The Evercade VS is undoubtedly my favourite console at the moment. It’s an essential purchase for old school gamers – and it also won’t break the bank if you do intend to pick it up. Or if you intend to pick up an Evercade handheld; the Evercade family of consoles are so much more than ‘just’ a way to play curated, physical collections of old games.

There’s also plenty of indie titles and previously unreleased – or simply geographically unavailable – games for the Evercade VS (and its predecessor/sister console, the handheld Evercade) that would cost an awful lot more in both time and money to get elsewhere.

One of the best added features for the Evercade VS is the Game of the Month, which allows console owners to download an indie game to try out for a whole month – for my favourite price: free.

In times where microtransactions and extra content can feel unfairly or unnecessarily, noticeably more than free, it’s a breath of fresh air to get a genuinely gratis experience for a month! What’s also cool is that the game actually remains free until you download another. Should you find a game you really like and want to essentially keep, just don’t download a subsequent one – simple.

Though I haven’t covered one of these games for a few months, the cost of living crisis that’s hitting us all seems to be one of the best excuses I can think of to cover a truly free experience.

And though there haven’t been any weak titles released as free Games of the Month yet, September’s is a particularly excellent game.

Eyra, The Crow Maiden is a game that was originally crowdfunded for release on the NES, but due to the Kickstarter campaign’s success it was also brought to 16-bit platforms. It’s a 16-bit version that we have on the Evercade; a platform hack and slash with your female protagonist accompanied by a bird (as the title implies) – who can also assist the titular character in taking down enemies.

It reminded me of Castlevania-esque NES title 8 Eyes, though it’s a lot more polished and forgiving than that ancient, somewhat forgotten title (which, incidentally, is also on the Evercade thanks to the superb Piko Interactive Collection 1 cartridge).

There’s some nicely unique mechanics and it’s a truly lovely looking game, as so many ‘new retro’ titles these days are. Years of game design advances and accessible dev tools have really democratised indie development and, quite frankly, we all win.

To access Eyra, The Crow Maiden on your Evercade VS, simply update your console to the latest firmware via Wi-Fi and it’ll be automatically installed. You can use save states and keep the title as long as you don’t update your system; however, do note that your save states won’t carry on when Eyra, The Crow Maiden is released on the Indie Heroes 2 cartridge. Just like all other previously available Game of the Month titles, it’ll be appearing on that cartridge – which is due later this year, but as yet doesn’t have a release date.

Given just how good all of the Game of the Month titles have been, it’s clear that Indie Heroes 2 will be an absolutely essential collection – another brilliant addition to the Evercade’s growing, impressive library.

Enjoyed what you’ve read? Want to support my blog? There’s no pressure of course, but every penny helps to keep this site running, as I earn no income from my writing here (though I may earn small fees from affiliate links posted on my pages).

However, I’d be truly grateful for any support that you could offer – and it’s easy to do so at either of these links: Ko-Fi.com/geekmid or PayPal.

Any donations are truly appreciated – and I also appreciate you taking the time to read my articles. Thank you so much!