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Xbox Game Pass adds a blockbuster shooter on day one in August, plus a highly anticipated indie game
Game Updates

Xbox Game Pass adds a blockbuster shooter on day one in August, plus a highly anticipated indie game

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Xbox has announced the games coming to Xbox consoles and PC on Game Pass. The line-up for the second half of August includes big names such as Persona 4 Golden, Gears of War: Reloaded, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Neat looking indie game, Herdling, is also arriving day one on Game Pass.

Available Today

  • Blacksmith Master (Game Preview) (PC)
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Void/Breaker (PC)
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass

Coming Soon

  • Goat Simulator Remastered (Xbox Series X|S) – August 20
  • Now with Game Pass Standard
  • Persona 4 Golden (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 20
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
  • Herdling (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 21
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Gears of War: Reloaded (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 26
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – August 28
  • Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, EA Play

That’s your list of new games coming to Game Pass Standard, Ultimate, and PC Game Pass this month.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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dune awakening character looking at sandworm
Esports

Peak becomes breakout indie success because people can’t stop joking about the name

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Peak, a small and relatively cheap co-op indie game about climbing mountains with your friends, has become a breakout hit on Steam. It sold over a million copies in its first week due almost solely to good word of mouth… and people making puns about the name.

In a gaming landscape dominated by big AAA multiplayer live service titles, there’s been a renaissance of co-op games for people who aren’t feeling competitive and just want to have a good time with their friends.

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Titles like Lethal Company, R.E.P.O., and Chained Together have shown just how powerful this formula can be. The fact that the price tag on these games is so much lower than the $80 standard makes them incredibly appealing for people who just want a couple fun gaming sessions with a group of friends.

Peak is the next big indie co-op game, and it has already sold over a million copies in the first week after launch due to a deceptively simple marketing strategy.

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Indie climbing game Peak sells a million copies in a week

For big gaming companies, games often have to sell millions of copies just for them to break even. But the wonderful thing about indie game dev is that a really solid idea executed well can create a game that’s truly special that doesn’t break the bank. Enter Peak.

Peak is a co-op climbing game where you’re tasked with traversing four different biomes, each of which have different weather conditions, to try and make it to the peak of that day’s mountain.

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The maps swap every 24 hours, giving players a new experience every time they open the game. So, despite it only being $5 on Steam, people can expect huge value out of this title and something they can play with friends for years to come.

🏔️PEAK is OUT NOW on Steam‼️

Scale the mountain as a group of lost nature scouts (or solo) in this co-op climbing game

Work together, communicate, and support your fellow scouts to make it to the peak… or perish 💀

Finally… we made PEAK pic.twitter.com/6kssz85I54

— AGGRO CRAB 💥 (@AggroCrabGames) June 16, 2025

Aggro Crab, a studio that helped with development on this game and has released successful indie titles like Another Crab’s Treasure and Going Under, was surprised and a little irritated by just how successful Peak has been.

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“why did this stupid jam game sell more copies than another crabs treasure im gonna crash out,” Aggro Crab said on their official Twitter account.

For those unfamiliar, a jam game is when devs get together and essentially speedrun making a game, using existing in-engine tools and a solid core concept to flex their creative muscles and just make something. This was a collab between them and Landfall, the studio behind games like Clustertruck, with them just wanting to make something cool. Turns out, they made Peak.

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The name accidentally created a viral marketing campaign that cost them nothing and gave them a breakout hit.

One tweet that people thought was funny garnered millions of views while simultaneously linking out to a Steam page where people could buy the game for cheap. Some AAA game devs wish they had marketing this smart.

They also made a little guy named Bing Bong that people just really like. So that’s something.

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And, while that $5 price tag certainly helps with selling copies, especially since someone could feasibly spend $20 bucks to give their friend group something new to play together. But it may also just be selling because, well… it’s Peak.

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Where are the Switch 2 indie games?
Esports

Where are the Switch 2 indie games?

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“I would like Citizen Sleeper 2 to have been on Switch 2 at launch, but that wasn’t possible,” says Gareth Damian Martin.

They’re not the only indie developer that wasn’t invited to the Switch 2 party. Looking at the current list of titles for Nintendo’s latest console, there are very few games from indie devs. Deltarune and No Man’s Sky are among the lucky ones that managed to get past the velvet rope.

Tony Gowland from the Edinburgh-based indie studio Ant Workshop says this slow cadence of releases is typical for any console launch: a time when development kits for the new machine are usually in short supply.

“In terms of dev kit availability, there has been a similar situation to the OG Switch, which was also like hen’s teeth for a good 6-7 months after launch,” he says. Ant Workshop released its first Switch game – Binaries – in September 2017, many months after the console’s March 2017 debut.

Backwards compatibility

Gowland thinks that in terms of sending out Switch 2 dev kits, Nintendo is prioritising titles that wouldn’t be doable on the previous console. “The indie folks I know who have been successful in getting kits are working on games that are in need of the Switch 2’s extra oomph,” he says.

Into the Restless Ruins | Image credit: Ant Workshop

“I believe due to the comprehensive backwards compatibility,” he continues, “their [Nintendo’s] current priority is to provide kits for titles that don’t have an OG Switch version in the works – at least that was the impression I got when we reached out about Into the Restless Ruins.”

(We have contacted Nintendo for comment and will update this article if we hear back.)

The vast majority of Switch titles work just fine on Switch 2. But, of course, those developers and publishers without access to a Switch 2 dev kit haven’t had a way to test compatibility before the console’s launch.

Damian Martin was relieved when they booted up Citizen Sleeper 2 on the new console. “Thankfully the game runs great in 4k on Switch 2,” they say, “but this was news to me on launch day!”

The waiting game

Chris Wright, founder and managing director of Fellow Traveller – the publisher of Citizen Sleeper 2, along with titles like 1000xResist and Afterlove EP – says that they don’t currently have access to Switch 2 development kits.

