Weekend Game Picks: Ovis Loop, Off Remake, Silent Hill & More

6 minutes Kevin Leye

Looking for a weekend lineup that mixes fresh indies, cult classics, creeping horror, and competitive sweat? This week’s picks have a little of everything: a punchy roguelike about a mechanical sheep, a surreal RPG remake that loves to mess with your expectations, a return trip to the fog that started countless nightmares, and a couple of perfect palette cleansers—one for football strategists, one for puzzle lovers. Whether you’ve got 30 minutes or a full day, there’s something here worthy of your time.

Ovis Loop

  • Vibe: Tight 2D action-roguelike with gleaming sci-fi pixel art
  • Good for: Short sessions that still feel meaningful, meta-progression tinkerers
  • My weekend goal: Chain together a no-hit run through the first boss gauntlet

Ovis Loop wastes zero time letting you loose. You’re an adorable-but-deadly mechanized sheep sprinting through neon catwalks and steel gardens, dashing between telegraphed swipes while stacking perks that can turn a humble bleat into a beam-cannon of doom. What sells it, beyond the crisp feel of the dodge and the pop of each hit, is how runs escalate: you slot in perks that amplify specific playstyles, and suddenly you’re juggling cooldowns, positioning, and momentum like a speedrunner with something to prove.

Tips to get rolling:

  • Learn enemy tells before you chase DPS. Greed loses more runs than low damage ever will.
  • Prioritize survivability perks early, then pivot into damage once you’ve seen the full stage layout.
  • Treat the dash like a limited resource. Iframes are your best currency in boss arenas.
  • If there’s a talent that enhances charged attacks and you like space to breathe, build around it; if not, lean into rapid-hit perks and play in close.

It’s early in its life, which makes it great to revisit across weekends as updates and balance tweaks land. If you want a “just-one-more-run” loop that respects your time, this is it.

Off Remake

  • Vibe: Surreal, melancholic RPG with rules that feel like they were written by a polite dream
  • Good for: Fans of strange worlds, text that lingers, turn-based battles with a twist
  • My weekend goal: Finish Zone 2 while keeping a notebook of oddities and rules

The Off Remake revives a cult classic RPG made in the late 2000s, carefully preserving its unsettling tone while smoothing out many of the rough edges. You guide a figure known as The Batter through compartmentalized “zones,” purifying threats and talking to inhabitants who speak like they’ve glimpsed the last page of a rulebook you haven’t read yet. There’s a special unease here—less jump-scare, more quiet dread—where inventory items carry hidden meanings and every puzzle feels like it exists to test how closely you’ve been paying attention.

Tips to stay grounded:

  • Keep notes. Off loves patterns and wordplay. A scribble today is a solved puzzle tomorrow.
  • Read every NPC line. Hints hide in plain sight, often disguised as small talk.
  • Don’t hoard items forever. This world rewards decisive use more than fearful saving.
  • When in doubt, backtrack with fresh information. You’ll notice something new.

If you enjoy games that treat mystery as a mechanic, the remake is a perfect excuse to finally step into its strange, wonderful logic.

Silent Hill

  • Vibe: Iconic psychological horror with a fog-drenched town and heavier footsteps than you remember
  • Good for: Atmosphere connoisseurs, puzzle enjoyers, anyone who missed it the first time
  • My weekend goal: Reach the school, map it fully, and resist fighting everything

Silent Hill remains proof that low visibility can be high art. The fog still swallows streets whole. The radio still crackles just enough to make your skin prickle. Most importantly, you’re not a supercop—you’re an ordinary person wrestling with clumsy aim and limited supplies, which makes every encounter meaningful. The trick isn’t domination; it’s navigation. Getting good means knowing when to run, when to fight, and when to listen to the sound of something waiting around the next corner.

Survival habits that still hold up:

  • Conserve ammo. If you can sprint past a threat safely, do it.
  • Use your map constantly and mark your mental routes. Silent Hill is a maze that rewards familiarity.
  • Embrace the tanky controls; your character’s limitations are the game’s backbone, not a flaw.
  • On puzzles, choose the riddle difficulty that suits your patience. The satisfaction lands either way.

Revisiting it with modern eyes is a great reminder that fear lives in what you imagine, not what you see.

College Football 26

  • Vibe: Broadcast-slick presentation with deep playbooks and community-made leagues
  • Good for: Strategy nerds, dynasty grinders, folks who love the chess match before the snap
  • My weekend goal: Join a rule-set league and make the playoffs with smart gameplanning

Sports titles thrive on friction—the difference between what you intend to call and what your opponent expects. College Football 26 leans hard into that push-pull, especially online. House rules in community dynasties might look restrictive, but they create a healthier meta that rewards reads, timing, and restraint over pure cheese. That friction is where the fun—and improvement—lives.

Ways to level up fast:

  • Spend 20 minutes in practice mode mastering your top five passing concepts against Cover 2, 3, 4, and Man. Reps beat vibes.
  • On defense, user one position consistently for a week. Consistency breeds better angles and fewer blown assignments.
  • Script your first 10 plays. You’ll settle faster and learn what your opponent is willing to give up.
  • Accept punts and field goals. The scoreboard respects humility more than hero ball.

Find the right league, lean into film review, and you’ll be surprised how quickly close losses turn into statement wins.

Is This Seat Taken?

  • Vibe: Warm puzzle-box about seating charts and tiny personalities
  • Good for: Cozy puzzlers, handheld breaks, players who like rules that interlock cleanly
  • My weekend goal: Three-star the first two chapters without hinting

This delightful puzzler transforms social dynamics into spatial logic. Each guest has preferences—no kids nearby, prefers the aisle, dislikes strong smells—and assembling a perfect chart feels like conducting a tiny orchestra. The early levels are gentle introductions to the rules, but soon you’ll juggle constraints that dovetail in clever, surprising ways. It’s the ideal game to pair with tea and a comfy couch, and it delivers steady “aha!” moments without punishing experimentation.

Smart seating strategies:

  • Identify hard constraints first (must sit front row) and lock them in before finesse rules.
  • Group compatible guests together to reduce the number of conflicts to manage.
  • If stuck, remove two recent placements and rebuild from that pivot point. Momentum matters.
  • Chase elegance, not brute force. The best solutions feel obvious in hindsight.

One more level regularly turns into five. Plan accordingly.

Final thoughts However you slice your weekend, mix the tempos. Start with the crisp intensity of Ovis Loop, wander into the uncanny poetry of Off Remake, steel your nerves in Silent Hill, then decompress with either a thoughtful dynasty session or a tidy seating puzzle. That balance—spikes of adrenaline, stretches of curiosity, and quiet puzzle-solving—keeps the hobby feeling fresh. Have fun, be kind in your lobbies, and may your runs be blessed with perfect drops.