The week of May 18-24 brings together a varied set of releases, from open-world driving in Forza Horizon 6 to stealth missions, tactical sci-fi and more narrative-driven adventures. This roundup also includes new entries in familiar series, alongside spin-offs and original projects that each lean on a distinct identity.
Forza Horizon 6
Forza Horizon 6 stands out in the week’s lineup partly because its release is split into two moments: the game opens to everyone on the 19th, while deluxe edition buyers were already able to start on the 15th. That detail matters in a roundup, because it changes when the first clips, impressions and discussions begin to surface.
The game is set in Japan, with a clear emphasis on the contrast between rural and urban spaces and Tokyo described as the largest city ever featured in the series. The structure appears built around festivals, meetups, touge races, purchasable houses and a valley estate that can be built and customized. The social side is just as central: the campaign is fully playable in co-op, and EventLab, CoLab Horizon and the series’ best-known multiplayer modes give players plenty of ways to stay inside the festival with friends rather than go through it alone.
There is also the collection angle: more than 550 real cars, with a particular focus on Japanese icons, Forza Edition variants and visual plus aerodynamic customization. In a weekly roundup, this is the kind of release that does more than mark a date. It brings an early-access window, a strongly defined setting and a content mix likely to keep it in the conversation for days.
Deep Rock Galactic Rogue Core
This spinoff stands out less for the name alone than for how it reshapes the series around roguelite structure. Each mission begins with only the most basic gear, then builds momentum through scavenged weapons, upgrades and abilities as the team pushes deeper underground. That creates a run-based loop built on quick adaptation: the important part is not just surviving, but assembling a workable build on the fly with whatever the mission hands out.
The setting stays tied to the Deep Rock Galactic universe, but the focus here is on a descent into largely uncharted areas where the Grayout has cut off most technology. In practical terms, that means going in with very little and trying to come back with enough tools to handle an environment that becomes harsher over time. Four-player squads and constant cooperation matter more than individual progression alone.
The progression side also suggests a structure designed for repeat runs without turning them into repetition for its own sake: broad class customization, character growth, build combinations and procedurally generated caves all point in that direction. In a weekly roundup, this matters because it shows a familiar series moving into a different format while keeping the core identity intact.
Phonopolis
In a weekly roundup crowded with quick updates and overlapping releases, this one stands out for how it blends narrative adventure with a very specific visual identity. Amanita Design’s new game drops players into a dystopian city run by loudspeakers, but it keeps the mood playful and handmade, with a 3D world built from hand-painted cardboard and animated at 12 fps.
At the center is Felix, a young dustman who becomes immune to the city’s commands and can use the loudspeakers to solve puzzles, often by interacting with other characters. The rest of the game leans on environmental puzzles: turning walls, shifting floors, operating machinery, or tearing paper curtains. That makes it fit neatly into a roundup not as a generic curiosity, but as a game where style, theme, and design are clearly tied together.
The creative context matters too. The influence of Čapek and Orwell points toward ideas about social manipulation and individualism, while Floex’s music connects it to Amanita Design’s broader history. For a weekly selection, that combination of recognizable authorship and unusual presentation is enough to make it easy to place among the more distinctive releases of the period.
Thick as Thieves
This heist-focused adventure is set in Kilcairn, an alternate-history Scottish city in the early 1910s where magic and early technology are colliding in the same streets. Players move through the Thieves’ Guild, taking on jobs that involve stealing valuable heirlooms and uncovering arcane secrets across alleys, rooftops, and heavily guarded buildings.
The structure leans on short, replayable runs in either solo play or online co-op, with two playable thieves who bring different talents and abilities to each job. Difficulty ranges from Novice to Master Thief, and that shift changes guard placement and security layouts, so missions do not unfold in the same way every time.
Tools are central to getting through a contract without being seen: Slithersap can short-circuit security lights, a Smoke Bomb can break line of sight, and the Pickpocket Fairy can trigger switches from a distance. The campaign is described as multi-hour, built around contracts across Kilcairn’s most important and well-guarded landmarks.
Gallipoli
Gallipoli continues the WW1 Game Series with a focus on the Ottoman fronts, shifting the action from the Western Front’s trenches to beaches, deserts and war-torn urban areas. The game covers the Gallipoli and Mesopotamia campaigns, moving between amphibious landings, desert pushes and street fighting in occupied towns.
Its core is squad-based PvP, built around distinct classes that each fill a battlefield role: Officer, Light Machine Gunner and Stretcher Bearer are all part of the lineup. Weapons are described as weighty, reloads are methodical, and handling is affected by mental state and familiarity with each gun, which keeps firefights grounded in a slower, more deliberate rhythm.
Crossplay is included on PC and consoles, public matches can be joined by bots, and those bots can also be enabled in custom matches. British and Ottoman arsenals are represented alongside accurate maps, uniforms and music, tying the combat to the historical setting of World War I.
Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus II
The sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus returns to the clash between the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Necrons, but expands the structure across two separate narrative campaigns. On one side is Magos Dominus Faustinius, called back into the war to use his hard-won expertise against the Necron advance; on the other is Vargard Nefershah, leading her dynasty’s awakening and the reclamation of her tomb world.
The core remains turn-based tactics, with battles built around making the most of each faction’s distinct abilities and the different combatants available to them. New environmental mechanics affect positioning: the Mechanicus can use terrain for cover, while the Necrons can tear it down. The war also stretches into territory management, with regions to capture and defend, resources to generate, and garrisons to handle before each mission.
The game also adds a broader selection of units than before, along with the option to customise a court of Necron nobles or upgrade Faustinius’ Tech-Priest entourage. Ben Counter, known for his Black Library novels, returns on the narrative side, while Guillaume David is back on music and audio design, with events unfolding across multiple campaigns.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Books
The new Yoshi entry is listed as Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, with a release date set for May 19 in this roundup week. The available trailer shows Yoshi moving through a world that feels built around an illustrated book, giving the game a distinctly storybook look and a lighter visual tone.
There are no concrete details yet on the plot, but the title itself points to the mysterious book as the central hook. For now, the game appears under the full name Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, with a video already attached that offers a first look at the art direction and the pace of the scenes on display.
LEGO Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight
The new LEGO Batman chapter centers on Bruce Wayne’s path to becoming the Dark Knight, starting with training under the League of Shadows and moving into a story built around Gotham City’s most recognizable DC villains. Along the way, Batman forms a new circle of allies that includes Jim Gordon, Catwoman, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl, while facing enemies such as The Joker, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Bane.
TT Games frames the action as a narrative-led adventure with a reworked combat system that blends fluid combos, stealth techniques, and detective skills across crime scenes, street-level encounters, and rooftop chases. Gotham is set up as an open world to cross with grapples, gliding, or vehicles, including a full range of Batmobiles and Batcycles such as the Tumbler, with secrets, challenges, rewards, and landmarks like Arkham Asylum, Ace Chemicals, and Wayne Tower scattered throughout the city.
The available trailer reflects that mix of story progression, urban exploration, and vehicle use, keeping the focus on how the game moves between those systems.