“It’s understandable that dev kits are heavily restricted before a console launch and they usually remain restricted for a while afterwards,” he says. “The Switch 2 has been very normal in this regard and we didn’t expect to have access to kits ahead of launch.”

Gareth Damian Martin would have liked to bring Citizen Sleeper 2 to Switch 2

Naturally, he would have liked to bring Fellow Traveller’s games to Switch 2 on day one. “We’re really keen to use things like the mouse controls in particular,” he says. “Games like Citizen Sleeper […] will benefit from having mouse controls on the console.”

But he also acknowledges that it’s “not very practical” for Nintendo to send out thousands of dev kits ahead of launch for a highly secretive new platform. Like most indie developers and publishers, he found out the details of Switch 2 at the same time as the general public.

That’s par for the course for a new console, he says: “It’s pretty normal for things to be kept on a need-to-know basis.”

“What we would like to see in the short-term is communication and clarity to indies on what we can expect”

Chris Wright, Fellow Traveller

But now the Switch 2 has been out in the wild for weeks, he still doesn’t have an idea of when Fellow Traveller might receive some dev kits. “We have, basically, very little information on when they’ll be available.”

“What we would like to see in the short-term is communication and clarity to indies on what we can expect in terms of when and how access to kits will open up,” he says. “We’re very keen to support the platform and knowing a timeline would allow us to plan for that.”

Engine support

The good news for indies is that support for Switch 2 is already in place for the two leading game engines, Unity and Unreal. In fact, Unity developed its first game in 20 years as a Switch 2 exclusive.

Andrew Dennison, the head of Unity Studio Productions, said the development of Survival Kids gave Unity a chance to “emulate what our customers go through” and verify how the engine worked during the production of an actual Switch 2 title.

Survival Kids was developed by Unity

Switch 2 support is available through a Unity plug-in for those with access to a Switch 2 development kit.

Unreal is also ready to go. “Switch 2 provides a real opportunity for Unreal Engine developers as it has UE5 support in place from the start,” says Terence Burns, co-founder and CTO of the Unreal Engine external development studio Tanglewood Games in Hartlepool.

Unlike on the original Switch, Unreal Engine 5’s tech stack is fully supported on Switch 2, he says, “which means that there’s plenty of scope for new titles to be developed, and it’s also easier for developers to consider porting Xbox Series X or PS5 titles to the platform.”

“There will likely be a few active decisions needed about scaling down in some areas, given the still slightly handheld-limited spec of the Switch 2,” he continues, “but it will mean fewer major content changes which would compromise core game elements.”

It’s notable, however, that Tanglewood still doesn’t have access to its own Switch 2 dev kit.

A peek behind the curtain

Another game engine that has Switch 2 compatibility is the 2D-centric GameMaker, developed by Dundee-based YoYo Games. The engine is used for the Switch 2 launch title Deltarune.

GameMaker’s senior product manager, Russell Kay, says they’ve been working on Switch 2 support for about a year. “There was a lot of security around it,” he says. “We had to have a locked room, things like that, and only certain people had access to the kit.”

Deltarune on Switch 2 | Image credit: Toby Fox

“Because there was a limited number of developers granted access to this, I actually ended up doing most of the work myself.”

He says that Nintendo had a “very mature hardware product” at the time GameMaker got involved. The main changes he’s seen with Switch 2 during the time he’s been working with Nintendo have been around the “process and admin side of things”, in terms of things like submission guidelines.

“They hadn’t quite finished some of those guidelines at certain points. We had to wait until they decided, ‘Oh, no, this is how we’re going to do it’.”

In order for a developer to use the Switch 2 development tools in GameMaker, he says the Dundee company has to confirm with Nintendo that the developer has access to a Switch 2 dev kit. “We can’t just take somebody’s word for it,” he says.

“They have not opened the floodgates yet”

Russell Kay, GameMaker

If Nintendo provides confirmation, GameMaker can then unlock access to the Switch 2 menu. Naturally, this means Kay knows exactly how many developers are working on Switch 2 games in GameMaker – although he can’t reveal that number.

But when asked whether Switch 2 dev kits are in short supply, he has this to say: “Nintendo have been keeping cards close to their chest. We now know of a few other developers who have Switch 2 access, and we are working with them just now.”

“But they have not opened the floodgates yet. So we’re really just waiting for that in terms of how Nintendo are planning on opening the gates to all the other developers.”

“We don’t know what their plans are in terms of access,” he adds. “We’re not party to what Nintendo are actually planning.”

The year ahead

At launch, the original Switch became something of a haven for indie developers. Its relative lack of graphical oomph actually worked in indie devs’ favour, meaning that they could avoid competing against big-budget, graphically spectacular titles on the platform.

But the Switch’s success also saw its eShop become gradually swamped with shovelware, leading to a discoverability crisis. This has been addressed somewhat by the new eShop on Switch 2, which offers improvements like better navigation and personalised recommendations.

Cyberpunk 2077 proved to be a big seller on Switch 2

However, the Switch 2’s improved specs also mean indies will see competition from games like Cyberpunk 2077, which took the lion’s share of third-party game sales at the console’s launch.

In addition, the games industry landscape is markedly different in 2025 compared with eight years ago. Whereas once Nintendo had the handheld market almost all to itself, now consumers have various PC handhelds to choose from, like the Steam Deck and the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally. It’s possible that these will become the preferred target for indie titles.

Meanwhile, many indie developers and publishers are still waiting for their Switch 2 dev kits to arrive. “Our hope is that they get to it, basically, and roll this stuff out quickly,” says Wright.

Otherwise, he worries about the games pipeline for Nintendo’s console. “What does next year look like?” he asks. “Are we going to see a dearth of new content?”

