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Hey guys, this took us quite a while to put together, but we wanted to kick off 2016 with
a ***, so without further ado, here are 50 upcoming indie titles that'll make you salivate
in excitement.
With its development being led by Matt Nava, the art director of Journey, Abzu promises
to be a deeply affectual swim under the ocean. Adr1ft is an immersive first-person experience
that casts you as an amnesia stricken astronaut caught amid the wreckage of a space ship.
It'll be coming to PC and Oculus first The original Banner Saga is coming to consoles
in January, and this, the second part of the trilogy is due mid-year. Expect more Vikings
and turn-based battles. Battle Chef Brigade is a delightfully wacky
mix of action, anime and Iron Chef that has you hunt down food and then serve it up as
the perfect dish. Announced back in 2013, Below will finally
release this year. We don't know much about it, other than it's an exploration-focused
roguelike and will be exclusive to XBOX only temporarily. Very mysterious.
Currently on Early Access, Besiege has already proven itself a winner. Build a base, defend
it, and enjoy the ensuing destruction. Chasm is a pixel-gorgeous metroidvania with
procedural generation. After a long development, we have our fingers crossed 2016 is the year
we get to see it at long last. Crossing Souls is an action-adventure that
takes you back to 1986. Follow the story of 5 Californian kids who discover the world
of the dead and become embroiled in a government conspiracy.
It feels like we've been waiting forever, but we're confident this is the year we get
Cuphead; an homage to early cartoons, that looks amazing, and plays tough.
Dad by the Sword is a swordplay driven roguelike in which you play as an everyday Dad. Bizarre
yet intriguing. A successful 2015 on early access, and now
Darkest Dungeon is ready for full-release. It's a brutal RPG roguelike set in a Lovecraftian
inspired world that's not at all for the faint-hearted. Also still in early access, Distance is a
futuristic survival racer with dope beats coming soon to PS4 and PC.
Original Sin 2 is the next step in the CRPG formula that won many hearts and fans in 2014.
This time, there'll be a greater concentration on character's backgrounds and multiplayer.
Donut County is the solo project of Ben Esposito, who you may know as the dev behind the Unfinished
Swan. Still unfinished, this physics adventure game has already picked up accolades form
the IGF and IndieCade. Much like Dark Souls, patience and observation
are key to mastering combat in EITR. It's a little thing, but EITR also has some pretty
neat lighting effects. The wait is almost up for Campo Santo's narrative-driven
adventure, Firewatch. In it, you're a fire lookout bored and alone in the wild, but then
unexplainable things begin to happen. Much intrigue.
The Flame in the Flood is a struggle to survive whilst headed downstream in a post-apocalyptic
Southern America. The music and atmosphere is strong with this one, and you can try it
now on early access. Gigantic is a new combination of third-person
shooters and the team-based games of MOBAs, such as DOTA. Will follow a freemium model,
so will be free to play too. From Double Fine and Adult Swim Games, Headlander
is a nutty sci-fi adventure in which you play as a human head that can detach and fly between
robot bodies. Hellblade is a high-production project that
follows the story of Celtic warrior Senua and the psychotic delusions of her mind.
Back in 2013, Hyper Light Drifter obliterated its funding goal on Kickstarter and ever since
anticipation has grown for this beautiful throwback to the 8 and 16-bit eras.
Supposedly in development since 2010, Inside is Playdead's creepy follow-up to their much
beloved Limbo. Fun fact: a real human skull has been used to create some of the game's
audio; pretty spine-tingling stuff hey? Jenny LeCLue is the French Nancy Drew, and
in 2016 she invites you to join her on her quest to find out the truth of behind the
*** that her Mother's been accused of. Our number 1 Kickstarter game of 2014, Kingdom
Come: Deliverance, is due out mid-year. It's an RPG set in a historically accurate and
open medieval world that comes with graphics to die for.
The mysterious Kona is a journey of survival told in the snowy wilds of Quebec. Episode
one of this French production hits early access in January.
Krautscape is a truly unique racer in which the leader builds the map whilst the race
unfolds. After a long and difficult journey on early access, we hope 2016 is the year
for Krautscape to shine. Last Life is a 2 hour-long experience in which
you play a detective back from the dead and looking for answers. With noir vibes, funky
minimalist style and a Mars setting, you can colour us eager.
