It feels dumb writing about video games on my blog after this week but I have to take my mind off things so here we are. This is a bigger one than usual too since it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve done one of these because of….y’know, everything. Maybe something in here will bring you some joy too. If you recently released a game, tell me! I like hearing about this stuff. If you enjoyed this post, pass it on and tell your friends about what indie games you’re excited about, whether it’s through your own blog or social media.

Video Games

There’s a few hours left for the Click-Or-Treat bundle (Itch.io), where you can get a bunch of Halloween games for $9.

AdventureX (Steam) is doing a free online convention and sale. Go check out talks about adventure games and maybe pick up a game.

Clarissa the Dogcow lost her job and is looking for additional backing on Patreon to help her finish some of her really cool games. Go check out her post on Mastodon for more details. The world needs more Zelda 2-inspired games.

Indie Tsushin (Site) has announced their Study Buddy jam, where folks learn a new engine or genre or whatever for making a game.

Adam Saltsman released two PICO-8 games for the browser, the rpg Rat Dreams (Itch.io) and the puzzle game Kuiper Cargo (Itch.io).

We got a new issue of the Interactive Fiction and Visual Novel zine ChoiceBeat (Site/Itch.io). Every issue is free and has reviews, previews, and interviews.

Barry Bonds enters the World of MYST (2004) is an interactive story made by Jon Bois, originally published on the comedy website progressiveboink.com. Cecile Richard has remade the game and put it on Itch.io for a new generation of Myst fans to enjoy.

It’s the beginning of the month so we have a new Indiepocalypse (Itch.io).

Airdorf made the very cute browser game Skeleton Game (Itch.io) with their 4 year old daughter. More people should make games with their kids.

ECTOCOMP (Itch.io) has ended and people are voting on the submissions now. Go check out a bunch of interactive fiction games celebrating Halloween.

PROCJAM (Itch.io) also just ended. This one is a jam focused on procedural generation. So like, the kind of AI that isn’t focused on stealing art.

Tallywinkle released her first parser interactive fiction. It’s called Thanksgiving Dinner (Itch.io), a free browser game about Thanksgiving Day.

We got a really snazzy looking Monkey Island game called The Booze of Monkey Island (Itch.io).

Johnson. A Plane Man (Downpour) is a found imagery game made from the Ryanair Boeing 737-8200 safety instructions. The game was created by Hyphinett using the neat game making tool Downpour. Free and playable in the browser and the Downpour app.

BITCH HELL (Itch.io) is a FPS that feels a lot like something made in the Quake era. I don’t really know the engine used (FTEWQ) well enough to tell if it was connected to the Quake engine but it rules. Available for $6.66.

Andrew Plotkin has released two games. Advent Door (Itch.io) is a free browser text parser Advent Calendar game game and The Beyond (Steam/Itch.io) is an interactive comic.

3D Workers Island (Itch.io) is a short horror story in the browser about a screensaver.

Slayaway Camp 2 (Steam) is a puzzle game where you’re a Jason Vorhees-like monster trying to wipe out all the people at a camp. Haven’t played this one yet but I liked the first game.

Apples Busy Day (Steam/Itch.io) is a short and cozy game about exploring and helping your neighbors. It looks like a really cute and comforting game if that’s what you need right now.

VERY NOT SAFE FOR WORK PAGE but HARDCODED (Itch.io/Steam) is out. It’s a very queer open world dating sim set in a cyberpunk world. I think it’s great and features some incredible pixel art but AGAIN, THE GAME PAGE IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Robert’s Spooktacular Ghost Train (Itch.io) is a Pay-What-You-Want game where you build a little ghost themed ride at a fairground.

TETRACHROMA (Steam) is a Tetris-like that also block color changing mechanic.

Hesitation (Itch.io) is a short visual novel playable in the browser where you piece together a story by interacting with the items in a small room. Make sure you read the content warnings first. Also check out the developer’s tabletop rpgs on Itch.io.

ROGUE FLIGHT (Steam/Switch/Xbox/PS5) looks like a fun arcade space sim. It has a demo too!

Moida Mansion (Itch.io) is a new Lucas Pope (Obra Dinn designer) adventure game that’s playable in the browser and resembles one of those LCD handheld game things.