“We’d love them to maybe speed things up a little bit”

Chris Wright, Fellow Traveller

“Is it going to take a couple of years before there’s that wider access leading to releases? We’d love them to maybe speed things up a little bit now that launch is done, and get some comms out there, and some paths for more indies to start getting kits.”

We ask Kay whether he shares developers’ concerns about a potentially slow rollout of Switch 2 dev kits. “I wouldn’t be too worried, because all Switch games effectively work on [Switch 2],” he says. “There’s a large catalogue of games already coming to Switch 1. Nintendo have done probably the best thing that they can.”

“This time next year, it won’t be a worry at all for anybody,” he adds. “This time next year there’ll be full Switch 2 games coming out.”



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From Ball x Pit to Mixtape, our indie game picks from Summer Game Fest and Steam Next Fest 2025
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From Ball x Pit to Mixtape, our indie game picks from Summer Game Fest and Steam Next Fest 2025

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With both Summer Game Fest 2025 and Steam Next Fest wrapping up, each member of the GamesIndustry.biz team suddenly has many more games clogging up their wishlists than ever.

While the blockbuster picks of SGF were fairly self-evident – 007: First Light, Pragmata, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Resident Evil: Requiem all impressed – the indie game pool was much deeper, with new reveals across a variety of showcases. Many of those games had accompanying demos for the public to try out, too.

Below, we selected some highlights from the two events.

Samuel Roberts, Editorial Director

Out at SGF’s Play Days event in LA – which was wonderfully quiet and tasteful as games industry events go, by the way, and pleasantly far from the overcrowded hell of the later public years of E3 – I had a spare day to catch games, which was enough to see plenty of highlights.

The winner of the indie game bunch for me was Mixtape, the next game by The Artful Escape studio Beethoven & Dinosaur. Developer Johnny Galvatron mentioned Dazed and Confused and Ferris Bueller as two reference points following my hands-on demo, which roughly matches what I played.

Set during three young friends’ final night together before they part ways, it’s set to a pricey-seeming licensed soundtrack, with songs by The Cure, Joy Division, The Smashing Pumpkins and more bringing each chapter to life.

Mixtape combines adventure game-style narrative sections with set piece-y minigames: skateboarding and controlling a runaway shopping trolley were part of the demo, with each section set to a different music track. The mechanics behind these sections aren’t particularly deep, but they’re great fun to watch. The shutter-y, stop motion-style animation style is beautiful, too, making it a visual standout of SGF.

Annapurna Interactive also had the hack-and-slash game Bounty Star at Play Days. Think Armored Core with more Devil May Cry-style combat, along with shooting and dodging. Mixing gig economy commentary, mechs, and westerns, it’s got a particular flavour that should please fans of games with a Capcom lineage.

I also had a lot of love for Thick as Thieves from Warren Spector’s Otherside Entertainment, a PvPvE game where four players are dispatched into a map in pursuit of a (randomised) big score. The competitive element means you could feasibly wait for another player to avoid all the guards, disarm the traps, and take the loot, before ambushing them on the way out. But that’s just one way to play.

It’s a fresh reframing of the player choice-centric immersive sim genre from pioneers Spector (Deus Ex) and executive producer Paul Neurath (the first two Thief games). This genre almost never performs well commercially, despite a relatively high percentage of them being among the best games ever made.

It’s my hope that the specific multiplayer spin catches on beyond its usual crowd, because I like seeing this generation of PC game design master succeed in the modern age. It looked like a lot of fun, and pretty snackable as immersive sim experiences go.

One of the pieces of loot you can steal in Thick as Thieves is a wheel of cheese – I’m in.

Now for my Steam Next Fest demo picks, which I’ll admit are all obvious shouts. There’s Cleared Hot, a helicopter game inspired by Desert Strike and similar classics, only with a winch that lets players pick up and throw vehicles, enemies, and other objects for a physics-y twist.

There’s also a ‘dodge’ button – I assume all military helicopters have one of those installed – that gives combat a bit more of a contemporary action game flavour, as missiles fly past in quick succession. The voice acting is pretty ’90s (deliberately so), but I had a great time with the demo. On the wishlist it goes.

Mina the Hollower is the long-awaited new game from Shovel Knight developers Yacht Club Games. Fans of the magnificent Game Boy Color Zelda games will be in heaven: the art and sound design riff heavily on those masterpieces, to dazzling effect. Mina is perhaps 10% harder as a combat game than I’d like, but it remixes the old Zelda mechanics in ways that will delight veteran players. That game launches on October 31.

Next up, a shout out to a game that probably doesn’t need more attention: I’m utterly convinced Devolver Digital and Kenny Sun’s game Ball x Pit is going to be the indie game to beat in 2025’s GOTY lists (well, apart from Blue Prince).

A cross between Vampire Survivors, Breakout, and Bubble Bobble, it’s a game of managing vast waves of enemies marching towards you by firing ball-shaped projectiles into the crowd. Those projectiles can then be levelled up or even combined into new powers, giving the game huge potential in terms of offensive possibilities.

This stole two hours of my Saturday, no problem. I can see this mirroring Vampire Survivors’ success – it’s exactly as addictive.

Finally, the return of a PlayStation Portable puzzle classic in Enhance’s Lumines Arise was one of my most exciting hands-on experiences at SGF. For fans of Tetris Effect, this gives the Lumines match-four formula a similar injection of astonishing audiovisual splendour. I’m only gutted I can’t play it in VR on Meta Quest 3, but I’ll definitely check it out on either PS5 or PC when it launches in late 2025.

Sophie McEvoy, Staff Writer

While I’m still eagerly awaiting one of my picks from last year (that being Mixtape), there were lots of indie games to add to my ongoing summer wishlist.

For me, the best indie games are the ones that provide a dose of nostalgia. Watching a tiny gecko traverse the grassy landscape of a forgotten ruin took me right back to exploring the realms of Spyro the Dragon on PS1.

