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Enviro-Bear 2000 is an arcade driving game about a bear frantically careening through the forest to grab fish and berries before winter comes. Awkward controls and loose car physics turn foraging into a dizzying affair of hairpin turns and rabid possums. It’s a classic game and perfect Indie Pick. Released by Justin Smith in 2010,…
Ambition of the Slimes is a tactical roleplaying game where the player wrangles an army of vulnerable slimes. By themselves, these cute critters are squishy and easily defeated but they have a trick up their sleeve: they can possess enemy units. Created by altairworks, Ambition of the Slimes offers a quick blast of tactics action…
Joy Exhibition is a freeform art game in which the player must communicate with a mute alien race by painting. They are given a blank canvas, a massive arsenal of procedurally generated paint guns, and free rein to create whatever art they can think of. Created by game developer Strangethink, Joy Exhibition is a celebration…
Dandara is an action game where you can’t run. Your character leaps from wall to wall across massive maps while battling bosses and collecting power ups. It takes the exploration of Metroid and adds a ton of style. Created by Brazilian developer Long Hat House, Dandara tells the story of a warrior who must save…
Nuts is a puzzle game where players must set up a series of surveillance cameras to hunt down a squirrel and find their hidden stash of food. Wandering through a hazy maze of trees to find the perfect space to drop a camera is a surprisingly tricky mind teaser that challenges memorization skills. The game’s…
Sometimes you need to punch a skeleton and use their severed arm to smack a ghost in the face. Long Live the Axe is an exciting action platformer about exploring crypts and finding keys. It mixes the sensibilities of Metroid with an arcade brawler, and it’s this week’s Indie Pick. Designed by Jesse Burnett, Long…
Void Wisp is an arcade game all about soothing soundscapes and living life as close to the edge as possible. Players control a small mote of light floating through an obstacle course of shapes and laser beams that create noise the closer you get to them. In order to get the most points, players need…
A Road to Aweis an exploration game featuring hundreds of M.C. Escher-inspired digital worlds. Developer lectroniceadded a new location every day throughout 2017, creating a gorgeous series of mazes, monuments, and museums. It’s this week’s indie pick. Space in A Road to Awe shifts and contorts to form winding pathways. Each new map is a…
From the 1980s through to today, Kamurocho is one of gaming's greatest locations
Rxcovery is an RPG about a hospital patient with only 30 minutes left on life support. Players explore a hospital full of monsters in order to raise enough money to save their character’s life. It’s a tense combination of turn-based combat and maze-like level design and this week’s Indie Pick. Sometimes all it takes to…
Christmas has come and gone, but there’s still time to celebrate and spread some cheer. SantaCorps is an arcade flight sim and present delivery game by Ethan Redd all about zipping around and giving gifts. Fast and cheerful, it’s this week’s indie pick. It is the near future, 20XX, and Santa is getting tired. Worn…
Post Capitalism by Colestia is a short city-building and puzzle game about finding the weak links in capitalism and replacing them with alternatives in order to create a functional socialist society. It’s this week’s Indie Pick. Games like Sim City allow players to build block upon block of city streets and utilities to form a…
Hell is a game about cooking eggs. Drop an egg into the pan and watch it sizzle before cracking another egg. But be careful: one wrong move will send you down a road full of demons, pirated DVDs, a Ruger pistol, and the devil himself. It’s bizarre, and it’s this week’s indie pick. Hell is…
The Fantastic Arcade 2017 bundlepacks a handful of awesome indie games together. You’ll play as an existential Mario fed up with the American healthcare system and a floppy clown dog just trying to eat some eggs. It’s imaginative, lush, and this week’s indie pick. The Fantastic Arcade 2017 bundle is published by Austin, Texas’ Juegos…
Transfer is a short narrative game by Abyssal Uncreations focusing on artificial intelligence and discovery. Taking the role of an AI after the end of the world, you need to find out what happened and what comes next. It’s moody and intriguing. It’s this week’s indie pick. At the start of Transfer, you are assigned…
In The Norwood Suite, the chef asked me to go to his hotel room and pick up some pickles from the closet. Instead, I got lost in a hidden corridor that curved through the resort, dumping me out into the kitchen right next to the giant chess room. That’s just how it goes in The…
Nouris an art game about the beauty of food and playing with what you eat. With a few slaps of the keyboard, a ramen bowl gets packed with noodles while boba balls leap into tea cups. It’s silly but gorgeous. It’s this week’s Indie Pick. Made by TJ Hughes aka Terrifying Jellyfish, Nour seeks to…
The Catacombs of Solarisby Ian MacLarty is an exploration game that sends players through a maze of warping walls. There’s only one goal: find your favorite room in the labyrinth. It’s a trippy waltz through a technicolor wonderland. It’s this week’s Indie Pick. Navigating through the catacombs seems like a straightforward process. The walls and…
Sometimes, you just can’t win. Sisyphus is an absurdist game by George Prosser that recreates the well known Greek myth into a frustrating button masher. It’s this week’s Indie Pick. In Greek myth, Sisyphus was a cruel king who cheated death by trapping Thanatos in chains. As punishment for his crime, he was made to…
“Make the games you wish to see on the Dreamcast.” The quote is placed dead center on the website for Arcane Kids, creators of the absurdist Sonic Dreams Collection. Their game Zineth lives up to this aspiration. It’s a wild trip with rail grinds, wall rides, and social media shenanigans. It’s this week’s Indie Pick.…
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