Stardust Demon (Steam/Itch.io) is a Metroidvania featuring some really impressive pixel art and 3D CGI FMV cutscenes. I’m a big fan of resnijars’ other games so this probably rules too. There’s a demo as well if you want to try it first.

Danielle Riendeau made a graveyard building strategy game called Tower of the Dead (Itch.io) for Cosmic Horrors Jam III

Tabletop Games

Escape from Wonderland (Kickstarter) is a tabletop rpg being designed by Turtlebun about trying to escape an amusement park. They’re great. Go check out the Kickstarter or some of their other games on Itch.io.

In The World We Left Behind (Itch.io), play as astronauts trekking across an alien planet. It’s a GMless game for 1-5 players. I think it’s fascinating that it was originally commissioned by a ballet collective?

Unspeakable Gate (Itch.io) is a solo TTRPG in which you take on the role of an artist building a mysterious Gate and becoming more and more absorbed in the reality that lies on its other side. Peach Garden Games has made so many good solo ttrpgs, check them out!

I think this one came out a while ago because I got the Kickstarter reward months ago, so I think this is just new to Itch.io, but The Coven of P.S. 13 (Itch.io) is a GM-less game for 2-6 people inspired by The Craft where you and your coven are planning for a big event occurring on the night of the full moon.

Well I said last week that things were calming down and lol, oops. No. Haven’t really been posting much here or on social media because of everything going on. Well, anyway, games.

I don’t think I posted about IF Comp at all? A pretty huge mistake on my part if I haven’t. The results and just been announced and you can check out all the games and winners here.

The Campsite (Itch.io) is an hour long point-and-click adventure game available for Pay-What-You-Want. It’s about an hour long and I feel like it’s appropriate for people less experience with the genre.

Mohrta (Itch.io) is a demo for an upcoming game made in GZDoom and I’m really impressed with what it does in the engine. I know it’s not the same engine that ID Software used to make Doom but you know what? Still really cool. Comparing games to Dark Souls is overdone but I’m going to do it anyway. The game has a slower pace than what you would find in a Doom engine game, with combat encounters usually just involving a couple enemies at a time at the most. I really enjoyed the world design too.

Water Level/b.l.u.e. EXPLORATION (Itch.io) felt like playing a PSX game in a dream.

second fall 24 (Itch.io) is a fun musical toy playable in the browser. It kind of reminds me of little mini-games you would find on multimedia cd-roms. Maybe I’ve been playing too many Peter Gabriel cd-roms lately.

The Solar Server has its first game! This is a server that is powered entirely by solar power, meaning you can only play the games on the server during a limited window. The site has more info on how the server was setup too.

Vladimere’s Lore (Steam) is an anthology of 14 games created by the developer over 10 years. I’ve played some of these games through HauntedPS1 releases and had a good time. Worth checking out if you’re into horror games with a retro 3D aesthetic.

PRIM (Steam) looks like a lovely point-and-click adventure if you’re looking for a creepy but also sorta cute game to play at this time of year.

Wilmot Works It Out (Steam) is the newest game in the Wilmot puzzle series. I loved Wilmot’s Warehouse when that came out, so I’ll probably really like this too when I get around to it.

I’ll have a longer review of it soon, but The Protagonish (Steam/Itch.io) is a short interactive story where you basically control everyone in a story outside of the protagonist himself. The story only takes a few minutes to play through and you make different decisions through all the side characters for different outcomes. I think it’s pretty neat. I really liked the art and was amused by how the protagonist is very much like your traditional adventure game protagonist, but not in a good way, and takes everything around him and doesn’t really care about the people around him, with all the characters you control around being kind of tired of him.

That’s it for this week. If you enjoy these, subscribe to the blog through the RSS feed, tell a friend, and check out these games. I also have an irc channel for indie and alt games/gamedev talk at AfterNET at #AltGames. Consider giving it a try! No registration required!

This blog was pretty quiet this week because it’s been a hell week but things have calmed down now. Oh well, these things happen I guess. How was your week? What have you been playing lately? Let me know in the comments.

The Videotome Jam (Itch.io) has started! Videotome is a series of small IF/VN engines and you can find all four on the jam page.