Obviously, Inserin’s Gecko Gods is nothing like the classic platformer, but there’s something about the chill vibes and the detailed movement of the titular reptile that hits the spot for me. That and the little tippy taps of the geckos’ feet as it explores forgotten ruins, solves puzzles, and finds bugs to eat.

Another puzzle game that caught my eye was Poti Poti Studios’ Is This Seat Taken? I can be a little indecisive at times, and this game takes that to a whole other level.

Essentially you’re tasked with sorting people into groups according to their preferences in certain situations. Whether that’s what seats people prefer on a train, cinema, restaurant, or even a wedding. The art style looks absolutely adorable, and the scenarios that unfold as you seat certain people together looks hilarious.

Moving away from puzzle-solving, Team Empereintes’ Fireside Feelings caught my attention from its cosy atmosphere and unique premise. The premise of this game, which is described as a “mental health experience” is sitting by a fire and sharing your thoughts.

As someone who struggles with keeping up a mental wellness routine, this feels like a fresh take on mindfulness that my brain will benefit from. Maybe I’ll learn a little more about myself in the process, too.

Lewis Packwood, Features Editor

Unlike Samuel, I wasn’t able to swan about in Los Angeles enjoying all the lovely new games ‘in the flesh’ (silicon?), but there were a fair few that caught my eye on the various indie showcases.

As Samuel and Sophie have already mentioned, Mixtape looks like an absolute gem, with a trailer that delivers a gut punch of summer nostalgia. Given the developer’s pedigree, this is sure to be a winner – and that art style is just mesmerising. How would you describe it? A kind of painterly stop motion, perhaps? However they’ve done it, it looks gorgeous.

Speaking of beautiful art styles, At Fate’s End from Thunder Lotus retains the studio’s signature hand-painted animation look, in a similar vein to their previous game, Spiritfarer. This one is a lot more fighty though, more akin to their underrated hack and slash Metroidvania Sundered. It also features a protagonist who produces a sword from her throat, which is something you definitely don’t see every day. Unless you live in a circus.

Garbage Country from Noio somehow mixes elements of Thomas van den Berg’s previous titles: the chilled-out post-apocalyptic plant-growing game Cloud Gardens and the tower defence behemoth that is the Kingdom series. Imagine Cloud Gardens, but where you’re barrelling around in a customisable truck and stopping occasionally to do a bit of tower defence. Intriguing.

I love the premise of Relooted, where the aim is to reclaim African artefacts from Western museums: the museums are fictional, but the artefacts are real. The trailer makes it look wonderfully fluid and fun, with the aim being to dash in and out as quickly as possible while swinging off light fittings and ducking lasers.

Finally, I have to give a shout out to Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth, Hyper Games’ follow-up to Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley. We only got the tiniest of teaser trailers for this one, but it was enough. The first game was like a hug in video game form, and no doubt this sequel will offer more of the same. And gosh darn, don’t we all need a hug right now?

Vikki Blake, Reporter

I’m going to start at the end: End of Abyss, to be precise. We barely saw a minute of it, but I’m already in love. I have a natural inclination for darker vibes, and End of Abyss has that in spades. The melancholy, the weirdness, the bonkers enemy design – I’m in.

For that same reason, Fractured Blooms also got an omg-yes from me, too. While maybe not quite as fourth-wall-breaking as Doki Doki Literature Club (the “Plus” version of which developer Serenity Forge publishes), the idea of jumping into a homestead life sim that slowly dissolves into something else when you’re not looking is Oh-So My Kind Of Thing. “Check the cabinets,” instructs your cheery on-screen HUD. “Check the freezer.” “Harvest 5 strawberries.” “Run.” “Don’t look.” “Obey her mouth.” I must know more.

Image credit: Serenity Forge

And then there’s ILL. Yes, the one with the baby things. I mean, I was in even before they used the word “dismemberment.”

Yikes. This is very different from everyone else’s list. For what it’s worth, plenty of colorful, non-murdery games caught my eye, too! Out of Words‘ stop-motion conceit is wonderful – there is no such thing as too many co-op platformers, and this one looks divine – and congrats, Felt That: Boxing; you may be the world’s first sports game to ever pique my interest. And like Lewis, I, too, am bewitched by the idea of Relooted; I’ve enjoyed wasting many an hour in Payday, so I cannot deny the draw of a heist game with a heart. Maybe we’ll learn a little something, too, eh?



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Clones, sandworms, scrapbooking and other new indie games worth checking out
Product Reviews

Clones, sandworms, scrapbooking and other new indie games worth checking out

by admin


It’s been a big week or so in the video game realm between the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 (our review is now live) and Summer Game Fest. During the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, Microsoft announced handheld gaming PCs that will have deep Xbox integration as well as support for storefronts such as Battle.net. Steam, GOG and Ubisoft Connect. If Microsoft and its partner ASUS stick the landing, the Xbox Ally systems could be a strong option for powering through your backlog of games, big and small. As it happens, you might be about to add more to your wishlist thanks to our latest indie games roundup.

The latest Steam Next Fest also started this week. Part of the fun of the event, which runs until June 16, is diving into demos for games you’d never heard of until now, so go forth and play some! You never know if you might be one of the first people to play the next Balatro, for instance. A quick word of advice: if you’d prefer to avoid titles with generative AI, remember that Valve requires developers that use such material in their games or marketing to disclose that on their Steam store page.

The Alters is the latest project from Frostpunk and This War is Mine studio 11 Bit Studios, which self-published this game. As the sole survivor of a space expedition, Jan Dolski has to keep a large mobile base moving across the surface of a planet to avoid the deadly radiation of the sun. To help him solve problems along the way, Jan must create and rely on clones of himself. These alternate versions (or “alters”) are based on divergences from pivotal life choices Jan made in his past. They each have their own specialist roles, skill sets and personalities, with needs that have to be fulfilled.

