Written for the PICO-8 development platform and first released in 2018, Minima is a miniature version of the early Ultima games and runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi. It’s a tiny RPG with exploration, a scrolling overworld, first-person dungeon crawling, turn-based combat and movement, and NPCs to talk to.
Chuckie Egg 3 is a homebrew sequel to the classic Chuckie Egg Spectrum games (Chuckie Egg and Chuckie Egg 2) by A’N’F Software. It was written by Richard Langford and first released in 2026. It can be played either with modern graphics, or with Spectrum graphics.
This excellent Spanish homebrew game is a well-produced platform/action adventure, starring a titchy version of DC Comics‘ Batman (aka The Dark Knight). It plays really well, looks great and is a challenge worth undertaking.
Continue reading The Dark Knight: Shadow of Madness, Amstrad CPC
Another superb tribute to Ultimate‘s isometric adventures, this one called Melkhior’s Mansion. It was created by BitGlint Games and could be described as an “isometric Atic Atac“, although there is definitely more to it than that.
Released in 2015 by author Adam Strange, Viva Mortis is a brilliant tribute to the classic isometric Ultimate games.
The second H.E.R.O. tribute game from Luca Carminati was released for the PC in 2020. It is called “H.E.R.O. Is Back 2” and is an excellent update of John Van Ryzin‘s classic mine rescue game.
Created by Luca Carminati and first released in 2025, H.E.R.O. Is Back is a homebrew continuation of John Van Ryzin‘s classic mine rescue game, H.E.R.O.
Wycheweald is a rare thing on the ZX Spectrum – an actual Role-Playing Game, with a first-person viewpoint and turn-based combat. It was created by Red Zebra and first released in 2023. And, while it is a little slow to play, it is well presented and quite absorbing. That is: if you like these kinds of esoteric RPGs. Which I do! 🙂
Written by Marco Leal and first released in 2023, Pac-Man Arcade on the ZX Spectrum is about as close as you could possibly get to the original Pac-Man, without using voodoo.
Written by BonusJZ and first released in 2016, Ghosts ‘N Demons is an amazing homebrew tribute to Capcom‘s Ghouls ‘N Ghosts arcade game. It’s actually an unofficial remake of the original “Makaimura” for the WonderSwan handheld gaming console, which goes some way to explaining the game’s weirdly small screen size.
The King of Grabs 