Side-scroller Aura of Worlds opens its ever-changing labyrinth next week

Shaun played a bit of Aura of Worlds at PAX Australia last year and found it rather promising, calling it a neat randomly generated side-scroller with a focus on improvised weapons. After a stay in early access on Itch, Aura of Worlds will enter Steam Early Access on Tuesday, April 24, developer Cognitive Forge announced today. 

Cognitive Forge says they've made significant additions since Aura of Worlds' Itch debut. The Steam Early Access build sports three types of procedurally generated worlds made from eight environmental themes, as well as 70 different enemies. One of the most interesting features is the ability to grab and use virtually anything, if only as a heavy object to club enemies with. 

You've got grappling hooks, most importantly, but also cloaking items, hackable turrets, portable light bridges, and seemingly everything-proof shields. And it sounds like even basic items have multiple uses. Cognitive Forge offers this example: "You can grab that lantern from the ceiling and carry it around to use as a portable light source or improvised flaming molotov."

Aura of Worlds is $10 on Itch, but its price will jump to $15 when it hits Steam. The price will gradually rise as new content is released. 

Austin Wood
Staff writer, GamesRadar

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.