In-between all the big name reveals from Sony, Microsoft, and the rest there are plenty of upcoming indie games worth keeping an eye on.
Although we’ve still got a new Nintendo Direct to get through, the big Summer Game Fest week of gaming showcases has wrapped up and there has been an overwhelming amount of new game announcements.
We’ve already covered the biggest ones from Sony’s State of Play, the Xbox showcase, and Summer Game Fest itself, but with the likes of God Of War Laufey and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation hogging the headlines, it’s easy for smaller indie games to fall through the cracks.
2 Fights In 2 Tight Spaces
The original Fights In Tight Spaces was a novel blend of turn-based tactics and deckbuilding, designed to emulate tightly choreographed action movie fight scenes.
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Almost five years later and developer Ground Shatter is back with a sequel that promises more of the same, but it has a new system for transforming cards into more powerful versions and, intriguingly, online co-op.
2 Fights In 2 Tight Spaces is technically available right now in early access on Steam and is aiming to properly launch in 2027.
Among Us Story: On Guard
The explosive success of Among Us completely nixed any plans for a sequel, but developer Innersloth did announce a brand new Among Us game during Summer Game Fest and, surprisingly, it’s purely single-player.
You’re still trying to uncover an imposter hidden among the crew of a spaceship but, as the title suggests, this is a more traditional, story driven mystery game, making it a neat companion piece to the original Among Us. There’s no release date, but this is bound to come to every platform under the sun.
Bad Magpie
We’re not sure what developer Milktooth’s problem with magpies is, but Bad Magpie was certainly one of the more interesting announcements to come from the Xbox showcase.
You control a one-winged magpie who can only hop around a non-linear open world, pinching anything shiny it can get its beak on, to appease a mysterious talking star.
It looks like it could provide the same kind of slapstick comedy as Untitled Goose Game (we even mistook it for the same developer) although it promises to have more of a plot when it launches next year for PC and Xbox.
Carcass Clad
After releasing 2024’s indie hit Mouthwashing, developer Wrong Organ is already back with another disturbing horror game with PlayStation 1-esque graphics. Unlike Mouthwashing, though, this is a co-op experience.
Three players must work together to operate a tank as they explore a war torn city. The trailer doesn’t make it clear exactly what you’ll need to defend yourself from, but there sure are a lot of gruesome animal corpses littered all over. It’s only confirmed for PC and currently lacks a release date.
Cassette Beasts 2002
Cassette Beasts is easily the best of the Pokémon clones out there at the moment and we always hoped it’d get a sequel that would refine its rougher edges. So, we’re very pleased to see Cassette Beasts 2002 be announced.
Developer Bytten Studio hasn’t detailed any new mechanics or improvements yet, but there are far more monsters to acquire this time (more than 250), which means even more unique fusions, and you can import your character from the previous game.
It’s also set in London, which means it will deliver on the cheesy British voice-acting that Pokémon Sword & Shield crucially lacked. There’s no release date but it’ll launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
El Paso, Elsewhere 2
El Paso, Elsewhere was enough of a hit in 2023 to land itself a still-in-production movie adaptation, but fans are probably more excited for the actual sequel that’s been announced.
It’s still a Max Payne-esque supernatural shooter (complete with slow-mo dodges) although protagonist James Savage now boasts new vampire powers, such as diving off thin air and feeding on enemies’ blood.
There’s no release date and it’s currently only scheduled for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Hack ‘95
Billed as a ‘card-based computer hacking voyage,’ Hack ‘95 looks endearlingly nostalgic, harkening back to a time when the internet was new, social media hadn’t yet poisoned our brains, and RAM didn’t cost an arm and a leg.
This looks to be the debut title of the London based Village Studio and sees you play as a hacker in the 90s who finds themselves uncovering a governmental conspiracy with the assistance of a virtual pug. It’s only scheduled for PC and there’s a free Steam demo available.
Into The Wind
The first game to be released by Swedish studio Bloom & Gloom Games, Into The Wind is a charming looking adventure game about you taking over a delivery business from your missing uncle.
Your primary mode of transportation is a sentient motorcycle capable of flight and it looks like there’s a lot of emphasis on physics as you need to take into account the weight of your cargo, the terrain, and the weather while making deliveries. Not to mention sky pirates who you’ll encounter in airborne gunfights.
The plan is to launch the game via early access on PC, although no date has been set yet.
Ithaca
French studio The Pixel Hunt has consistently released very story heavy games and Ithaca is no exception, as you control an environmental rights lawyer named Penelope who embarks on a road trip with a hostage tied up in her boot.
