With the fresh flowers beginning to bud, this season’s crop of video games is starting to bloom.

As the grass becomes greener and the sun shines more exuberantly, this season of renewal offers an array of spiraling possibilities within the landscape of entertainment. From spellbinding encounters to explosive dangers, this springtide offers an assortment of sensational gameplay.

As the sun settles in, submerge into the Daily Bruin’s curated list of spring video games.

“Skin Deep” (Blendo Games)

Players need to be ready for anything on their next secret mission.

On April 30, players will awaken as secret agents tasked with protecting a spaceship from invading space pirates in “Skin Deep.” Players will have to improvise as they deal with explosions, cramped vents and errant sneezes in this new immersive sim – a genre defined by player freedom amid complex overlapping systems. With the ability to choose how to approach each scenario, quick thinking and creativity will help agents complete their daunting duty – even when the odds are stacked against them.

This project comes from Blendo Games, the independent studio run by the award-winning developer Brendon Chung, known for the stylish spy thriller “Gravity Bone,” the spaceship strategy “Flotilla” series and the programming espionage masterpiece “Quadrilateral Cowboy.” With a history of creating precise game designs in quality packages, audiences can expect this project – first announced in 2018 – to become another Blendo Games cult classic.

With complex systems and a slick style, gamers can expect this indie diamond to stand a cut above the competition.

– Martin Sevcik

“Elden Ring Nightreign” (FromSoftware Inc.)

The already vast realm of “Elden Ring” is about to get even bigger.

A shocking surprise when it was announced last December, “Elden Ring Nightreign,” will give players the chance to experience the Lands Between again – this time with a reimagined mechanic. Releasing May 30, the standalone spinoff of the 2022 fantasy smash hit “Elden Ring,” “Nightreign” will add a co-op feature to the game, allowing players to fight enemies and explore expansive realms alongside friends.

While “Nightreign” will retain many of the integral features of its predecessor, such as developer FromSoftware’s signature level design, character skillsets and herculean boss battles, the game will depart from its usual narrative mechanics. Instead of a semi-linear storyline revolving around an incrementally expanding open-world environment, “Nightreign” will constrain players to a “survive-the-day” mechanic in which they navigate the world of Limveld throughout its day before defeating a boss at nightfall – only to begin the cycle again. Along the rogue-like way, players will also be able to use a new near-death status mechanic to revive their teammates, furthering the new collaborative element of the game.

Although death may be certain and dangers inevitable in “Elden Ring Nightreign,” so is a refreshingly social time.

– Davis Hoffman

“Deltarune” Chapters 3 and 4 (Toby Fox)

The hopes and dreams of “Deltarune” fans are coming true.

The next two chapters in indie game auteur Toby Fox’s “Deltarune” saga are dropping June 5, coinciding with the debut of the Nintendo Switch 2. A sister game to Fox’s acclaimed 2015 release “Undertale,” “Deltarune” follows three prophesied heroes as they attempt to close the Dark Fountains – magical geysers that transform ordinary spaces into fantastical Dark Worlds. The previous chapter was released in 2021, and the game’s third and fourth chapters seem poised to pick up right where it left off, continuing from a shocking cliffhanger that has kept fans guessing for nearly four years.

“Deltarune,” as a pseudo-sequel to “Undertale,” shares several elements in common with it – including retro pixel-art graphics, humorously off-beat writing and an extensive soundtrack composed by Fox himself. The game reintroduces and refines its predecessor’s hybrid of RPG and bullet hell mechanics, with its turn-based battle system requiring players to nimbly dodge a swarm of projectiles. Like he did with “Undertale,” Fox leverages video game tropes most gamers take for granted to tell the story of “Deltarune,” questioning what happens to the player’s in-game avatar when the player isn’t around to control them.

The imminent return of “Deltarune” will surely fill gamers with determination.

– Paco Bacalski