The Alters has an interesting premise. Once you factor in elements like traditional survival gameplay and base building, there should be plenty of variety here. Reviews have been positive for this one. I’m interested in trying it out, though it seems like the kind of thing that may prompt one to reflect on their own life choices. The Alters is out now on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

Dune: Awakening is another major indie game that arrived on Steam this week (well, June 5 for those who bought pricier editions) following a delay. It will hit consoles at a later date. The open-world survival MMO from developer Funcom takes inspiration from Frank Herbert’s novels and Denis Villeneuve’s films. It still takes place on Arrakis but is set in an alternate timeline.

You’ll want to be extra careful when it comes to sandworms. You’ll keep most of your gear if you die by the hands of other players or other computer-controlled enemies, though you’ll drop some resources that you can pick up again if you perish in PvP combat. If a sandworm devours you, though, you’ll lose absolutely everything you’re carrying.

Oh dear, where to start with MindsEye? It is fair to say this is a video game that became available to buy this week on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It is also fair to say that the debut of this action-adventure title from former GTA producer Leslie Benzies’ studio Build A Rocket Boy has been less than smooth.

It was already pretty ominous that two executives left Build a Rocket Boy just days before the arrival of MindsEye. After the game’s release, Sony reportedly issued refunds to some players as clips showing glitches, bugs, performance issues and clunky gameplay spread. There isn’t even an in-game world map.

One creator who played the game kept laughing throughout their sponsored stream (the developer is also said to have pulled the plug on another sponsored stream just as it was about to start). That’s pretty ironic, considering Build a Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard said there was “a concerted effort” against MindsEye and claimed “that there are bot farms posting negative comments and dislikes.”

The studio claimed this week it was “working around the clock” to improve MindsEye. Perhaps Build A Rocket Boy will surprise everyone and turn things around in a similar fashion to Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man’s Sky. That seems like a tall order, to say the least.

Indie games aren’t all survival and action, of course. They can also be about things like arranging photos in chronological order to discover a family story.

Such is the case with Instants from developer Endflame, which debuted on Steam during last Saturday’s Wholesome Direct showcase. It’s a charming-looking puzzle game in which you can decorate your photo album and, if you need it, get some help from a furry friend.

I’ve been itching to get my hands on Baby Steps for ages, so after we got a September 8 release date for the game on Steam and PS5, I was very happy that a Steam demo arrived last weekend. This is a walking simulator in the truest sense of the term from Bennett Foddy (QWOP, Getting Over It), Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch (both of whom worked with Foddy on the enjoyable Ape Out) and publisher Devolver Digital. You use controller triggers or mouse buttons to lift main character Nate’s feet one at a time and place them on the ground after using directional buttons or a thumbstick to position them.

Nate, “an unemployed failson” who seems very unfamiliar with the skill of walking, will fall over and over and over again as you hike up mountains. Sometimes he’ll fall down a muddy ravine, sending him tumbling down the side of a peak.

You might want to quit or uninstall the demo after an unfortunate tumble. I understand. I did too. But the early evidence suggests Baby Steps is shaping up to be a uniquely hilarious, frustrating and hopefully rewarding experience. And so we march on.

One of the more compelling reveals for me at the Xbox Games Showcase was a sequel to Planet of Lana, which I enjoyed very much. The follow-up to that story-driven puzzle platformer is Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf.

Developer Wishfully and Thunderful Publishing are bringing this installment, which looks just as beautiful as the first game, to Steam, Xbox and PlayStation in 2026. It’ll be available on Game Pass on day one. Looking forward to it.

I’ve had Gecko Gods from developer Inresin and publisher Super Rare Originals on my radar for a few years now. As a little gecko trying to save their friend, you’ll be able to climb on anything while exploring an island.

After some delays, this puzzle platformer is set to arrive on Steam, Switch and PlayStation this fall. A demo dropped as part of Steam Next Fest too.

During the various showcases over the last week or so, we saw not one, but two farming/life sims that are squarely in the horror genre. I am excited for them both. First up is Fractured Blooms from Serenity Forge (Doki Doki Literature Club Plus).

Your character, Angie, is stuck in a time loop and you’ll have to manage her food and stamina. You’ll tend to her garden and prepare meals before completing evening chores in your home, though you may not be the only entity that resides there.

As if I weren’t looking forward to this one enough already, Serenity Forge says the seminal TV show Lost was one of its inspirations for Fractured Blooms. There’s no release window as yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam if you’re interested.

The other horror-inflected farming sim that caught my eye this week is Grave Seasons, from Perfect Garbage and publisher Blumhouse Games. Sure, you’ll harvest crops, go fishing and get to know your neighbors. You might also break and enter into their homes.

While the mountain town of Ashenridge might seem idyllic on the surface, beware: there’s a supernatural serial killer on the prowl. Grave Seasons is coming to PC and consoles in 2026.

One Steam Next Fest demo I’ll certainly be checking out this weekend is for a game called Dispatch, which was announced at The Game Awards in December. This comedic narrative game is about a hero (Aaron Paul) who has run into difficult times after losing his mech suit. He starts working as a superhero dispatcher. You’ll “manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships and your own quest to become a hero.”

Dispatch has a stellar cast that also includes Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer and Academy Award nominee Jeffrey Wright. Given that Dispatch is being made by former Telltale developers at AdHoc Studio, it’s maybe not too much of a surprise that dialogue choices are a key part of the gameplay, which has some strategic elements as well. Dispatch is coming to PC and consoles later this year.



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7 Games That Prove Indie Studios Are Outshining AAA Publishers in 2025

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Spending $300 million on a game is one way to set that game on the road to success; ultra-detailed, immersive games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and next year’s Grand Theft Auto 6 appeal to gamers looking for a cutting edge experience.

But $300 million doesn’t promise you a good game—just a big one. We’re not even six full months into 2025, and indie developers can’t stop dropping great games on us, from genuine all-timers to zeitgeist-catching games that we all can’t resist picking up and checking out.

