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The latest Day of the Devs showcase has come and gone, but the stream placed a spotlight on a whole bunch of promising indie games. The event is curated by Double Fine and iam8bit and this digital showcase highlighted dozens of in-progress titles to keep an eye on. The virtual show included some world premieres and release date announcements, along with a bunch of new trailers about games we already knew about. We winnowed down the list to our 14 favorites, so its a baker's dozen plus one. These are all vastly different titles, with their own publishers, genres, budgets and visual styles. They have just one thing in common. These are indie games, in the truest sense of the word. New games Neon Abyss 2 The hit run-and-gun roguelite is getting a sequel, and it looks like an improvement over the original in every major way. Theres an updated weapons system and plenty of new melee and long-distance weapons to choose from, including a gun that quite literally shoots out a giant dragon. Item synergies are back, and are even crazier this time around. The sequel also includes many of the random elements from the original, like slot machines and claw games. There are brand-new minigames, such as a nifty-looking match-three puzzler. The graphics look similar to the original, but thats not a bad thing. I put like 80 hours into the first one on my Steam Deck, so this is definitely going on my wishlist. We dont even have long to wait, as the game hits Steam early access on January 14. Recur This goofy-looking puzzle platformer tasks players with controlling a postal worker that can manipulate time. Is a pack of angry dogs (they hate postal workers) harassing you on the beat? Rewind time and put them behind a locked gate. There look to be all kinds of unique puzzles that take advantage of the overlaying game mechanic. The graphics look gorgeous, with a cartoony art design, and the world looks both silly and dangerous. Its being published by Astra Logical, who released the well-received Rebots and Star Stuff. We dont have a release window for this one, but its definitely worth keeping an eye on. PBJ - The Musical As the name suggests, this is a musical game that stars peanut butter and jelly. The handcrafted art style is breathtaking, calling to mind stuff like the recent Yoshi games. The title chronicles the invention of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, so it follows a peanut and a strawberry on their journey to get grinded up, salted, sugared and spread between two slices of bread. We dont know exactly how this game will play, though I spied some quick-time events in the trailer, but the music sounds great and the child-like mangling of Shakespearean dialogue is super-cute. Read the full story here. Tankhead This is a third-person action game in which players control flying drones that can connect to robots and vehicles, allowing for unique vehicular combat scenarios. The title Tankhead is quite literal, as the drone typically sits atop the head of a tank. The trailer shows other bizarre combinations, like some kind of nightmare hybrid between a building and a horse. Customization seems to be the name of the game here, with a myriad of chassis and weapon combos available. Want some good news? Tankhead is available right now on the Epic Games Store. Blippo+ Heres something really interesting from Panic, the publisher behind Untitled Goose Game and the creator of the adorable portable console Playdate. Blippo+ looks less like a game and more like those interdimensional cable episodes of Rick and Morty. The FMV title is a portal to an entire cable platform of made-up TV shows, complete with a directory of whats airing and more oddities than you can shake a stick at. It's being developed by YACHT and Telefantasy Studios, and seems to have a similar vibe to the latter company's archive, drag performer included. We arent sure what the actual game will be, or if there even is one beneath the layer of public access grime, but the trailer sure has us intrigued. Itll be available for PC via Steam in the near future. Release date announcement Hyper Light Breaker Can you believe it? The successor to the surprise hit Hyper Light Drifter is nearly here, as the game releases as an early access title on Steam on January 14. Notice I said successor and not sequel. Hyper Light Breaker drops the retro 2D Zelda aesthetic in favor of an all-new 3D engine, while the story itself is positioned more as a prequel. Its also no longer a single-player affair, as this game places an emphasis on co-op play. One thing that hasnt changed? The action is still relentless and there will still be waves of enemies to slash through. This follow-up has faced some delays, so its good to see we are only a month out from giving it a go. Read the full story on Hyper Light Breaker here./p> Other stuff that looks dope Kingmakers Have you ever wanted to change the course of history by going back in time with a few machine guns and