Stuff’s best indie game highlights for Spring/Summer 2024
Arthouse chic, early access gold, mind-melting sci-fi and more
If the gaming release calendar ever looks a bit bare, it’s really because you’ve just been looking at the wrong places. There are countless games being made and released by indie developers simply bursting with creativity, whether it’s taking something classic with a new twist, inventing new genres, or even occasionally iterating on their previous success.
Rather, it’s trying to figure out which ones are worth your time that’s more of an issue, as opposed to just picking whatever comes with a Game Pass subscription. This spring has seen arguably two of the best games of the year that will truly have you thinking outside of the box, while there are also many with gripping stories, from those tugging on your heartstrings to ones leaving plenty of food for thought.
Hades II (PC)
The first Hades wasn’t just one of the biggest indie hits in recent years, it also set a new high bar for early access games where the smooth and addictive gameplay roguelike loop can be just as polished if not more so than most full releases. This follow-up, which focuses on the titular god’s little-known daughter and witch Melinoë’s mission to infiltrate the Greek underworld to kill the usurper Chronos is all the more impressive as an early access release where you can already ‘finish’ the game.
Of course, beating a roguelike is all relative when the core of these games is about constantly replaying with new items and randomised boons that change for each run. The secret sauce in Hades II, as with its predecessor, is also unlocking new dialogue with the charming cast of Greek gods, especially when you fail, as more of its rich story unfolds. Plus, given how much tougher this sequel is even with its very first boss, it’ll take a good while to master Melinoë’s magic-based combat style, not to mention there’s also a second route that tasks you with reaching Mt. Olympus.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Switch, PC)
Imagine classic Resident Evil 1’s mansion but instead of zombies, the entire thing is filled with its unique brand of obtuse puzzles with a good dollop of influence from David Lynch as well as European arthouse films like Last Year in Marienbad.
That might sound utterly pretentious and a polar contrast to developer Simogo’s last game, the arcadey pop album of Sayonara Wild Hearts. But as you gradually get absorbed in every puzzle, every lock, every pattern (its one-button control system is designed so that it’s possible to play while you use your other to make notes), it’s hard not to marvel at how meticulously crafted Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is.
You’ll feel very dumb for a while and then like a genius the next, while the initially cold monochrome aesthetic gives way to playful references not just from the developer’s back catalogue but also gaming’s history. Perhaps its most dastardly idea is that many puzzles are also randomised to stop you from just looking up the solutions online, at least not without understanding the logic behind them first.
Animal Well (PC, PS5, Switch)
A seven-year project from solo developer Billy Basso, Animal Well may be literally the smallest modern game ever made at just 38MB on PC. Playing as a little blob trying to navigate a dark and dangerous labyrinth populated with animals – some that will truly freak you out – this may seem like a Metroidvania but there’s no combat and instead there’s more of a touch of Zelda to it as you find new items largely consisting of child toys like a yo-yo or a frisbee and work out the ingenious ways they can help you reach new areas or solve puzzles.
While it’s technically possible to reach the credits after a few hours, that’s just the start as it’s possible to keep plumbing the depths of this titular well for even more secrets. It’s truly astonishing how much you can pack into such a ‘tiny’ game, and another example that fans desperately waiting for Hollow Knight: Silksong aren’t starved of quality Metroidvanias while they wait. Better yet, PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium subscribers can play this game for free.
1000xResist (PC, Switch)
Set a thousand years in the future when mankind has been wiped out by a disease save one young woman who’s not only immune but becomes immortal, creating a society of clones in her own image while she is worshipped as the ‘Allmother’, 1000xResist goes hard in its sci-fi. It’s rather apt that you play as ‘Watcher’, who’s tasked with observing the world as you try and make sense of how humanity got to this point, until you discover a shocking secret – well, it’s not exactly a spoiler as the game begins with Allmother being killed by Watcher.
While taking inspiration from sci-fi like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Evangelion, its story also explores the North American Asian diaspora experience. That means there are not only explicit references to racism, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Hong Kong protests, but also buckets of intergenerational trauma. Even leaving that to one side, it’s hard not to be gripped when each chapter ends with a jaw-dropping twist as good as the best television, while the writing manages to make single sentences profound and quotable.
Crow Country (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
Crow Country is a tribute to PS1-era games like Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII, where you had chunky low-poly characters running around gorgeous pre-rendered backdrops. But, if we’re being sticklers, this game’s environments are actually rendered in 3D and you can even control the camera. But it otherwise does play very much like classic Resi, where you play Mara Forest, a young woman investigating an abandoned theme park taken over by monsters. You’ll have to manage your inventory, ammo, solve puzzles and discover the truth behind why this park shut down, including how and why Mara is here in the first place.
As faithful as it is to classic survival horror, it offers some great options for modern players too, so depending on whether you control with the analogue stick or d-pad, you can move normally or with tank controls. There’s even an exploration mode where you can just take out the survival horror element altogether and just explore at your own pace without worrying about monsters or ammo.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch)
There’s more than a bit of Ori to this Metroidvania where emotional storytelling is as much core to the experience as platforming and mastering new abilities to reach new areas. Inspired by actor and studio founder Abubakar Salim’s personal experience of grief, you play young shaman Zau who has made a pact with Kalunga, the god of death, to capture the spirits of three monsters in order to revive his father.
Switching between sun and moon masks that grant different abilities for both combat and traversal, the game is slightly overshadowed by the excellent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown released earlier this year, and can get a bit more frustrating than necessary, though it does well by having things like double-jumping and wall-jumping available from the start. It also stands out by offering a rich world based on African Bantu culture and mythology, while the way the story is framed also presents the kind of Afro-futurist setting seen in Black Panther’s Wakanda. This game is also included with PlayStation Plus subscriptions for those on the Extra or Premium tiers.
Little Kitty, Big City (Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC)
Imagine Stray crossed with Untitled Goose Game and you’ll get Little Kitty, Big City, where you play as a cat on a quest to get back to their home high up on a tall building they’ve unwittingly fallen from. But as you try and eat fish that will gradually improve your stamina to make the long climb back up, you’ll also be collecting scraps, pouncing on birds to steal their feathers, knocking pots or people over, and just, well, doing very cat-like things, including finding ideal napping spots.
Throw in some surreal dialogue with other animals you meet in this Japanese-inspired small town, as well as a raccoon who can offer you fast travelling to get past the annoying puddles that otherwise block some of your paths, and you have a pretty charming game with lots to collect and amuse yourself with even in its relatively short running time.
Indika (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
An adventure game where you play as a nun undergoing the toil and tedium of monastic life does not sound like a riveting game, except in this case the titular character also has to deal with the Devil in her head, also acting as a kind of narrator. It’s just one of many things that make Indika a quietly bizarre game where the mundane is offset by odd touches like an off-kilter camera angle, abrupt cuts and flashbacks that swap the cinematic photorealism for pixel art.
In truth, there’s more of walk-and-talk than much in the way of actual gameplay through its brief playtime, although the occasional climbing around and obstacle-pushing puzzles is a little stranger when you’re a nun. But underneath its eccentricities and satirical swipes at game achievements are also surprisingly earnest discussions on faith. Not for everyone, but also one of the oddest experiences this year.
Alan Wen