Making it even more impressive is how many big mainstream releases we’ve had so far this year. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Monster Hunter Wilds, Avowed, and Doom: The Dark Age would make for a great year so far on their own.

But small teams are as scrappy as ever, bringing us unique, special games—and they’re outshining and making headlines just as much as the big guys. Here are this year’s biggest, must-play indie gems so far.

Blue Prince

Puzzles within puzzles within puzzles. Blue Prince is one of the most lauded games of the year, with an impressive 92 critic rating on Metacritic, and was developed by a single person over the course of eight years—a true indie title.

In this one, you’re exploring a house ostensibly to find the hidden 46th room, but there’s a lot more going on. This game quickly caught on with fans of puzzle games, earning comparisons to the legendary Myst and games like Fez. Those of us who listen to video game podcasts couldn’t miss it—no matter where you turned, gaming people were talking about it.

It’s as divisive as any puzzle game—some of us just aren’t there to do math in video games—but it’s rare for a game to be as well received as Blue Prince.



Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Let’s get it out of the way: The title of this game makes it sound terrible and generic. But it’s not. Instead, it’s a haunting tale of a dying world, with a story told via excellent voice acting and writing.

From French indie developer Sandfall Interactive, this game punches way above its weight. It combines ideas from classic Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) with twists from other genres to make something new, prompting fans to dub it an FRPG, or French role playing game, to demonstrate the differences and commonalities.

The team at Sandfall is relatively small, considering the visual fidelity and size of the game, though it’s important to note that Sandfall used contracted work—just like every other studio building an ambitious game these days. Even with those contractors, though, it’s still a demonstration that games developed by big studios don’t need to be so big and complex to capture an enthusiastic and receptive audience.

Schedule I

If you’re an old gamer who came up in the days of graphing calculators, you might’ve played, or seen friends play, a game called Drug Wars. Schedule I jumps off the same idea. You play a drug dealer who must grow and manufacture a variety of illegal drugs and drug variants, and then sell them to interested buyers—all without getting caught.

Despite being a single-player game that looks like a South Park knockoff, Schedule I raced to the top of the Steam charts quickly. It’s still in Early Access, which means it’ll get a bunch more content—but even in its early state, it had over 400,000 players playing at once in April and March, putting it in the top three PC games during those times (right below Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2).

R.E.P.O.

Games with cooperative gameplay and proximity chat have been growing in popularity the last few years, and R.E.P.O. is the latest to do it—and also maybe the funniest. You and your friends play as stout little robots who must extract valuable items from haunted places, avoiding monsters like “girl with sword hands” and “frog chef with a knife.” Not to mention the gnomes.

As you talk and look around, though, the top of your character’s head bobbles, and the eyes track where you’re moving the mouse, which make for very expressive characters despite the simple designs. Even just looking at your friend and quietly saying “hey” can be enough to get a laugh, but the screams suddenly cut off by a monster sighting are the best part.

Wanderstop

Davey Wreden is best known for The Stanley Parable, and his latest game, Wanderstop, is something completely different. It’s the very definition of a cozy game, with warm, cartoon-y art, telling a story about career burnout and change as an ex-warrior reluctantly learns to manage a tea shop.

It also acts as a sort of commentary on cozy games in general, as a narrative game that offers very little in the way of traditional progression. You won’t level up your tea machine or upgrade your shop here; Inverse’s review nailed it with this quote: “If cozy games are a reaction to the power fantasy of action games, Wanderstop is a reaction to the fantasy of productivity and self-sufficiency that cozy games offer.”

How the game hits for you will depend on your relationship to those kinds of games, but it’s the willingness to peel the veneer off a well-trodden genre and examine it like this is perfectly in line with Wreden’s previous work, and makes it a standout indie game.

Keep Driving

Keep Driving is a turn-based road trip RPG. Management games are so often about places, but this is a management game about an experience. You’re not trying to make a self-sustaining store or restore an entire town. You’re just trying to keep your road trip going.

You’ll pick up hitchhikers along the way, as well as upgrade and customize your car. There’s a soundtrack of Swedish indie bands and a bunch of endings to keep the game compelling, and the art feels like it would fit into a game published during the early 2000s setting of the game.

Despelote

Despelote is a short but beautiful autobiographical story from its creator, told about living in Quito, Ecuador, and the way soccer affects the citizens of the city as Ecuador comes closer and closer to qualifying for the World Cup. The story is told through the eyes of 8-year-old Julian, as you kick the ball around and listen in on adult conversations as you explore your corner of Ecuador’s capital.

The game features unique art, with backgrounds that bring Return of the Obra Dinn to mind, and simple, hand-drawn characters. This is a quiet but affecting little narrative game, telling the kind of personal story a huge AAA game simply can’t.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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illustration of rally car making jump with blue sky and golden gate bridge in background.
Product Reviews

Real-life rally racing is dying and triple-A rally games are dead, but the sport’s gotten a second life thanks to these excellent indie racers

by admin



The sport of rally racing is simple and accessible: you take a cheap city car, give it some all-terrain tires, and throw it down a hair-raising man-versus-nature gauntlet of winding dirt roads with a copilot shouting directions in your ear.

There are no laps, no other drivers, and no pit stops. Unfortunately for fans, there’s also no more interest in the sport—or at least, not much. Manufacturer participation and viewership have both been in freefall for decades.

Parking Garage Rally Circuit Official Gameplay Trailer – YouTube

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So it’s kind of baffling that we’re living in a golden age of rally video games—at least if you look at the indie scene. Smash hits abound, from 2020’s highly stylized Art of Rally to 2022’s gritty PlayStation 2-vibed Rush Rally 3 and 2024’s white-knuckle ode to public infrastructure Parking Garage Rally Circuit.


