Screenshot of Arby and Friends
David Crespo has released his second puzzle game for the Amstrad CPC – the first one being SkillTeam. Like that game, Arby and Friends is based on an online game of the same name by LukaszM on the Fancade gaming platform. There are 60 levels, and on each one, you need to guide Arby to a target marked by a green circle. Each level is also home to one or more of Arby’s friends, each of which moves in different ways based on their colour or markings on their body, and you have to manoeuvre them so Arby can reach the target. If you get stuck, you can skip a level, although you can only do this up to three times. There’s also a password system that enables you to restart a game from any level you’ve attempted so far.
Arby and Friends can be downloaded from itch.io, or you can even play it in your browser by visiting the link!
Castle Adventure
Title screen of the demo version of Castle Adventure
Easter Egg, the team behind the remake of R-Type back in 2012, has just released their new game Castle Adventure, appropriately enough on Easter Sunday. It’s been in development for over three years, and a few teaser videos have been released during that time, but if you watch the trailer below, I think you’ll agree that it’s been worth waiting for. It’s strongly inspired by the Castlevania games on the NES console. You are a young witch called Val, and you have entered the castle of the evil witch Raven. The game offers 15 levels of platforming action, over 30 types of creature to encounter, ten boss battles, and three different endings. The graphic and music are amazing, and the CPC’s medium resolution Mode 1 has been used to great effect.
Castle Adventure can be pre-ordered from Yogtze’s site. It’s available on either 3″ floppy disc for €30, or a floppy disc-shaped USB stick and SD card for €35, although these prices don’t include shipping costs. The demo version can also be downloaded from the same link.
Castle Adventure trailer
Time Lords
Screenshot of Time LordsGames That Weren’t has revealed yet another Amstrad CPC game! This one is called Time Lords, although it’s only a playable preview version rather than a full game this time. According to Games That Weren’t, Keith Goodyer was working on this game, which sees you playing a spacesuit-wearing character armed with a laser, walking left and right and shooting enemies, a bit like Exolon.
There are only a few screens, no score is kept, and you’re invulnerable and can’t die, but based on what I’ve seen from playing this preview, it’s a shame that Time Lords didn’t progress into a full game. The demo can be downloaded from Games That Weren’t.
Following on from the release of two text adventures inspired by the Alien film franchise, two more Alien-themed games have been released for the Amstrad CPC.
Alien the Xenomorph
Screenshot of Alien the Xenomorph
The first game is Alien the Xenomorph from CapaSoft. Here, you play the Xenomorph, and you must collect all the alien eggs to ensure the survival of your species. On each screen, there are several eggs, as well as armed human and robot guards who must be avoided or destroyed with your acidic saliva. Collect all the eggs and you go to the next screen.
Alien the Xenomorph, like CapaSoft’s previous games, has been developed using Multi-Platform Arcade Game Designer. This time, Mr Capa has enlisted the help of Titan to draw the graphics and create an impressive animated loading screen, while the music has been composed by Warlord. You can download Alien the Xenomorph from itch.io.
Axis
Screenshot of Axis
Aliens have overrun the Axis lunar mining colony, and you must escape – but the only way to reach the cargo bay is through a maze divided into sectors. Furthermore, the doors are locked and you must obtain keycards to open them. It’s a straightforward maze game featuring nice graphics and digitised sound effects; watch out for the scream when an alien grabs you and you lose a life!
Screenshot of Punch ChessTeam Moritz have released a new game called Punch Chess. It’s based on an Atari 2600 game of the same name by kamaleon70 that was released in 2023, and while it involves chess pieces, that’s where any similarities to chess end. In Punch Chess, you control a knight who is positioned between two chessboards. Various chess pieces appear from either end of the screen and move horizontally, and you must move the knight and press fire to punch the pieces, trying to score as many points as you can while avoiding contact with the pieces.
Each game lasts only about one and a half minutes, but it’s an interesting diversion if you want a quick game to play and you’re short on time. Punch Chess can be downloaded from itch.io.
New York Warriors recovered
The previously unseen introductory screen for level 4 of New York WarriorsGames That Weren’t continue their quest to recover lost computer games, and their latest success story for the Amstrad CPC is New York Warriors. “Hang on a minute!” you may be thinking. “New York Warriorswas released, and you’ve even reviewed it!” Well, two versions of the game exist – one on cassette, and another on disc. Unfortunately, due to a mastering error, the disc version is incomplete; the game is supposed to use both sides of a 3″ disc, but the second side is blank, so you can only play the first three levels – until now!
The author, R. Fred Williams, still possessed his development discs after all these years. Thankfully they were still readable, and with a bit of help, the contents were recovered. The disc version requires 128KB of RAM, but it contains music and additional cutscenes and animations that are lacking in the cassette version. You can download the full recovered version of New York Warriors from Games That Weren’t.
Bug’s Quest 2 for Macmillan
Novabug’s charity fundraising stream went ahead last Sunday, with ten copies of Yellow Belly’s game Bug’s Quest 2: Cash for a Cure being auctioned and all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support. A total of £572.23 was raised during the stream, and I managed to win one of the auctions! Well done to everyone else who bid successfully on a copy, and a big thank you to Novabug and Yellow Belly for hosting the stream and to everyone who donated money for a very worthwhile cause.
Cover of Bug's Quest 2: Cash for a Cure
Novabug announced on his most recent YouTube livestream that the auction for physical copies of Bug’s Quest 2: Cash for a Cure will take place on Sunday 1st March 2026, starting from 20:00 GMT. There are only ten copies being auctioned, and these are the only copies that will be produced, so this is likely to be your only opportunity to get one! All proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.
The Great Pakete Point & Click Adventure for Amstrad CPC Creation Contest
The Cepeceros Podcast announced a contest a couple of weeks ago to produce a point-and-click adventure for the Amstrad CPC using PAKET (Point And Klick Engine Tool), which was used in the development of the three episodes of The Key. The rules of the contest are available here, and you can download PAKET and accompanying documentation, tutorials and example source code from GitHub. The deadline for submitting entries is the 31st December 2026, so you have the rest of the year to work on it. At the time of writing, there is a prize of €400 on offer for the best game, as judged by Cepeceros Podcast, Pakete Soft and other members of the Amstrad CPC community.
I have reviewed four more games that were released during 2025:
Having reviewed Harrier Attack Reloaded and Oh Mummy Resurrected, I have also rewritten my reviews of Harrier Attack and Oh Mummy and given them higher ratings. In hindsight, the original reviews were pretty unfair (both games were rated only 4 out of 10) and didn’t really properly take their age and ‘nostalgia factor’ into account.