The Long Dark is a brutal and gritty battle between you and nature that's impressed so
far on early access. However, its defining moment comes in autumn with the release of
its story mode. Manifold Garden looks like the work of an
Architect on acid, and well, it looks amazing. This surrealist dream inspired by the art
of MC Escher, will reset the rules of gravity for a markedly different experience.
Only a month away now, Mighty no. 9 is so close you can almost touch it. Not just a
Mega Man remake, its new absorption dash ability speeds up the pace significantly.
With Hotline Miami coming to an end, maybe Mother Russia Bleeds can assume the mantle
of hyper-violence in gaming. Play as a large drug-addicted Russian and beat the crap out
of everyone you see. At the end of everything, hold onto anything;
that's the idea behind Night in the Woods, in which you play as Mae, a college dropout
returning home. From what we've seen, it appears humorous, charming and deep.
No Man's Sky, It's probably the most anticipated game of 2016. Rumour has it, that the devs
are working on adding VR support, and well, can you think of a game more perfectly suited
for it? Not abduction, but rather Obduction is quite
a beautiful looking spiritual successor to the classic PC adventure Myst. Original dev
studio Cyan is working on it too. Outer Wilds is a space-faring game in which
you have 20 minutes before the nearby star goes supernova, a la the Moon in Majora's
Mask. Also won the grand prize at 2015's Indie Games Festival.
OlliOlli, meet Oxenfree, the open-world adventure game about a high school party turned horrifyingly
wrong. Reportedly, the devs are in talks with publisher Skybound to bring Oxenfree to comics
and film. Rime is an explorative platformer that reminds
us of Wind Waker with its cel-shaded art and Ico with its vast and lonely island filled
with ruins. Worth playing for the visual spectacle alone.
We talked about a Hotline Miami successor, but what about one for Ori and the Blind Forest?
Seasons after fall has the forest setting and very similar art. A key difference however,
is that it's more puzzle-based. Things were quiet on the Skytorn front in
2015, but we should see it before the year's out. Anticipate a side-scrolling quest through
different dungeons up high in the sky. With an id software-led Doom reboot coming
out this year, it's kinda funny that we're also getting Strafe, a homage to Doom and
the fps scene of the 90's. Time moves, but only when you do. That's the
guiding principle of Superhot; this red, white and black Matrix simulator that's more about
strategy than shooting. Fullbright, the peeps behind Gone Home, return
in 2016 with another environmental storytelling project called Tacoma. This one takes place
in the future, on a transfer station in space Thumper is an epilepsy-inducing psychedelic
rollercoaster self-described as a rhythmic violence game. It's trippy, pulsating, like
a Tame Impala album cover come to life, and we love it already.
Unravel was the surprise hit of E3 2015, endearing itself to the masses in the process. And it's
not hard to see why, with its adorable hero strung out of red string, clever gameplay
and emotional yarn, Unravel is an A-grade charmer.
Wildfire is a stealth-oriented puzzle game, in which you control the elements of fire,
water and grass to clever effect. And with its alpha out, Wildfire is coming along nicely.
We Happy Few is a survival game in which you need to escape a 1960's British town full
of drugged-up whack jobs wanting to convert you. Groovy baby, yet creepy baby.
Where the Water Tastes like Wine is an attempt to capture the essence of the American road
story and folk culture. From what we see, its visuals and audio are already capturing
that essence. Oh ho, Jonathon Blow, after Braid where did
you go? Oh ho, Jonathon Blow, how we've missed you so. Putting an end to the rhyming, The
Witness is almost upon us, and with it comes a glorious island full of brainteasers.
Call it what you want, but Yooka Laylee is Banjo-Kazooie. This Kickstarter miracle that
revived a loved but forgotten franchise should be the game fans have wanted for 15 years.
So the time has come, we finally made it to number 50! This last game, 1979 Revolution,
details the Iranian uprising of 79 through the eyes of Reza, a young photojournalist.
It's an exciting and bold direction for storytelling in gaming.
Well that's it, a whole 50 indie games to look forward to in 2016. It's not the end
of our preview for the year however, as we'll be back soon with 10 bold predictions for
indie games in 2016. Also, if we missed any games you have your eyes on, please let us
know in the comments. As always, thanks for watching, my name's
Laurence And my name's Josh; we'll see you next time
here on Indieformer.