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Not only do these games bring the thrill of off-track racing back to life; every single one also comes charged with its own flavor nostalgia for a bygone era, a pre-Y2K time that many of the genre’s core fans, and even some of its developers⁠, are too young to have experienced firsthand.

Meanwhile, in the triple-A space, EA recently announced that its subsidiary developer, Codemasters, is pulling out of rally racing after an iconic quarter-century run of games based on the sport.

The motorsport is in an all-time slump, and an enthusiast car market once saturated with homologation specials⁠—that is to say, race-ready cars you can buy directly from the manufacturer⁠—now has basically zero road-legal rally cars for sale.

If rally is a dying art, then why are there so many indie racers to choose from? Formula 1 racing has utterly exploded in popularity over the last half-decade. But despite that motorsport’s fanbase nearing 1 billion people, sales of indie track-style racing games patterned after F1 and the like don’t show a similar success (though I do have to shout out New Star GP).

Pick up and play

(Image credit: Brownmonster Limited)

Part of the magic with all these indie rally games is, like with the broader indie renaissance, you can run any of them on a cheap PC from the early 2010s or similarly low-spec device. I logged all of my Art of Rally hours on a three-year-old phone, and #Drive Rally (my most recent obsession) runs buttery smooth most of the time on my MacBook Air.

And even if you’ve never driven a car in your life, there’s something addictive about sliding your car through a snowy Finnish wood in Rush Rally 3, around a rainy Japanese mountain switchback in Art of Rally, or down a sandy American desert valley in #Drive Rally.

Like a tight platforming roguelite or an Elden Ring speedrun, the appeal of rally is incredibly simple: one tiny mistake and your brilliantly executed run is over. There is very little grip, and the roads are little more than a car-length wide. Every jump is heart-stopping, every turn is a coin-flip where you either face heartbreak or experience the thrill of an e-brake drift you didn’t know you had in you.

Each game brings a different pleasure. Art of Rally is a well-curated, sepia-toned love letter to the classic era of the sport (the 1960s-’80s); Rush Rally brings a Gran Turismo level of car tuning, customization, and sim-like handling; and Parking Garage Rally Circuit takes tight, colorful ’90s arcade racing (and music, and vibes) to a whole new level.

Each game, while fundamentally designed around similar mechanics, is its own unique portal to a different world—maybe one you grew up in, or maybe one you missed out on.

Car culture

(Image credit: Funselektor Labs)

Rally the sport carries a similar ethos and anarchic spirit to PC gaming. If a new Ferrari is a flashy 5-figure prebuilt with a custom RTX 5090, a rallied-out 200k-mile Subaru Impreza RS2.5 with a back seat delete is a DIY people’s champion running a secondhand GTX 1060 and a 7th-gen core i3 found in your local e-waste bin.

Art of Rally’s car details highlight this—they start off with descriptions like “originally designed to fit more grocery bags than the competition” and “the French take on the 4-door family car.” That’s what makes rally cars special: They were nearly all based on cheap econoboxes—that is, entry-level, no-frills hatchbacks and sedans—like the iconic Ford Escort Cosworth.

In a word, rally is accessible. I don’t mean that becoming a rally racer is super-easy and approachable—although there was a rallied-out Impreza that used to frequent my local cars and coffee meetup⁠—but rather, the culture of rally is accessible.

Rally appeals to me because it is a very pure expression of ‘you and your machine vs the terrain’ without the other cars to contend with.

Tim “Walaber” FitzRandolph

Average people like you and I cannot buy an F1 car and drive it to work. But we live in a world where we could buy a rally car for $25,000 online or at a local dealership. That fantasy can become a reality.

Art of Rally creator Dune Casu, who has actually attended rally races in-person, shows that this cultural approachability dovetails with indie rally games’ simple mechanics: “Art of Rally has found a sweet spot where it seems to be a way for people who play the sim rally games to relax and play more casually.”

I think it also gives people who’ve never played a rally game a chance to experience the joy of the genre without a deep dive into the technical skills and equipment that sim racing requires.

Casu shared a perspective that resonates with me, that the “zeitgeist” of rally “stems from the rally footage from the early days,” with “iconic cars”—seriously, I encourage you to search Group B Rally Cars on your nearest search engine—and “drivers that were more akin to fighter pilots.”

Another level

(Image credit: Walaber Entertainment LLC)

What’s more, developing a rally game is also much more accessible for your average enthusiast. I asked Tim “Walaber” FitzRandolph, Parking Garage Rally Circuit’s creator, for his thoughts on the recent explosion of indie rally racers. He originally came up with the idea for PGRC in a Ludum Dare game jam.

“Retro rally is a nice indie-friendly game type because of the simple focus on car handling and terrain without needing the large scope to compete with AAA games,” explained FitzRandolph.

Dune Casu shared a similar perspective, one that’s become a bit of a refrain in an era of triple-A mediocrity and thrilling independent development: “Indie rally games aren’t bound by the same rules and are usually made with lower budgets and smaller teams, which means we can take more risks.”

“I’m not an avid racing fan,” PGRC creator FitzRandolph revealed when I asked what separates rally from other motorsports. “Rally appeals to me because it is a very pure expression of ‘you and your machine vs the terrain’ without the other cars to contend with.

“In a way, I think it’s similar to Horror and Roguelikes in that it’s a genre that provides lots of replayability without needing tons of production cost to develop, has an audience, and is not competing against AAA, which is the sweet spot for indies!”

But I think there’s something even deeper than this accessibility to the digital rally revival. The rise of everyman rally racing games captures this memory, partly real or fully imagined, that we have of better days—of raw, unrefined, unpretentious fun. Retro cars, like early gaming consoles, film cameras, vinyl records, and my personal favorite audio medium, cassette tapes, all carry the soul of a semi-mythical simpler time.

