Blazing Beaks

Blazing Beaks is by Applava and left early access on Steam in May 2019; it came to Nintendo Switch the same day, then to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S in May 2021 and PlayStation 4 in October 2021, and there is also a DRM-free version. You pick one of ten birds, each with its own ability, and shoot your way through procedurally generated levels of mutants and monsters, alone or with a friend on the same screen.

Its twist is the artifacts. They are tempting to pick up but each one hurts you in some way, and you can bring them to the Crow's shop to trade them for items. Taking more of them makes a run harder and, in the Daily Run, worth more.

The Daily Run arrived in April 2019. Each day there is a newly generated run that all players compete on. You can play it once, in single player or co-op, and most unlockables cannot be earned in it. Points come from opened chests, shop deals, enemies and bosses killed and artifacts picked up, and the number of artifacts you hold raises a multiplier. A countdown in the menu shows when the next one starts, and the official leaderboard site keeps an archive of every day's results with the character used and what killed each player.

Besides the daily there are normal and seeded runs, a set of challenges and a local tournament mode for two to four players. It suits players who like short, busy shooter runs and a risk-against-reward score.