These are 15 great games from Slovakia that you must play
Although the Slovaks do not care as much about their Polish or Czech neighbors, in spite of this, in the past, we have created novelties that we also liked in several of our regions.
In addition to Slovak gaming gems such as Beat Saber or Vaporum, Slovaks can boast of successful turn-based strategies and promising titles that are still waiting for release. Here are the best released and upcoming Slovak games.
Air conflicts
In 2006, the studio brought 3Division Entertainment to the world simulator of combat aircraft with the apt Air Conflicts. In the game, you could join the British, Soviet or German army and fight with the enemies.
After some time, spinoffs began to appear – in 2009 Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II came, two years later Air Conflicts: Secret Wars came and after a year Pacific Carriers. The newest member of this game family took us to Vietnam in 2014, but overall the series had a hard time standing up against strong competition in the form of Ace Combat games.
Conan
In 2004, Cauldron Studio made a splash in the video game world with its RPG-infused action slasher simply titled Conan. The game was released on PC and all consoles at the time, brought a different view of the cinematic universe of the fantasy saga and received an average rating.
Even if the authors tried as hard as they wanted, with its repetitive gameplay without a hint of original ideas and average visuals, it is impossible to break through with the game. At that time, you also probably achieved several times better than the Prince of Persia.
Martial law
However, the real-time strategy State of War, in the development of which the Cypron studio from Michalov participates, has gone down better in the annals of the Slovak gaming community. When the game was released in 2001, it was very popular and after several changes, Cypron Studios finally came to prominence.
Although the graphics seemed more old-fashioned by the time, the fun gameplay built on building futuristic basics ensured two more successful sequels.
JB mutation
A bigger legend than the game itself is just the publisher behind this historic feat. The game was published under the auspices of Riki Computer Games, which belonged to the publishing house of the legendary Slovak periodical Riki. It was a cartoon point and click adventure game with the historic first Slovak dubbing.
The game probably won’t dazzle with its gameplay, but if your heart longs for the voice of young Jož Proček, Johnny Burger’s adventure is the only way for you.
AreaZ
For three years now, the Slovak game AreaZ has been available through Steam Early Access. Only one person works on this title – Juraj Bachar. The first impression will tell you that this is just another in a series of soulless survival movies that have been coming out like on a treadmill lately. However, when you look at it, you begin to perceive the subtle differences that characterize it.
As a proper game where fighting against the traps of the wilderness is the basis, AreaZ also offers rich item creation options, resistance to fatigue and regular food consumption. Here we come to a novelty in the genre and that is managing the menu.
It’s just one of the many differences, but despite the fact that the game tries to be original, it has an average rating on Steam. AreaZ is still available in Early Access, and the full version was supposed to be available this year, exclusively for PC. We even worked with the creator of AreaZ an interview.
Knights of the Temple II
The second effort from the Cauldron studio on this list is also this action-adventure set in an open world. With its qualities tested by the first part, the game is several levels ahead of the higher mentioned Conan game.
Better graphics, smoother gameplay and the peculiar universe of the Templars in connection with the gloomy atmosphere ensured the high-quality knight a decent rating, mostly moving at the level of seven.
Viking Wolves of Midgard
The people of Košice have been able to confirm their status as a quality studio focusing on RPGs, often reminiscent of the legendary Diablo, several times. The last time they succeeded on the gaming field was Shadows: Awakening, but we rather pay tribute to the RPG from 2017.
The Viking atmosphere and the frosty north, fun gameplay, a lot of objects such as exploring the world, not least the countless hours spent in the fun cooperative mode have strengthened the position of Games Farm outside the Slovak market.
Workers and resources: Soviet Republic
A significantly younger title on this list is the construction strategy from the Slovak game studio 3DIVISION. The game could best be compared to titles from the Maxis studio, which are behind legends such as The Sims, but especially the Simcity series.
The Slovaks looked at the construction aspect of real-time strategy from a historical perspective and, as the name suggests, it was straight from the times before 1989. In addition to the setting, the Soviet regime is also transformed into gameplay, when the economy is controlled by the government in the manner of a planned economy.
Vaporum
The studio Fatbot Games is behind the excellent dungeon crawler, and not only according to the rating, it is one of the best games that Slovaks were behind. Almost five years ago, Vaporum was able to revive the RPG genre with its steampunk approach and refined atmosphere built by the original environment.