Unlike the studio’s previous work, though, Ithaca has some role-playing game elements where you can upgrade Penelope’s stats to pass interaction skill checks when conversing with other characters.
The Pixel Hunt is looking to raise funds through Kickstarter and while there’s no public demo, you can register for a playtest via Steam.
P.O.N.
Co-op horror games like Lethal Company and R.E.P.O. are nothing new, but P.O.N. does offer a novel hook in that the ‘monster’ you’re trying to avoid is a superhero while you play as an average criminal.
Many have already described it as the closest thing to a Batman horror game from the perspective of the common thugs he regularly beats up, although the darkly lit trailer suggests P.O.N.’s superhero antagonist is far less merciful and, unlike Batman, might actually have powers.
The game’s currently only slated for PC and it’s listed as ‘coming soon,’ so it’ll hopefully be out before the end of the year.
Prove You’re Human
We came to 1000xResist later than others but it wound up being one of our favourite games of 2024, so we’re quite excited to see what developer Sunset Visitor delivers next.
There’s no release date or confirmed platforms beyond PC, but Prove You’re Human looks like a very different flavour of sci-fi than 1000xResist, opting for more of a horror vibe as you confront an uncanny looking AI and try to convince it that it’s not a real person.
Red Kiss
One of two vampire themed role-playing games that caught our eye, Red Kiss is only the second release from Wisp Fire, a small team of three developers based in the Netherlands.
Set in Berlin during the Cold War, this is more akin to Citizen Sleeper than Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 as you play as a newly turned vampire and manage your organisation by using telepathic powers to dispatch vampiric agents throughout the city. It’s slated for PC but has no release date.
Signet City
After two Citizen Sleeper games, solo developer Gareth Damian Martin is mixing things up with his next release, Signet City, which he describes as a fungalpunk role-playing game.
That’s because you play as a fungal parasite as it takes control of multiple hosts living in the titular Signet City, which is inspired by northern English industrial cities of the 1980s.
It’s also played in first person though Citizen Sleeper fans can rest assured there’s still copious amounts of dice rolling involved. It’s only scheduled for PC and is said to be ‘coming soon.’
Slap Out Of It!
After only making VR games, developer Turbo Button is breaking away to create something more traditional, although in-keeping with the visual style and puzzle solving gameplay of its previous work.
Described as a comedy sandbox, Slap Out Of It! revolves around you slapping anything and everything to solve puzzles, which sounds perfect for those who enjoy hitting and/or breaking things in games just to see if they can.
The game launches in 2027 for PC, as well as consoles, although Turbo Button hasn’t specified which ones yet.
Tenebris Somnia
Anyone looking for a new horror game to play for Halloween season will want to keep an eye on Tenebris Somnia, which launches on October 16 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 1 and 2, and PC.
While it’s directly compared to Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Tenebris Somnia goes for a retro pixel art aesthetic, but also throws in live action cut scenes that bring to mind classic FMV games… although developers Andrés Borghi and Saibot Studios claim that these were made by an award-winning Argentinian film crew.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Eternal Whispers
After the more action-focused Bloodlines 2, Vampire: The Masquerade – Eternal Whispers promises to feel much closer to the original World Of Darkness tabletop games.
It’s also borrowing a lot from Disco Elysium in terms of both presentation and gameplay, complete with dice rolls that determine whether you succeed at certain actions. Although developer Flyos (which typically makes board games) says that failure does not block progression and only influences the flow of the story.
Vampire fans will need to be patient as it has no release date and is currently only scheduled for PC.
Virtue And A Sledgehammer
Virtue And A Sledgehammer’s trailer is deliberately abstruse, but what’s abundantly clear is that you’ll get to utterly demolish a town full of robots with nothing but a sledgehammer.
There’s obviously a far deeper narrative behind this premise, though, as said robots are described as ‘android ghosts of your digitised neighbours’ and their destruction will unearth traumatic memories for the protagonist.
It’s only coming to PC, but it will be out before the end of the year and there’s a free Steam demo that covers the first 30 minutes of gameplay.
Vivarium
Another interesting indie from the Xbox showcase, Vivarium boasts a delightful 80s anime inspired art style and cosy summer vibes as you live out a life inside an actual vivarium.
Whether or not you’ll be able to interact with anyone outside of the vivarium is a question the trailer doesn’t answer, but your days will be spent tending a garden, cooking new recipes, and hanging out with your fellow inhabitants.
Vivarium is scheduled to launch next year as an Xbox console exclusive.
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