The year seems to be progressing at a ludicrous pace to us, but nevertheless, we’ve been informed that we must adhere to the constraints of linear time, and so we have to acknowledge that April is almost here.
With April comes games, of course, as is the case with every month of the year, and some pretty big releases are lining up for your attention this month, so you’ll have plenty of distractions to choose from.
Without further ado, then, let us begin on this road once more. Here are the best games to check out in April 2026!
Darwin’s Paradox (PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 – April 2nd)
Cinematic platformers are ten-a-penny these days, but publisher Konami (yes, really) hopes that it can stand out from the crowd with its new octopus-based affair Darwin’s Paradox.
This one looks to have all the usual trappings of a cinematic platformer – think elaborately-constructed set pieces, puzzles to solve, and plenty of enemies to outrun – but, and here’s the kicker, you’re an octopus.
Honestly, we’re looking forward to Darwin’s Paradox immensely; it looks like a simple, straightforward attempt to create a game that’s going to offer uncomplicated fun, and we’re on board with that.
Pokemon Champions (Switch 2, Switch – April 8th)
If you’re a fan of the Nintendo 64’s classic Pokemon Stadium games, then you owe it to yourself to check out Pokemon Champions on either Switch 2 or Switch in April (and on mobiles sometime later).
The game will revolve mainly around battling rather than the standard RPG elements for which the main series is known, but you’ll be able to import your favourites from Pokemon Home if you want to.
It doesn’t seem like every Pokemon will be accounted for in Pokemon Champions, but hey, this one’s free to start, so you may as well give it a look!
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss (PC, PS5, Xbox Series – April 16th)
Publisher Nacon has two Cthulhu-related games coming in the near future; one is a single-player adventure and the other is a co-op extraction shooter-style affair.
If you hadn’t already guessed, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is the first of those two propositions. As Noah, you’ll dive beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean to explore the long-lost eldritch city of R’lyeh.
If you ask us, Lovecraft-inspired games have a pretty patchy hit rate, but we’re rooting for Nacon and developer Big Bad Wolf to bring this one home.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire (PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 – April 16th)
Emerging in the wake of the expiry of the original Mickey Mouse design’s copyright, Mouse: P.I. for Hire isn’t explicitly based on early cartoons like Steamboat Willie, but it certainly takes inspiration from them.
Developer Fumi Games draws inspiration from noir movies and fiction of the 30s and 40s for this first-person shooter, which looks to pack in tons of wacky cartoon action.
If Mouse: P.I. for Hire can match the chaotic energy of its visual style with equally addictive gameplay, then we’re going to have a very special game indeed on our hands.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (Switch – April 16th)
April 16th really is turning out to be a very busy day indeed, isn’t it? Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is one of several games lined up for this date, and if you like quirky life sims, this’ll be for you.
As with the previous game in the series, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream lets you populate an island with your Miis and then watch them interact with each other.
New features include allowances for non-binary and non-heterosexual Miis, as well as the ability to directly control interactions between Miis rather than leaving them up to the whims of fate.
Pragmata (PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2 – April 17th)
Pragmata is one of Capcom’s more experimental titles, and weird Mega Man conspiracies aside, we’re looking forward to getting our hands on this strange mixture of third-person shooter and hacking puzzler.
The game revolves around protagonists Hugh and Diana, a human and an android respectively, as they seek to find a way off a research station that has been overcome with robots bent on their destruction.
Whether or not Pragmata can reconcile its action sequences with its more thoughtful puzzle elements remains to be seen, but the demo certainly impressed us, at least!
Vampire Crawlers (PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch – April 21st)
Melding Vampire Survivors’ casual bullet heaven mechanics with deckbuilding elements and an overall dungeon crawler structure, Vampire Crawlers is developer Poncle’s first spinoff.
Whether this one turns out to be as wildly successful as its progenitor is another matter, but Vampire Crawlers looks to be doing for dungeon-crawling deckbuilders what Survivors did for top-down shooters.
Expect plenty of ludicrous combos, lots of synergies to discover, and a dizzying amount of depth that will probably keep you captive for hours on end.
Aphelion (PC, PS5, Xbox Series – April 28th)
Don’t Nod can usually be relied upon to make games that don’t bear much resemblance to their last project, such is their willingness to experiment, and Aphelion certainly isn’t much like last year’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
Instead, it’s a sort of Uncharted-style action-adventure game that involves exploring a vast new planet known as Persephone, with gameplay being spread across two distinct protagonists with differing gameplay styles.
Unfortunately, Don’t Nod has found itself in some financial trouble recently, so here’s hoping that Aphelion can help the studio get back on its feet once again.
Saros (PS5 – April 30th)
Sneaking in right at the end of the month, Saros is developer Housemarque’s followup to its 2021 roguelite shooter Returnal, and this one looks like it bears more than a passing resemblance to that adventure.
Where Returnal was brutally difficult, however, Housemarque promises that Saros will be more accessible to those who aren’t roguelite shooter geniuses (while still posing a significant challenge).
Story-wise, Saros isn’t a sequel to Returnal, although we’re sure you’ll be able to find a few nods to that game if you look closely enough.
