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.
I was visiting my family for a few days over the Christmas period, and I was unable to update the site during this time – which was a pity, because three new games, and three older but previously unreleased games, have been released!
The Key: Episode 3
Screenshot of The Key: Episode 3
The third episode of The Key was released on Christmas Eve. As with the previous two episodes, it’s a point-and-click adventure. The game begins where the second episode finished; you are beside Jorge’s corpse, and you must explore Carfax Mansion and find the third and final relic, and the second part of the Ritual of Eternal Peace, in order to free the spirit of a young girl named Luna.
The Key: Episode 3 is available in English and Spanish and it can be downloaded from Pakete Soft’s site – but like the previous two episodes, you will need to solve a puzzle to work out another URL that you need to type into your browser to actually download the game. It is available in both cassette and disc formats, but I was unable to get either of the CDT cassette images to work on an emulator, although there are no issues with the disc versions.
Casimiro en la Casa Encantada
Screenshot of Casimiro en la Casa EncantadaESP Soft released their latest game on Christmas Eve as well. It’s called Casimiro en la Casa Encantada. Casimiro is renowned among his peers for solving puzzles, so they have set him the ultimate challenge – solve all the puzzles within a haunted house in order to escape from it. As Casimiro, you have to find a way to obtain the key in each room of the basement in the house, and then escape from the room, within a time limit. If you escape before the timer runs out, any remaining time will be added to the amount of time you have to escape from the following room. You can retry any room you’ve attempted as many times as you like, but you can only complete the game properly if you escape from all of the rooms in a single session.
Casimiro en la Casa Encantada is available from itch.io, and unlike some of ESP Soft’s recent releases, it’s free – possibly because it’s Christmas – so there’s no excuse for not downloading it and trying it out!
Two games by Alternative Software recovered
Screenshot of Sooty and Sweep 2Screenshot of Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race
The fantastic Games That Weren’t site (GTW) revealed that two games that were developed by Clockwize for Alternative Software in late 1992 – Sooty and Sweep 2 and Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race – have now been made available, after Alternative Software finally granted permission for them to be distributed. The games were advertised and inlays were produced, yet despite both games being complete, neither of them were released due to a dispute between both parties, the details of which have become lost in the mists of time.
Sooty and Sweep 2 sees the two puppets take on new roles; Sooty is now Sherlock Sooty, and Sweep has become Superdog Sweep and has gained the ability to fly. The duo must work together and wander around Creaky Castle to try to capture burglars who are stealing treasure for Wicked Weasel. You can download Sooty and Sweep 2 from Games That Weren’t, although it’s currently only available in cassette format, and you may encounter problems loading it on certain emulators.
In Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race, Thomas has challenged Bertie the bus to a race. You can choose either of these two characters, and depending on who you’ve chosen, you have to negotiate a rail- or road-based obstacle course and reach the finish line within a time limit. Every so often you must remember to stop at a station to refuel. The graphics are much more colourful than the first game, which was a bland Spectrum port. Thomas the Tank Engine 2: The Race can also be downloaded from Games That Weren’t, but again, it’s currently only available in cassette format and some emulators won’t load the CDT file correctly.
Hill 19
Screenshot of Hill 19
The aforementioned Alternative Software titles weren’t the only Amstrad CPC games that Games That Weren’t managed to recover recently. They also managed to find a prototype of a game called Hill 19, which was being developed for Gremlin Graphics, on some development discs that Lance Abson, the programmer of the CPC version, still had in his possession! According to GTW, Gremlin decided to focus on a similarly themed game with a different design, which became Butcher Hill. However, Hill 19 wasn’t entirely abandoned, and Imagitec Design took over the project. At some point the game was renamed Shell Shock, but it isn’t known how much further the game progressed before it was cancelled for good.
You can read the full story on Games That Weren’t, and download the recovered development discs, which contain an assortment of other assets from Lance. Hill 19 doesn’t have any sound effects or music, but it’s fascinating to see an unfinished game revealed to a wider audience.
Machu Picchu Battle
Screenshot of Machu Picchu Battle
Tony Ruiz Cabezón has released Machu Picchu Battle, which has already generated some controversy on the CPCWiki forum due to the historical background on which the game is based – the conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro in the early 1530s, during which thousands of Incas were slaughtered. The loading screen, which depicts the Inca ruler Atahualpa about to sacrifice a baby, is also in rather dubious taste.
What about the game itself, though? You play the role of Francisco Pizarro, and you must collect 16 coins and give them to an Inca shaman, who will give you the Sacred Leaf in return. This leaf lets you gain access to the Mountain of Sacrifice and stop Atahualpa from carrying out his plan to sacrifice a baby to retain his power. The graphics are fairly simplistic, and there is no sound or music at all. You can download Machu Picchu Battle from itch.io.
