For me, the two magic words are “retro" and “platformer" and developer NoxBix is promising heaps of both in their new game Sacred Stones. It’s a fast-paced action platformer that has you shooting enemies using a unique set of weaponry and getting into a whopping 20 different boss fights over the course of the game. Sacred Stones is not afraid to tell you that it’s a super hard game, and that you’re going to die a lot while playing. But it’s all in the name of fun and satisfaction, and the boss-centric focus and the unique strategies afforded by the different types of weapons in the game are what really stand out to me. You can see it all on display in the following trailer.

Just last week, Sacred Stones launched on Steam Early Access for Windows in order to get some feedback and make some adjustments. When it finally does officially launch it’ll end up on Mac, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. Obviously a game that demands precision will play best with the physical controls on desktop and console platforms, but I’ve seen some pretty hardcore platformers release on mobile and still work incredibly well with the touchscreen. It’ll be interesting to see how the touchscreen controls turn out in Sacred Stones, but at least I’ll always have the Nintendo Switch as a backup if it ends up that physical controls are the way to go. What a time to be a gamer! Give the early version of Sacred Stones a spin on Steam if you’re feeling saucy and look for it to arrive on other platforms “soon" according to NoxBix.