As PUBG-like contenders emerge, Islands of Nyne might already have them beat ~ USA Latest Games

Call it a trend, if not an outright phenomenon. Battle royale games have officially catapulted into the industry's pole position, largely fueled by the neck-and-neck popularity contest between PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite: Battle Royale. And this week, we learned that even more of these games will likely show up by year's end, with rumors circling around major series like Call of Duty and Battlefield.

The news follows plenty of latecomers to the battle royale genre, which all have a few things in common. Roughly 100 players parachute onto an island with the goal of being the last shooter standing, and that contest is made all the more tense by random-item pickups and a constantly shrinking battlefield.

But what does it take to make a good battle royale game at this point? As more games pile onto the fray and triple-A entries poke their head in, I want to point to one out-of-nowhere game that has done more than bolt the niche's basics onto existing properties. It's called Islands of Nyne, and after playing a lot of battle royale games, I have to say, this indie entry is the one to watch from here on out.

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