laying waste to hordes of medieval-era bozos? Thats the basic premise of Kingmakers. The game asks players to grab a gun and lead an army of thousands into massive, real-time simulated battles. Its a blend of action and strategy, like many medieval real-time strategy games, but with an exceptionally strong hook. Also, everything is destructible and can be blown up, which is always a nice touch. The game can be played solo or in a co-op mode with up to four players. It comes out sometime next year as an early access title. Bionic Bay This nifty-looking title takes its inspiration from games like Gravity Rush and Limbo. Its a side-scrolling platformer with a gorgeous aesthetic, just like the aforementioned Limbo, but the protagonist has the ability to control time and gravity. He can also teleport objects. This leads to all manner of precision-based platforming and plenty of unique puzzles, all set across an ancient biomechanical world. Publisher Kepler Interactive, who released the incredible Pacific Drive, are calling it a platformer like no other. It comes out on March 13 for PS5 and PC via Steam. Its available for wishlisting right now. Faraway Looking for something simple, yet hopelessly addictive? Faraway is a one-button affair that tasks folks with exploring the furthest reaches of space. This is done by drawing constellations and connecting stars together. Its a puzzle game, complete with various modes, a high-score counter and multipliers. The maps are procedurally generated and the graphics look appropriately minimal. This one has the Annapurna pedigree, so its definitely worth keeping an eye on. We could all use a new iconic puzzle game. Faraway will be released for PC sometime in 2025. Read the full story on Faraway here. Sleight of Hand This is a third-person hybrid game that combines stealth action with deckbuilding, all set in a magical noir-tinged city. Its extremely easy on the eyes, with a darkened color palette and a cast of oddballs. Players control an occult detective pulled out of retirement to do one last job. You know the drill. Its noir. As for gameplay, the developers say its like Metal Gear Solid, only with the guns and tools replaced by cards. These cards dictate what moves and powers are available. The protagonist can disappear in a puff of smoke or set a bunch of nameless thugs on fire, so long as the deck is right. It looks fun! Sleight of Hand is available to wishlist right now and will be released for Xbox consoles and PC via Steam. Itll also be available on Game Pass when it launches. Read the full story on Sleight of Hand here. Blue Prince This game is described as a roguelike Gone Home mixed with a board game. From the trailer, that doesnt sound so far off. The game tasks players with exploring a large estate that changes every day, due to an ever-shifting blueprint (thus the title.) There are plenty of family mysteries to unravel and a strategy component that allows for purposeful rejiggering of the aforementioned blueprint. The vibe is appropriately eerie and, well, who doesnt like exploring a creepy old mansion? Blue Prince is a PC title that launches in the early part of next year. Read the full story on Blue Prince here. Feltopia This hand-felted stop motion game looks absolutely stunning and it was developed by a pair of twin siblings. The felt. The fabric. It all looks so real. Feltopia is, basically, a shmup, but with some unique mechanics that set it apart from rival shooters. First of all, there will be no killing of enemies. Instead, players shoot positive vibes that transform monsters into friends. The developers are calling it a cute-em-up instead of a shoot-em-up. Also, every single sprite in the game has been needle-felted by hand. Thats some dedication. You can wishlist this one on Steam right now, but it doesnt actually come out until 2026. All of that fabric work takes time. Read the full story on Feltopia here. Incolatus: Don't Stop, Girlypop! Heres something Ive never seen before. Incolatus: Don't Stop, Girlypop! is a first-person shooter inspired by early 2000s girly pop. The soundtrack is pumping, everything is pink and players communicate via a Nokia-style flip phone. Theres another twist, beyond those retro-soaked vibes. The game encourages people to never stand still, like the early 2000s action flick Crank. Constant movement will reward players with bonus damage and healing. Finally, theres a dress up minigame thats inspired by CD ROM titles from the 1990s and early 2000s. Inject this game into my Y2K-loving veins please. Its available to wishlist on Steam right now and will be released soon. Read the full story on Incolatus here. LOK Digital As the name suggests, this is a digital version of a pre-existing puzzle book. It may look like a traditional word search puzzle, but players are dropped in without any guidance. We'll have to figure out the rules on our own, which can be deduced by working through the 90 puzzles. Theres a legitimate story and an entire made-up language. Thats right. The words that comprise each puzzle grid will not be in English, or in any recognizable language. Every time a player unlocks (or unloks) a new word, it provides a unique power up. The whole point is to use these power ups to black out the entire grid. It looks pretty fun and, guess what, its available right now on PC. The devs say itll be released for mobile devices next year. This does seem like the perfect tablet game. If those 14 games aren't enough, check out the whole Day of the Devs stream here!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/here-are-the-14-most-interesting-titles-from-the-day-of-the-devs-game-awards-stream-183001600.html?src=rss
