If you enjoy independent indie game coverage, consider supporting Indie-Games.eu on Patreon. It helps keep the site independent.
Last month, I wrote an article about the game manuals where I mentioned that something important has quietly faded away when it comes to buying games, and that is a feeling of actually owning the media. Manuals used to be part of every boxed release, and they weren’t just instructions. They had personality: lore, sketches, maps, little developer notes. They made the game feel bigger than what was on the screen. Today, bringing that back feels almost impossible. Almost.
That’s why the Deluxe physical edition of UFO 50 has really hit home for retro fans. Artist Philip Summers, known for his hand-drawn retro-style guides, recently shared how excited he was to receive the Nintendo Switch Deluxe edition from Fangamer, calling it “the most me-coded game I’ve bought in years.” He even skipped the earlier digital version just to wait for the boxed copy. For him, and honestly, for a lot of us, the packaging is part of the experience.
And this isn’t just a thin booklet tossed into the case. The Deluxe edition includes a 100+ page “UFO Companion” guide made to look like it came straight out of the 1980s. It’s filled with hand-drawn maps, boss tips, item lists, fake in-universe articles, stickers, and even a mock newsletter called “Chan-LX News, Tips & Insight.” It captures that old feeling of flipping through a manual on the ride home before you could even play. The bright slipcover, retro-inspired art, and detailed pages make it feel like a time capsule you can actually hold.
The game itself leans fully into that nostalgia. Developed by Mossmouth, the studio behind cult favorites like Spelunky, UFO 50 is a collection of 50 complete games, plus a hidden 51st, framed as the lost history of a fictional company called UFO Soft and its made-up LX console line from 1982 to 1989. These aren’t tiny minigames. They cover platformers, shoot ’em ups, roguelites, and even full RPGs, some of which can take dozens of hours to finish.
UFO 50 first launched digitally on PC via Steam in 2024 and later on Switch in 2025. The physical editions arrived on February 20, 2026. The Standard version comes with extras like a poster, postcard, stickers, and a soundtrack. The Deluxe edition adds the big companion guide, presented as a “recovered” piece of gaming history from the fictional studio.
For anyone who misses holding a game box and flipping through pages before pressing start, the Deluxe edition of UFO 50 feels like proof that the game manual isn’t completely dead. It just needed the right game, and the right amount of care, to make it matter again.
The leading open-source PlayStation 3 emulator has taken a significant step toward hardware-accurate visuals.
I’m starting my series where I play every PlayStation 2 game from A to Z.
Originally released in 1985, Hydlide 3 was marketed as an “Active RPG,” emphasizing real-time action over turn-based combat.
For a game once weighed down by mixed reviews and the eventual shutdown of its online services, the resurgence is…
RPCS3 has announced a breakthrough that significantly narrows the gap toward full compatibility with the PS3’s extensive library.
Instead of dusty deserts or tropical islands, Arctic Edge throws you straight into a frozen wilderness.
A recent post on X has reignited debate about the rising cost of retro video games, offering a snapshot of…
The success of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has reopened an old question in the gaming industry.
Originally developed for the PC-8001mkII and MSX2 in 2024 and 2025, XeGrader has been reimagined for Steam with enhanced graphics…
The English patch, developed by mziab and the team at Phantasian Productions, was recently highlighted by Life Bottle Productions on…
The Dual Analog was first revealed to the public at the PlayStation Expo in late 1996, displayed under glass as…
Set in the politically unstable landscape of 13th-century England and Wales, the game places players in the role of ambitious…
More than two decades after its commercial collapse in the West, the Sega Saturn is once again at the center…
Before games could be downloaded in seconds and launched without effort, they arrived with real weight.
Many older video games were released only in Japan and never received an official English translation.
In an age where progress is almost guaranteed, it’s worth remembering a time when pressing “Save” truly mattered.
The action is presented from a top-down view and focuses on stealth, timing, and sharp reactions.
![[DEEP DIVE] Grand Prix 2 and the Birth of True Formula 1 Simulation](https://www.indie-games.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Grand-Prix-2-300x169.jpg)
The project was largely the work of Scottish designer Geoff Crammond, already famous for titles like Revs, The Sentinel, and…
Apple first introduced the beige Power Macintosh G3 line in November 1997, and it quickly became a turning point for…
Tiny Troops was developed by Vulcan Software and planned for release in 1995 under publisher Mindscape.
The leading open-source PlayStation 3 emulator has taken a significant step toward hardware-accurate visuals.
I’m starting my series where I play every PlayStation 2 game from A to Z.
Originally released in 1985, Hydlide 3 was marketed as an “Active RPG,” emphasizing real-time action over turn-based combat.
For a game once weighed down by mixed reviews and the eventual shutdown of its online services, the resurgence is…
RPCS3 has announced a breakthrough that significantly narrows the gap toward full compatibility with the PS3’s extensive library.
Instead of dusty deserts or tropical islands, Arctic Edge throws you straight into a frozen wilderness.
A recent post on X has reignited debate about the rising cost of retro video games, offering a snapshot of…
The success of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has reopened an old question in the gaming industry.
Originally developed for the PC-8001mkII and MSX2 in 2024 and 2025, XeGrader has been reimagined for Steam with enhanced graphics…
The English patch, developed by mziab and the team at Phantasian Productions, was recently highlighted by Life Bottle Productions on…
The Dual Analog was first revealed to the public at the PlayStation Expo in late 1996, displayed under glass as…
Set in the politically unstable landscape of 13th-century England and Wales, the game places players in the role of ambitious…
More than two decades after its commercial collapse in the West, the Sega Saturn is once again at the center…
Before games could be downloaded in seconds and launched without effort, they arrived with real weight.
Many older video games were released only in Japan and never received an official English translation.
In an age where progress is almost guaranteed, it’s worth remembering a time when pressing “Save” truly mattered.
The action is presented from a top-down view and focuses on stealth, timing, and sharp reactions.
The project was largely the work of Scottish designer Geoff Crammond, already famous for titles like Revs, The Sentinel, and…
Apple first introduced the beige Power Macintosh G3 line in November 1997, and it quickly became a turning point for…
Tiny Troops was developed by Vulcan Software and planned for release in 1995 under publisher Mindscape.
