Welcome to our latest roundup of what’s going on in the indie game sector. Even though it’s a short week with the long holiday weekend in the US, there’s still a flood of new releases and news on upcoming games. There will be more over the next few weeks, including The Game Awards, Day of the Daves, and many other showcases in the pipeline.
In the spirit of the season, one thing I’m grateful for is that indie studios are able to make the games they want despite external pressures. We have seen both extremes of this in recent months. This week, the Santa Ragione team said it respects players enough to release its latest game, horsesas intended. However, Valve has blocked the horror title from Steam which appears to be quite a messy affair. as a result of not being able to sell horses Santa Ragione, the largest PC games storefront, said it was in danger of closing.
At the other end of the scale, the team was able to take all the time in the world to make Cherry Hollow Knight: Silksong Due to the success of its previous game, which has sold over 15 million copies. Although hollow knight Fans fought for years for updates silksongThe small team had the financial freedom to spend as long as they wanted crafting and polishing the sequel. The developers were able to keep their heads down until Team Cherry announced the release date just two weeks in advance.
Those are two very different stories. Nevertheless, both of them resulted in completely original games that were based on a seemingly uncompromising approach.
new releases
aela – from Pulsatrix Studios and publisher Fireshine Games – is a great concept. It’s a first-person horror title in which you take on the role of a VR game tester. The game that the protagonist plays is created by AI (which is a scary prospect in itself) and adjusts based on your feedback. In a surprising development, the AI begins to tap into your character’s deepest fears and blur the virtual and real worlds. It sounds like an obscure commentary for an airport novel, but it’s a solid foundation on which to base a game.
structure of aela Allows Pulsatrix to create some unique experiences across different horror subgenres within one larger game. You’ll have to face a cult, zombies, aliens, creepy mannequins, puzzles and much more as you play through chapters like psychological horror and survival horror. There are a lot of ideas packed together here. i played a play aela And that’s okay so far, even if it does feel like a tribute band playing old-time hits. aela Available now on Steam (normally $30, but 20 percent off until December 9), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
If you can’t find long enough open-world action RPGs, of ash and steel It may be worth your while to bite the bullet. Fire & Frost and publisher TinyBuild claim there’s over 45 hours of main story content to discover here.
an interesting thing about of ash and steel The thing is, there are no quest markers. Exploration is a major factor and you can mark places on your map. Otherwise, you’ll need to pay attention to things like what other characters are saying to figure out where to go. Additionally, the final shot of the trailer shows a pair of Titans who seem ready for battle, and that intrigued me as well.
of ash and steel It usually costs $30. Steam and GOG are 20 percent off until December 8th.
young sun Ko_Op’s latest project is (goodbye volcano highWhen the team announced the game this week, it immediately became available on all Game Pass tiers as a Game Preview on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Xbox Cloud. If you prefer to buy it outright, you can also buy it for $20.
It’s (appropriately enough) a co-operative life sim for up to four players. The team readily accepts this young sun Still in development and this means that some features and quest content are not available in the current version of the game. However, as game director Graeme Lennon wrote xbox wire Post, “The game is playable and fun according to your intended pattern of play: checking in for an hour or two every day, slowly building your ideal ship-home, and making new friends.”
The game is set on Jupiter and you can explore space stations, planets, and ruins. You can collect resources and other items to help you upgrade your ship/house. There are 30 characters (and more to come), and most have “over two months of unique daily chat content.” young sun Steam is also coming down the line.
Dinopunk: The Cacop’s Adventure The first of two dinosaur games in this week’s roundup. This is an adorable looking retro platformer from The Dude Games and publisher Meridiem. It is said to pay homage to classic games Wonder Boy, Alex Kidd And Contra.
As an amphibious dinosaur, you can collect special items to upgrade your attacks. It also features arcade-style minigames. However, my favorite thing in the trailer is the boss called Gatling Saurus. love it. Dinopunk: The Cacop’s Adventure Now available on Steam. It usually costs $8, but is 10 percent off until December 1st.
upcoming
Cruel A very different kind of dinosaur game. It is a first-person shooter from OMYOG and tinyBuild in which you have a device that allows you to communicate with and control a dinosaur. It looks a lot of fun sending the furious Triceratops into battle or riding on its back. You can also take charge of the T. Rex.
The gist is that an evil corporation is out to change the world in their favor with the help of these prehistoric reptiles, and it’s up to you to stop this gang. Cruel Will be available on Steam on December 4th for $25.
Engadget’s UK bureau chief Matt Smith got a chance to try out There are no ghosts in the Grand Back to Gamescom, and now you can see it too. Friday Sunday has released a demo for the strange-looking “spooky, cozy musical mystery” on Steam.
After inheriting a dilapidated hotel, you have 30 days to fix it up using talking power devices (such as a furniture cannon)… or else. At night, you have to escape from the ghosts. The title of this game may be a bit inaccurate!
There are no ghosts in the Grand Sounds a little weird, but I’m into it. It’s coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S next year and will be a day one addition to Game Pass. It will come to other platforms later.
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