While the AAA industry recycles the same formulas, the indie scene keeps releasing the craziest ideas. We played a bunch of upcoming demos, and these 5 immediately made it to our wishlist. From horror farming simulations and bullet hell chaos to magical cats and retro dungeon crawlers, these are indie games that definitely deserve a spot on your wishlist.
Neverway
If Stardew Valley is too cheerful and relaxing for you, Neverway looks like its much darker version. You play as Fiona who quits her job, moves to a farm to start a new life, and becomes the immortal messenger of a dead god. Classic cozy game vibe, right?
The game combines farming, cooking, fishing, and estate management with horror elements, a relationship system, and fast-paced action RPG combat. You can meet and develop relationships with characters, unlock new abilities, and gradually uncover what is really happening in the mysterious world.
The project is backed by part of the team that worked on Celeste, including pixel artist Pedro Medeiros, while the music is composed by Disasterpeace, known for his work on FEZ and Hyper Light Drifter.
Visually, it looks phenomenal, and the combination of cozy gameplay and psychological horror is something that could easily become the next indie obsession for many.
Link to the official Steam page
Sineus Arena Survivors
Sineus Arena Survivors looks like someone took the chaos of Vampire Survivors, switched it to a third-person perspective, and said, “what if in the middle of all this you also have to build a base while being attacked by 500 enemies?”. The result is a pretty chaotic co-op (up to 4 players) bullet heaven survival.
The main focus of the game is defending the Beacon, the central part of the base while enemies surround you from all sides, all while upgrading your hero, collecting weapons, building towers and other structures, all without a break. There is literally not a second of rest. While building the base, the screen is flooded with enemies, explosions, and XP gems. You simply have to know how to multitask.
The combination of bullet heaven gameplay, base building, and co-op survival seems to be one of the more interesting indie combinations coming up.
Link to the official Steam page
Crimson Wanderer
At first, Crimson Wanderer didn't impress us much. It looks like just another retro action platformer trying to hit the nostalgia of the 90s, but after playing, it actually feels more interesting than it seems.
The game throws us into the jungle where we follow treasure hunters Lou and Siva in search of legendary treasure. The gameplay focuses on action, platforming, boss battles, and exploring interconnected levels with secret paths and hidden content. Of course, things quickly spiral into chaos as you flee from mercenaries, dangerous traps, and boss fights.
Visually, the game looks great, especially since everything is hand-drawn with pencil on paper before being digitized, giving it a quite unique style. There is also an upgrade system for multi-ballistic weapons, new abilities, and various skills that gradually unlock new ways to play.
This is the type of game that half of the people will ignore, while the other half will play for 200 hours, speedrun it, and complete it 100%.
Link to the official Steam page
How Many Dudes?
How many people does it take to beat up a gorilla? Play How Many Dudes? and find out. This is a roguelike autobattler where you gather an army of “Dudes” and try to create the craziest and strongest builds through various combinations. The game features 42 different Dude types, from ninjas and cowboys to zombies and “finance” characters who literally earn money when others die.
The main focus is on experimenting and game-breaking combos. Zombie Dudes explode when they take damage, Ninja Dudes throw shurikens, and relics further turn each run into complete chaos. All of this leads to absurd battles against babies, gorillas, and gods, making the game feel like one big meme that could easily become a serious indie hit.
Link to the official Steam page
Wizard Cats
After more than 70 hours in Magicraft, the desire for more magic arose. That void was filled by Wizard Cats.
Wizard Cats is a spellcrafting roguelite game where you control cats and combine runes, spells, and various modifiers to create new broken builds. After half an hour, we were already crafting spells that filled the screen with lasers, explosions, and random meteors. My PC got a bit warm, but nothing serious. There will be more extreme builds.
Visually, the game looks like a mix of cozy pixel art and complete bullet hell chaos, and the community is already praising the demo and the complex spellcrafting system. Honestly, it's hard to ignore a game where wizard cats throw nukes at frogs.