Thanks to its rewarding gameplay, the game received excellent ratings in many cases and still holds them today. In the meantime, it also managed to arrive on the latest consoles, new levels, enemies and even a brand new storyline were added.
Gray zone
The fact that Slovaks like to publish strategy games is perhaps known since the days of the legendary Spellcross, also included on this list. The well-known Slovak studio Eastworks is behind Gray Zone, whose main job is to support larger game studios such as Bohemia Interactive.
However, the people of Košice also created their own game, which they presented in full splendor two years ago. Until then, players could play it in Early Access mode and the feedback was favorable, but today it has an average rating of 6/10. In its essence, Gray Zone hides a futuristic real-time side with RPG elements, in which a lot of weight is placed on the story side of the game.
Spellcross
It’s a shame that such a high-quality truck made it out at the time, it was so extremely difficult. In our region, it is Spellcross that has become one of the most important games of this culture, thanks to the above-average ratings of the time.
The content of the game was tactics with points that allowed movement or attack with military units on a two-dimensional map. You can think of Spellcross as the predecessor of XCOM.
Viva Slovakia
You must have already heard about the Slovak GTA called Vivat Slovakia. But you might not know that this game started as a Vivat Sloboda project that paid tribute to the 30th anniversary of the gentle revolution. Vivat Sloboda may not have been a full-fledged experience like the other games on this list, but the project earned a place in our hearts as a way to educate the younger generation.
The upcoming title from the creators of Team Vivat will transport the player to our country, specifically to the capital during the 90s of the last century, when our underworld was ruled by corrupt politicians and gorillas in leather coats who were not afraid of anything.
In addition to the well-known environment, the voices of popular Slovak actors were also included in the game, among which the main character is dubbed by Marián Labuda Jr., the voice of his colleague was voiced by Lukáš Frlajs, and the legendary Slovak comedian Rasťo Pyško will also appear. The authors aim for the release already next year, but we have not yet received official confirmation.
Beat Saber
The game, originally published by a Czech studio, on which Slovaks worked, is now considered one of the national gems, and Beat Saber is rightly considered the best reason to invest in VR. It became an unexpectedly strong commercial success and received several important awards, thanks to which the title can rightfully be proud of as the best game since the operating Slovak results.
It is interesting that the Beat Games studio reached almost 93 million euros in revenue last year, which made them the largest Czech studio, surpassing Bohemia Interactive’s research. Since 2019, it has been under the Oculus brand, owned by Meta, and continues to expand Beat Saber.
The path of the hunter
The latest news from the Nine Rocks Games studio is their first work, but they are not newcomers – most of them come from the Cauldron team, which is also responsible for the Cabelas Hunters series and Jurassic: The Hunted.
The hunting simulator from Slovakia offers exactly what you would expect in a similar title – a rich arsenal of licensed hunting rifles, a large open map and prey in the form of various animals, whose movements and behavior are at a high level, await you.
Reviewers praise the approach to the hunt itself, where it is possible to skip your obligation to provide payments, but it is killed by the slow pace and the sufficient feeling of reward for catching game.
In the event that it is the first major title from Slovak creators after a long time, and I hope that this trend will continue. You can now play Way of the Hunter on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
Die by the Blade – the most anticipated Slovak game of this year
Perhaps the most ambitious purely Slovak title will come under the baton of the Košice studio Triple Hill Interactive, led by the chief designer Peter Adamondy, and will present a dynamic one-on-one fight.
The game will initially offer six playable characters, working for each of them promise many customization options, so you will be able to adapt the excellent fighters to your imagination.
From the main content, in addition to local and online multiplayer, there will also be battles with bots or a full-fledged campaign for one player, in which you will follow the story of a samurai named Yoshidee. Die by the Blade is still scheduled for release this year on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.
What awaits us next
Read also about the upcoming Slovak games
Slovakia will impress the world with them. These are 6 great games that you must play
The games mentioned above are proof that even in Slovakia we can create quality titles and not just small indie games. In the near future, we still have a turn-based strategy Forgotten but not broken from Centurion Developments from Nitra, the platform adventure Life of Delta, the psychological RPG Sacred Fire, or Artificial, which Ondrej Angelovič is working on and took inspiration from the popular game Portal.