Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium is an interesting blend of the classic gritty cop trope and isometric top-down RPG elements, where solving a convoluted, open-ended case becomes a sweeping adventure of urban fantasy, questionable interrogation techniques, and exploration of the city of Revachol, all rendered in a style reminiscent of The Long Dark.
The Last Night
The Last Night is 2.5 D platformer set in an alternative post-cyberpunk world where most facets of life have been taken over by AI from production to service tasks. Protagonist Charlie must navigate a metropolis he doesn’t quite fit into due to a childhood accident that limits his ability to interact with the pervasive technology around him, while finding meaning to his lower class existence. The art style borrows heavily from the pixel art tradition, but infuses it with a cinematic veneer marrying stealth, gun play, and world exploration.
Gris
If you are a regular, you’re probably well aware with our infatuation with upcoming exquisite puzzle platformer Gris. Players navigate rich, beautiful worlds as protagonist Gris as she comes to terms with her own fragility and learns new skills to progress forward.
Harold Halibut
Harold Halibut is a stop-motion-esque narrative adventure that follows the antics of a janitor stranded on a submerged space vessel. Every part of Harold Halibut is lovingly hand crafted from clay, craft supplies, and textiles then 3D scanned to create a world oozing with self-effacing humor telling the tale of Harold’s unlikely role in helping salvage the ship.
My Friend Pedro
The toast of the indie titles on display at this year’s E3, My Friend Pedro is an acrobatic platform shooter all about increasingly absurd ways to take down errant gunmen with violence in motion. Slow motion take downs become almost artistic, a ‘violent ballet’ as developer Dead Toast puts it.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The follow up to critically acclaimed Metroidvania adventure platformer Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps takes much of what made the original so compelling and infuses it with a fresh story, puzzle solving, fresh abilities, and an equally scintillating world to explore.
Eastshade
Eastshade is an upcoming first person exploration game set in a vibrant open-world. As a travelling painter, players must not only ply their craft by creating gorgeous tapestries, but discover the local area, converse with the populace, uncover mysteries, and navigate environmental obstacles. Eastshade is a testament to how far indie gaming has come as it’s a stunning game as things stand. One to watch for the pensive gamer.
Little Devil Inside
Little Devil Inside is a surreal RPG game marrying elements of world exploration, survival, and adventure in what can only be described as a dazzling low-poly art style. Little Devil Inside has been in the works since 2015 and is one of those indie titles that seem on the cusp of being abandoned only for developer Neostream to release an update reassuring eager fans that development is going ahead as planned.
Omno
Only announced a couple of weeks ago, Omno has skyrocketed to the top of indie games to watch list. Omno is atmospheric adventure of discovery, wondrous worlds, and challenging puzzles. It’s super cute, warm, and emotive. We can’t wait to dive in.
Narita Boy
Retro-futuristic pixel game, Narita Boy, channels an 80s aesthetic into side-scrolling action layered with a dripping synth soundtrack, a saturated color palette, RPG features, and oneiric dimension hopping mechanics. Highly stylized and weird, Narita Boy will suit fans of Hyper Light Drifter quite nicely.
