What to play this weekend – shoot stuff with guns, slash stuff with swords, and cat

This is something of a calm week on the gaming front, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new (and old) things to play. Let’s take a look at some of the best stuff gaming has to offer in the leap from May to June!

Release of the week: Umbraclaw (platformer)

(No, I’m not talking about the Feathermane in World of Warcraft.)

Umbraclaw is a really pretty platformer about Kuon, a cat that dies, multiple times — up to nine, I’d bet — but always revives with extra abilities, as she searches for a way back to her owner in the real world. This “Animal Revive” system gives Kuon extra abilities that can be full-on transformations, making her basic form much bigger and more menacing: she can turn into a humanoid battle cat that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Digimon game. But even her base cat form can learn skills such as dashing while turning into a headbutting spectral moose.

The art style is gorgeous, the story is emotional, and the game even features multiple endings. So if you’re looking for a combat-oriented platformer and you enjoy the idea of playing as a cat earning spiritual powers as she explorers the afterlife while searching for a way back to life, Umbraclaw might be the game for you.

Get Umbraclaw for $19.99 (20% off) on Switch, Xbox, and PC on Steam (there’s also a free demo on Steam) or $24.99 on PS4 / PS5.

Early access: Selaco (retro shooter)

Do you enjoy retro-style shooters like Doom and Quake? Would you care to play a modern game developed on an engine that emulates the exact same feel those classic games had? Do you enjoy shooting bad guys and making them explode, with purple blood flying everywhere? If so, this game is for you!

Selaco is currently on early access, but it looks really promising with its modernized take on those classic shooters, adding some sauce to their winning formula: smarter enemies, destructible environments, weapon upgrade systems, and a compelling story. The raw, crunchy feel you get on those older shooters is something else, and Selaco seems to replicate it really well.

Get Selaco (early access) for $22.49 (10% off) on Steam.

Steal of a deal: Chivalry 2 (multiplayer action)

I was introduced to the Chivalry games last weekend, and I was instantly hooked. You find yourself in the middle of an enormous medieval battlefield, either trying to capture a strategic location or defend it, and you have multiple classes to choose from, including knights, archers, and even engineers. There are many weapons to use, and you have a multitude of attacks — high or low, heavy or quick, melee or ranged, and more — making combat extremely intricate, brutal, and satisfying.

There’s something absolutely epic about marching into combat alongside a group of soldiers and meeting the enemy troops in the field. The immersion factor with this game is off the charts. There’s siege weaponry, there are mounts, there are items to find across the map or pick up on the ground from the defeated enemies, and you can chuck explosives at things. Seriously, if you enjoy medieval battles at all, you have to give this a try — especially since it’s free on Epic right now.

Get Chivalry 2 for free on the Epic Games Store until June 6.

Now tell us, Watchers — what are you playing this weekend? Share in the comments below, and we’ll feature your new interest in next week’s round-up!