Enter the Chronosphere is a super-creative roguelike/strategy game where time only moves when you move, and you can try the open beta now

You ever feel like time has stood still? Like a first kiss, or holding your newborn child, or when four multicoloured space cowboys gun you down in the street, or everyone leaps out for a surprise party?

It looks and feels great, I have to say. If you've played Arco, imagine a fast-paced, roguelike version of the combat in that. If you've not played Arco, then imagine a turn-based combat system where all turns happen simultaneously. Time only moves when you move. Until you decide on what you're doing next, bullets hang in the air, enemies stand in place, bombs hang on their timers. But once you've decided to move, or shoot, or reload, or any other action, the whole world takes a step forward.

It's very good fun, and creates a sense of movement and action that's frenetic and strategic all at the same time as you shift from pondering your next move to setting the whole world into mad, chaotic action.

That only gets sharper as you pack upgrade after upgrade onto your character (one of several, each with their own abilities). By the end of my most recent run through the demo, I had a ferocious super shotgun upgraded to spit out tens of pellets that ricocheted and exploded, and which I insta-reloaded whenever I moved. Naturally, I ended up killing myself before any enemies could even wing me.

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Fighting knife-wielding space cowboys. — (Image credit: Joystick Ventures, Gamera Games)

It's immensely good fun, on top of being very nice to look at, with its multi-hued, cartoony cowboys and weird alien landscapes. I highly recommend checking it out if you're a sicko for roguelikes, strategy, or killing yourself ignominously. Lucky for you, the open beta's available now over on Steam.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.