Dune-inspired indie roguelike admits it kinda ran out of ideas, but releases out of early access anyway and goes 100% free: 'Only so many things you can do that fit into the 'lateral worm cannon' mold'

Indie developer Emerick Gibson first released Iron Mandate on Steam early access in March 2023: a roguelike shooter loosely inspired by Dune's sandworms, Gibson subsequently spent around a month updating the game, before seemingly abandoning the idea.

Two years later Gibson returned to fully release the game, make it free of charge, and share a post mortem "retrospective on a 'failed' project" (thanks, GamesRadar+). And he doesn't sugar-coat it either: there's "a lack of time, money and fundamental issues with the core idea...