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There's been a bit of a resurgence of stop-motion games in recent years. For one thing, The Spirit of the Samurai is set to arrive on Thursday and it looks pretty compelling (you can play as a cat in some sections!). During the Day of the Devs showcase, we got a look at another intriguing stop-motion game that's a bit further out. This one's animated entirely with felt. Feltopia is the first project from creative director Andrea Love and her team at Wooly Games. Love has long used needle-felted wool to create stop-motion animations for commercials, short films and social media, but hadn't seen the medium being used in a game before. "We realized there was a gap in the market for this type of aesthetic, and decided to fill it," Love said. Love describes Feltopia, a cozy spin on the side-scrolling shoot 'em up genre, as a "cute 'em up." You play as a sheep herder named Skyrider who uses magical powers to purge the world of an encroaching smog and save their Rainbow Flock. You're not killing enemies here. Instead, you're restoring infected creatures and bosses to their true forms. Wooly Games "Wool lends itself really well to the natural world, so I knew I wanted to create a game with sweeping landscapes and lots of elemental effects," Love said. "The classic side scroller mechanics mixed with our hand-felted, stop-motion techniques gives Feltopia both a novel and nostalgic feeling, which is a balance I like to hit with my animation work. Our goal is to take a typically violent genre and invert it so it is about transformation and healing rather than destruction and death. Feltopia looks charming as heck. It's immediately apparent that Love and her team have infused a ton of personality into their first game, and this could be one worth keeping your eye on. Wooly Games, which started work on Feltopia last year, is aiming to release the game in mid-2026. It'll hit Steam first and arrive on other platforms later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/feltopia-is-a-side-scrolling-shoot-em-up-animated-in-felt-182353538.html?src=rss
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What would it look like if you took the fast-paced arena shooter stylings of Doom Eternal and flipped the gory, grimdark aesthetics upside down? You might end up with something like Incolatus: Don't Stop, Girlypop!. It's a "Y2K girly-pop arena-style movement shooter where standing still is not an option," as game director Jane Fiona of Funny Fintan Softworks put it during the Day of the Devs showcase on Wednesday. "The faster you go, the more damage you deal and the more you heal." In Incolatus, a mining corp is trying to drain the world of love, its most precious resource. Trees are dying and fairies have been ejected into the world at large, and it's up to you to save their homes so you might argue that it's even darker than Doom Eternal. Thanks, capitalism. Funny Fintan Softworks After you (a revolutionary eco warrior) eliminate an enemy robot, you can grab the remaining love that it was running on to power up your weapons and deliver more damage. The love that you collect also plays a factor in the dress-up metagame. You can change the look of your character's arms to personalize things a bit. If you donate love to fairies you encounter, you'll get more customization options for your arms and guns. Five cool points to anyone who correctly guessed that movement is a critical aspect of Incolatus. The quicker you move, the more your guns expand with additional barrels and scopes. Funny Fintan has incorporated its own take on bunny hopping (a classic arena shooter movement technique that a player can use to boost their speed). It's called wavehopping, and you'll need to slam to the ground, double jump and dash oddly enough, mimicking the form of a wave to take advantage of it. Incolatus, which is coming to Steam "soon," immediately stands out thanks to its hyperpop vibe with bright pinks and greens, as well as the era-appropriate soundtrack. As it happens, the "don't stop moving" mantra has lodged that one S Club song firmly in my brain.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/incolatus-dont-stop-girlypop-may-be-the-y2k-fever-dream-arena-shooter-you-never-knew-you-needed-182348483.html?src=rss
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