Art of Rally deftly captures this sunset glow of nostalgia, radiant on its off-brand Lancia Stratos and Audi Sport Quattro. The rush of Rush Rally 3’s motion-blur, throwback graphics, and sim-like handling give 9/10ths of the same hit as Gran Turismo 3’s dirt stages. Parking Garage Rally Circuit’s Ska bangers, blocky polygons, and bright colors would make any grown-up car enthusiast feel like they’re back in the ’90s. Real-world rally may be fading, but long live the indie rally racer.



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Indie Sims-like Paralives launches in early access this December
Game Reviews

Indie Sims-like Paralives launches in early access this December

by admin


Indie Sims-like Paralives has landed itself an early access release date.

It will be making its debut on 8th December, developer Alex Massé and team revealed last night.

“We are so excited to share the game with you all and can’t wait to collect all your feedback to keep on improving the game,” the Paralives crew shared along with a new trailer (see below). Here, we see some of the game’s building techniques, and its world activities.

Paralives – Release Date Trailer (Early Access). Watch on YouTube

For those unfamiliar with Paralives already, it’s a very promising looking Sims-like. The developer has promised a single player game which does not require an internet connection to enjoy, complete with dogs, cats, horses, cars, bikes and boats. That includes boat houses.

“Even if there will be bugs and some important features missing,” the Paralives team explained last year, in the game’s announcement post. “We think Paralives’ Early Access will be quite enjoyable. Players who like to create characters and build houses will have a lot of tools and content to get creative with and the live mode will have its core features established which will allow people to create great stories for their Parafolks.”

Image credit: Paralives Studio

At this same time, the developer added that it will have no paid DLC. “As a small team without any shareholders to please,” it said, “we believe the money we make from selling the game alone will be enough to support us and the development of free updates in the long run.”

Well, colour me interested!

Paralives follows another Sims-like release InZoi, which debuted at the end of March. This particular release broke records for publisher Krafton.

Other games playing with this genre, however, have not fared as well. Last year, Paradox shut down ambitious Sims-like Life by You, before also closing the internal studio behind the project, Paradox Tectonic.



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Paralives, the long-anticipated indie Sims-like, finally announces an early access release date, adding to 2025's already packed life sim line-up
Game Reviews

Paralives, the long-anticipated indie Sims-like, finally announces an early access release date, adding to 2025’s already packed life sim line-up

by admin


It’s been almost exactly six years since developer Alex Massé (of PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator fame) announced his indie life sim Paralives; now, the game finally has an early access release date, courtesy of its appearance at last night’s PC Gaming Show at Summer Game Fest. And, as promised, it’s going to be coming out this year – although you’re going to have to wait until December 8 to get your hands on this painterly Sims-like.

The project originated as a solo effort from Massé, but the Paralives team has now expanded to around a dozen developers, supported by a Patreon that pulls in around $30K a month from fans eager to see a serious indie rival to EA’s long-running The Sims franchise.

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Paralives clearly takes a lot of cues from the life sim giant that’s been doing the rounds for a full quarter-century now, and long-time Simmers will be on familiar footing when they encounter the core gameplay loop. But there’s plenty to recommend Paralives on its own merits, from its softly stylised art style that advertises its crowd-pleasing cosiness, to its back-to-basics approach to life simulation that aims for loving detail over expansive scope.

The release date trailer confirmed my suspicions that Paralives could well be considered a spiritual successor to earlier generations of The Sims, focusing on daily life in an impossibly gorgeous little town where the architecture and decor of aspirational yet lived-in family homes take centre-stage. Paralives also seems very grounded – there’s no sign of the urban fantasy themes that frequently slip into The Sims (which I love, for the record, but recognise that not every Simmer does) – with trailers focussing on that ideal of middle-class suburbia that was a hallmark of The Sims back in the day.

Grab a coffee with friends, go to yoga class, play catch with your adorable two-point-five kids on your well-manicured lawn, and then have a sobbing breakdown in the bathroom once the family’s in bed – this is surely the dream of adulthood that was sold to me when the life sim genre first hit it big at the turn of the millennium.

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Massé’s team have previously asserted that they plan to keep Paralives add-ons free for all players – in stark contrast to EA’s practice of expanding The Sims with countless paid DLCs at various price points – and although they haven’t yet outlined exactly how they plan to do this, it’s reasonable to suspect that some kind of early access deal for Patrons might be part of the plan.

Paralives isn’t the only life sim in the news this week, as fellow Sims rival inZOI has emerged from hiding to announce a release date for its first major content update since its launch; the update finally remembers to properly enable same-gender romance (just in time for Pride Month!) as well as the much-anticipated arrival of mod support. And The Sims 4 itself hasn’t been quiet either, releasing a summer content roadmap teasing the long-awaited return of fairies in the new Enchanted By Nature expansion pack that’s being officially revealed this month, too.



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At Fate’s End already looks like the must-play indie game of 2026
Gaming Gear

At Fate’s End already looks like the must-play indie game of 2026

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Coming off its smash indie hit Spiritfarer, Thunder Lotus Games is taking a more action-heavy approach with its next title. The developer debuted At Fate’s End with an announcement trailer during the Xbox Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025, giving us a taste of its captivating visuals and unique combat system.

While Spiritfarer offered a more slow-paced experience filled with charming characters looking for a final peace, At Fate’s End has a contrasting action-packed style where you follow the story of Shan, a heiress to a clan that’s looking to resolve familial disputes by either fighting or talking it out. The gameplay looks equal parts narrative fantasy and intriguing combat style, since you can use tactical dialogue mid-fight or psychological insight about your family to turn the tide of battle. As you progress through the story, you’ll face more of your estranged family members, and you advance your skill tree in different ways depending on whether you defeat or reconcile with them.

Thunder Lotus Games hasn’t set a hard release date yet, but At Fate’s End is expected to release sometime in 2026. The upcoming title will be available on Xbox, PlayStation, Steam and Epic Games.



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