Day of the Devs reveals your next indie obsessions for the coming year.
PC/PlayStation/Switch, 2023
From the developer of Kids, Time Flies is a game about the limited time we have on Earth. You play as a housefly trying to complete your bucket list before your minute-long lifespan ends. Think Untitled Goose Game, but less chaotic and more pensive.
PC/Xbox, 2022
Planet of Lana plays a bit like Inside, but with a strikingly gorgeous, colorful art style in place of creepy silhouettes. You play as a girl searching for her lost sister with the help of a magic alien cat.
Two Star Games
14. Choo-Choo Charles
One of the more out-there showings this year, Choo-Choo Charles is a survival horror game about an evil train. You’ll have to gather supplies in the open world before challenging Charles to a duel in your own heavily armed (non-evil) locomotive.
PC/PlayStation/Xbox, July 14
Coming to Game Pass on launch day, Escape Academy is being developed by a team of physical escape room designers. It follows a student of the titular Escape Academy training their skills on head-scratching puzzles.
PC/Switch, 2022
A Little to the Left should scratch a similar organizational itch to Unpacking. Inspired by the developers’ own tidying habits, it challenges you to arrange everyday objects into pleasing patterns.
PC/Switch, July 28
Cutesy management sim Bear and Breakfast stars a bear running a rural B&B with his friends. Exploration and crafting complement its business management side in a town where something unexpectedly spooky may be lurking in the distance.
Shared memory
10. Animal Well
Animal Well is an intriguing Metroidvania that adds dynamic water and lighting effects to its pixel art. It’s designed to be approachable for casual players with optional multi-layered puzzles to challenge more hardcore fans.
PC, 2022
From solo dev HiWarp, Naiad is a gorgeous, peaceful game starring a water nymph. Meant to inspire relaxation and appreciation of nature, its story takes you from pristine lakes to polluted ponds in need of healing.
2022
Roots of Pacha is a farming game set in the Stone Age, where you’re part of a clan developing a new civilization. You’ll need to work with your village to domesticate animals and create new technology.
TBA
From the developer of Monument Valley and Alba, Desta tells the story of a man returning home after a long estrangement from their family. Using a childhood ball game as a basis for its puzzles, it tells a story of reconciliation and growth.
PC, TBA
The fascinating SCHiM is a minimalist platformer with a twist. You play as a spirit hopping between the shadows of other objects to find your way back to your home shadow while helping other spirits on the way.
TBA
Presented with the help of indie development community asobu, Fox and Frog Travelers is a 3d action game inspired by Japanese mythology.
PC, 2022
Goodbye World is a slice-of-life adventure about two young game developers rendered in SNES-style graphics. Drawing inspiration from Mother 3 and the Ghost World comic, it’s a story about the struggle to create art.
PC, August 2022
Through hand-drawn art and point-and-click puzzles, Birth tells a story about feeling lonely in a new city. You’ll sort through the homes of your ghostly neighbors gathering spare body parts to build a new friend. So relatable!
PC, 2022
In How to Say Goodbye, you play as a recently deceased person coming to terms with their own death. You’ll help your fellow ghosts through block-sliding puzzles through what the developers call a positive take on grief.
Day of the Devs ended with Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland, based on the early 1900s comic strip. It bears little resemblance to the great Little Nemo NES game, with striking art and music by Anamanaguchi’s Peter Berkman.