The Steam Next Fest is also happening right now. I haven’t really dug into the demos yet but there’s a lot of them. Maybe you’ll find something neat.

Collage Advertisement : Propaganda (Itch.io) is a short, political VN made in the hypercard-inspired tool Decker. Please read the content warning/disclaimer first!

Mourningstar (Itch.io) is a “satanic” “biblepunk” dark science fantasy tabletop rpg about resistance, rebellion, othering, theology, individuality, misfits, colonialism, divine politics, infernal magic, & exploring the stars as swashbuckling devils. The game is inspired by the Forged in the Dark framework. The game was created by super talented game designer and musician Devin Nelson.

Indie Games+ has a nice review of a new game called Snow Flow. The game is playable for free on Itch.io and the art reminds me a lot of 80s Macintosh games.

Lorenzo Pilia created a manifesto On Small Games (Itch.io).

Johnson. A Plane Man is a game created in Downpour (Link) by Hyphinett. Downpour is a really fun tool for making very small games.

Not new but still cool, Karambola (Steam/Itch.io) is a free point-and-click adventure that reminds me of games like Samorost. There’s an art book for sale (Steam/Itch.io) if you would like to support the dev.

The Ghost and the Golem (Steam) is an interactive historical fantasy story published by Choice of Games about if your magic amulet save your Jewish village from destruction.

It’s not indie but I think it’s really interesting that Backyard Baseball ’97 (Steam) was just rereleased on Steam with compatibility on modern OS and achievements.

NovaMundi (Steam) is an open world tactical game where you must unite the people of nearby towns to fight off Spanish invaders.

The Urge (Itch.io) is a short erotic story created in Twine by Oma Keeling about operating a machine.

That’s it for this week. If you enjoy these, subscribe to the blog through the RSS feed, tell a friend, and check out these games. I’ve also started an irc channel for indie and alt games/gamedev talk at AfterNET at #AltGames. Consider giving it a try! No registration required!

It’s the first one of these in a post-Cohost world. What does that mean? Not much really. This is going to be a big one because I must clear out more the backlog in my list and people keep insisting on making games. Even that Geneforge guy who said there’s too many people making games keeps making them! What’s up with that? Always feel free to reply in the comments with either things you’ve made, or games you’ve been enjoying. I love comments. Anyway, here’s games.

Dodge 1000 Knives (Itch.io) is a free browser game where you must dodge 1000 knives. I’m bad at it but it’s good.

Raide (Itch.io) is a browser-based puzzle game where you put down train tracks for a train to move from a beginning to start point. I really enjoyed its short levels and artwork.

Backstreet Warriors (Itch.io) is a browser brawler game, like Double Dragon, made in PICO-8 where you must defeat 99 people to win.

The Queer Halloween Stories Bundle 2024 (Itch.io) is a collection of queer games, comics, stories, etc for $60, although there’s a bundle you can buy at a lower price too.

Pinball Spire (Steam) is a pinball game but with a Metroid-like structure. I watched a stream of it yesterday and it looked fun!

Cyclopean now has a demo (Steam). It’s a first person dungeon crawler inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and I think the art style looks pretty neat!

Just so you can see how far behind I am, Strange Scaffold has released two games! CLICKOLDING (Itch.io/Steam) is a game where you clicked a counter while a masked man watches you and I Am Your Beast (Steam) is a fast-paced covert fps set in micro sandboxes. Both games seem like they have done very well, which is always nice to see for a studio like Strange Scaffold.

The Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival is open again (Itch.io). This is a Pay-What-You-Want online game where you carve some pumpkins and put them up for everyone to see.

Tiny Glade (Steam) just looks like a very lovely diorama builder where you create castles and cottages where no specified goals or win conditions. It also seems like it’s been a massive success from looking at the number of Steam reviews.

ODDADA (Steam) looks like an incredibly pleasant music toy that was recommended to me by Flyover Games. Just look at all the fiddly little bits you can play with and bright colors in those screenshots.

The Portal Tomb (physical book) is a tabletop rpg for 5 players and 1-2 sessions that uses Ogham runes instead of dice to generate a story set at a queen’s funeral.

