The Indie250 celebrations continue this Indie-Penance Day, as\u00a0Kotaku celebrates the birth of our great indie nation some 250,000 years ago. (Look, I\u2019m British, I barely understand this American nonsense and frankly it should all probably still be mine.) Below are ten more fascinating, fantastic new or upcoming independent games you\u2019ve most likely not heard of before, but will almost definitely pique your interest and be destined for your Wishlist.<\/p>\n
Genuinely, wishlisting these games is the very best thing you can do to help out these developers, as it triggers the algorithms and will put interesting projects in front of more people. Sharing this article helps too, not only to get more people interested in the games, but also because then my boss sees the good numbers and lets me keep doing this. And maybe he\u2019ll pay me more? And then I\u2019ll get rich enough to buy the site, and then it\u2019ll be all indie games, all the time! Take that,\u00a0The Elder Scrolls VI: Hammerfell. You are nothing compared to this deckbuilding bullet heaven visual novel roguelite about space pirates who farm!<\/p>\n
Spellsided <\/p>\n
Developer: Mass Transfer Interactive I love the idea of the die you roll to play a game also being the character you\u2019re playing.\u00a0Spell Sided is about a magical die where you can customize each face to cast a different spell, and then that\u2019s combined with the classic cube-rolling mechanic that\u2019s been the basis of so many fantastic puzzle games. The voxel-looking art is a perfect choice, and I\u2019m so intrigued to learn how this works out.<\/p>\n Janet DeMornay Is A Slumlord (and a witch) <\/p>\n Developer: Fuzzy Ghost I have no idea what I\u2019m looking at and I love everything about it. I was sold from the title, but the trailer triple-underlines it. I want to play any game that\u2019s set in \u201ca maze of debauched appliances\u201d! Janet DeMornay, it seems, is a former television celebrity who has faded from fame, and is about to launch a surprise inspection on the apartment she\u2019s renting to you. But, well, watch the trailer: I really can\u2019t add to that.<\/p>\n Ourlands <\/p>\n Developer: GrahamOfLegend We\u2019re not exactly lacking for cosy city builders as a species, but there is something about\u00a0Ourlands that seems a whole extra degree of chilled to me. There are no goals, there\u2019s no management element, it\u2019s \u201cjust vibes,\u201d as you build up and decorate islands with stickerbook-like additions. It\u2019s just about hand-crafting and poking about, and given how tired I\u2019ve felt this week, that just sounds luxurious.<\/p>\n Defy the Gods <\/p>\n Developer: Hectic Electron Games What is this witchcraft? It\u2019s like a video game, but instead of being displayed on a screen it\u2019s been trapped in some manner of papery vessel. In fact, Defy the Gods is a TTRPG printed in a gorgeous-looking 312-page hardback book<\/a>, which tells the tale and provides the ruleset for this queer sword-n-sorcery romantic adventure. From the footage, this looks like such a premium and beautiful presentation.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Roombattle <\/p>\n Developer: Dust Games This game\u2019s name is a way better pun than it looks at first glance. It\u2019s a game about battling robotic vacuum cleaners! You can play it solo, or with up to six players (online or local, and with an option to use smartphones as controllers), in a frantic fight to try to pop each other\u2019s bubbles. Literally. Please don\u2019t use the game to ruin someone\u2019s dreams.<\/p>\n Dance of Theseus <\/p>\n Developer: Citreat Studio So many mainstream games of late have been poorly disguised dress-up sims, not least among them the forthcoming\u00a0GTA 6<\/a>. So it\u2019s refreshing to see a high-quality indie just being first-and-foremost a dress-up sim, and even better, set in the world of monster ballrooms! You not only need to kit yourself out, but you need to craft the limbs and body parts on which you\u2019ll wear the fits, as well as making friends and falling in love.<\/p>\n He Who Watches <\/p>\n Developer: Danga Games It\u2019s a good sign when I find myself saying out loud, \u201cOoh, yes!\u201d within the first few seconds of a trailer. For\u00a0He Who Watches it was the first time the camera turned 90 degrees and I realized what sort of puzzle game we have here. This is about manipulating gravity, walking on walls, and firing magic arrows to solve puzzles in large chambers. Oh, and seeking the god that\u2019s in control of it all.<\/p>\n Folk Emerging <\/p>\n Developer: Curious Dynamics A 4X game set in the stone age,\u00a0Folk Emerging looks like an incredibly ambitious game from anyone, let alone a solo first-time developer, Curious Dynamics. But this tile-based civilization-builder looks remarkable, not least because of it\u2019s brilliant use of cave painting artwork. And yeah, it\u2019s alll set in the bit that happens before Civilization even starts!<\/p>\n Blocks For Babies <\/p>\n Developer: BunkSoft Interactive I\u2019ve seen a lot of things in games, but I\u2019ve never seen a classic 2D block-stacking puzzle game that can turn into a 3D first-person shooter. It\u2019s two very different ways to eliminate blocks! Like if\u00a0Tetris and\u00a0Doom got into Jeff Goldblum\u2019s personal teleporter. And it\u2019s about babies! I\u2026dread to work out how, but the whole thing looks splendidly batshit crazy.<\/p>\n Imprinted <\/p>\n Developer: Cobalt Lane
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