Excessive sports activities, an FPS from former Blizzard devs and different new indie video games price testing

Welcome to our weekly roundup of what is going on on within the indie recreation area. There have been fairly a couple of high-profile arrivals this week, in addition to others which have left early entry and or arrived on extra platforms.

I’ve an extended flight this weekend and I am somewhat torn over what to play whereas I am within the air. I’ve my Change 2, Steam Deck and Playdate with me (extreme, I do know). As such, there are lots of methods I can go right here. I have never but burrowed my approach into Donkey Kong Bananza, in order that’s a powerful possibility. However then there are all of the Playdate Season Two video games I’ve but to take a look at — Taria & Como is one I undoubtedly wish to play — whereas my Steam Deck is bursting with video games and is working out of space for storing.

Choice paralysis is an all-too-common affliction lately, notably with regards to video games or selecting one thing to look at. I really feel like the neatest alternative right here is to play no matter is taking on essentially the most area on my Steam Deck that I’ve but to play, so I can simply scrub it if I am not . I am going to most likely do this until I do my common factor whereas flying: attempt to compensate for sleep.

New releases

If there have been a corridor of fame only for cell video games, the primary two Monument Valley video games would absolutely be first-ballot inductees. Whereas the third entry in the series maybe did not fairly hit these heady heights, it nonetheless has its followers and was well-received when it debuted on iOS and Android through Netflix late final 12 months. Simply over seven months later, Monument Valley 3 has sailed onto more platforms. Ustwo Video games’ considerate and classy M.C. Escher-inspired puzzler is now obtainable on PC, Nintendo Change, Change 2, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S.

RageSquid and writer No Extra Robots had a shock in retailer this week once they immediately launched Descenders Subsequent throughout a showcase of that recreation and its downhill biking-focused predecessor. It is a multiplayer motion sports activities recreation that, on the outset, options snowboarding and mountainboarding. The builders plan so as to add extra excessive sports activities over time (the sport is at the moment in early entry and there is a two-year roadmap to the 1.0 launch). Descenders Subsequent is out there on Steam, Xbox and Sport Cross for Xbox and PC.

Wheel World appears far more stress-free than Descenders Subsequent, though your mission is to save lots of the world from full collapse. The launch trailer for this open-world biking recreation from Messhof (Nidhogg) has impeccable vibes. Between races, you’ll seek for components to improve your bike. Given its stellar monitor report, any recreation that Annapurna Interactive publishes is price testing, and I am going to definitely be giving Wheel World a spin. It is out now on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S, in addition to Sport Cross Final and PC Sport Cross.

Wildgate is a multiplayer shooter from writer Dreamhaven’s Moonshot Video games division. Dreamhaven CEO Mike Morhaime is a co-founder and former president of Blizzard. Nearly all the firm’s first wave of workers used to work at Blizzard too. So it is perhaps not an excessive amount of of a shock that Wildgate has a elegant, colourful look. The workforce extraction shooter — which is now obtainable on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S — has spaceship-based fight and a procedurally-generated map to assist swap issues up from game-to-game.

Dreamhaven has had fairly a busy 2025 up to now. It has launched the total model of the pleasant motion RPG Lynked: Banner of the Spark (by FuzzyBot Video games), cast a publishing partnership with Sport River for its tactical wargame Mechabellum and unleashed two video games of its personal within the form of tabletop RPG social gathering recreation Sunderfolk and now Wildgate.

Supervive (beforehand often known as Undertaking Loki) is a recreation we’ve had an eye on for a while and it is now out of early entry on Steam. Theorycraft has overhauled this free-to-play MOBA/battle royale hybrid with the 1.0 replace by introducing a bigger map that has extra traversal choices, a two-seater aerial automobile, extra playable characters, quicker revives, an upgraded person interface and much more.

Upcoming

Agefield Excessive: Rock the Faculty is a story journey recreation that follows a highschool senior after his mother and father transfer with him to a brand new city. Sam Tatum needs to make his previous couple of months of college unforgettable, and if he feels the necessity to skip class or mow lawns for a couple of dollars to make that occur, so be it.

This challenge from Refugium Video games, which is in improvement for PC and consoles and slated to debut in early 2026, already feels prefer it’s dripping with nostalgia, and that is simply primarily based on the trailer and press launch. It is set in 2002 and is alleged to have a soundtrack crammed with pop-punk tunes. Agefield High: Rock the School has a branching narrative too, with a number of endings to expertise. The builders took some inspiration from Rockstar’s Bully and since we might not ever get a proper sequel to that recreation, Agefield Excessive: Rock the Faculty could fill a sure void in my millennial coronary heart.

I fairly just like the aesthetic of Oceaneers, a survival-crafting sim from Barrel Smash Studios. It appears to attract from the identical effectively as Do not Starve, however that is hardly a foul factor. You may hop between islands looking for assets and methods to broaden your colony. You may additionally battle sharks and crabs, and perhaps even uncover hidden bunkers — maybe there’s somebody inside who has to punch a sequence into a terminal every 108 minutes? Oceaneers is anticipated to hit Steam early entry in 2026 with a demo dropping quickly. Perhaps I am going to begin a long-overdue Misplaced rewatch within the meantime.

Getting misplaced in a fictional world for dozens upon dozens of hours might be fairly interesting, and I do take pleasure in bigger video games in that vein. However so many video games are too bloated lately and I do love shorter, extra centered experiences. Catto’s Publish Workplace is alleged to take round an hour to finish.

On this open-world title from In Shambles Studio and writer Cult Video games, you may play as a Postcat who delivers packages to the residents of a small city. You are able to do cat issues like cover in containers, knock stuff over and meow everytime you like with a devoted button. It seems to be too dang lovely. Catto’s Publish Workplace will value $5 when it hits Steam on August 4, and there will likely be a 20 % launch low cost.

You understand how, in Ultimate Fantasy VII, Cloud has a large sword? Nicely, what for those who might have a weapon like that in a puzzle-focused motion platformer? Enter the splendidly titled Gigasword from solo developer Studio Hybrid and writer Akupara Video games. Together with utilizing your weapon to take out unlucky baddies and beastly bosses, you may make use of it to unravel puzzles and assist with platforming. Gigasword is coming to Steam on October 2, and there is a demo obtainable now.

Talking of video games with unbelievable names, The Participant Who Cannot Degree Up positive has a type of. That is an motion roguelite that’s primarily based on a webtoon that debuted final 12 months. It has a slick, attractive trailer and — because the title suggests — you will not have the ability to stage up your character. You’ll be able to, nevertheless, choose perks that will help you hunt monsters. Tripearl Video games is the studio behind the challenge, for which it is focusing on a 2026 debut on PC and consoles.