a guide for those who can't solve