As I was typing this, a new Indiepocalypse is now available (Itch.io). This one features future classics like SNAKEBYTE, a very good Metroid-like game where you explore a computer as an ASCII snake, EyeOS (I think I covered that one before?), and an arcade game called Be Not Afraid, But Run by Renegade Sector Games.

10BF.EXE (Itch.io) is a dual screen bullet hell but you can also capture spell cards and use them on your enemies.

Melon Head (Itch.io) is a new surreal point-and-click adventure featuring EGA art. I don’t even know how to describe it so you’ll have to check it out yourself. There’s a free demo if you’re interested.

Forever Space (Itch.io/Steam) is a remake of a previously made game by Pinhead Games. I haven’t played it but I’m a fan of their previous games like the Nick Bounty series and this seem the developer going in a horror direction.

Spaces are moments, not abstract or far away (Itch.io) is a free browser game described a poemware. I thought it was a beautiful space to explore and really liked the photography mechanic.

Hamayumishi: Night Parade of a Hundred Yokai (Itch.io) is an upcoming twin-stick shooting platformer by Nice Gear Games that I think looks really nice and it just got a demo.

Linker has a new game in developer that looks like a nice puzzle platformer (Itch.io). No title yet and it’s early in development but everything by them is great.

Here’s some things that aren’t games but I think you’ll enjoy:

If you are a fan of Hypercard then you’ll love Decker (Itch.io). It’s a free browser tool for making interactive documents and we just got a new version.

Wonderful game dev Big Hand In Sky has released 3 short stories that are Pay-What-You-Want on Itch.io: OVERLOAD, Name: [Here], and Looking at Clouds.

If you’re working in Zonelets, here’s a tool to make working with RSS a little easier.

And finally, here’s a couple of indie games that aren’t new but I finally got around to playing them and would recommend:

Here’s a remake of the classic arcade game Berzerk in PICO-8 (Itch.io). Everyone likes Berzerk!

Snoik! (Itch.io) is a twist on the classic Snake game for the Playdate. This time you’re switching between two planes to avoid hitting your tail.

Well, this is the last roundup I’m doing before Cohost becomes read-only, so if you’ve enjoyed these consider subscribing to my RSS feed? I’ve still got a backlog of games to post about but if there’s something cool you’ve (or a friend) worked on, please let me know either on social media or in the comments here. Or even just comment on this post with what you’ve been playing lately, indie or not, I always love to hear that too.

With Cohost winding down, some people have started to make games and toys featuring its mascot Eggbug. You can find some in this collection on Itch.io but I’m sure there’s plenty of other games too, like this game and this eggbug creation tool.

Speaking of Cohost, people there keep talking about how great Crypt Worlds (Itch.io) is. I haven’t played it yet but the devs have been making free games for a long time and it sounds like they could really use the support right now, so consider picking it up.

I’m not a racing person but Golden Lap (Steam) seems like a fun management game from the people who brought you Art of Rally.

Parking Garage Rally Circuit (Steam) looks like a Sega Saturn-ish inspired arcade racing game and the reviews for it have been very positive so far.

Ramón Wilhelm made a free point-and-click adventure game a while ago that I really enjoyed called Yip Quest, and he’s back at it again with another kobold adventure game called Gurk in Trouble (Itch.io). It’s free and playable in the browser too.

It was part of the $108 Adventure Game Challenge game jam, which got a bunch of entries. Consider checking those out on Itch.

There were also some really interesting adventure games that were made for the PowerJam3 game jam back in August too (see, big backlog of things to post). These games (Itch.io) were made using the PowerQuest plugin for Unity. PowerQuest is a tool just for making point-and-click adventures and kinda sorta feels like Adventure Game Studio from my limited experience with both. The one that seemed to get the most attention was Terminal City, a game that plays like an endless runner but with a text parser, but check them all out.

Devil’s Hideout (Steam/Itch.io) came out earlier this month if you’re looking for horror point-and-click adventures. I’m a big fan of Cosmic Void’s games and this is another great one.

Exophobia (Steam) is a retro-looking FPS that was released back in July that I enjoyed even despite some of my exhaustion of the retro FPS revival that’s happening (partially because they just look and don’t feel retro). This one is kind of a mix of early FPS like Wolfenstein 3D and Catacomb 3D and Metroid-style exploration games.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!