It’s been an exciting month to be an indie game fan. There’s no shortage of new releases to keep us busy, and social media is abuzz with debate over what qualifies for the moniker “indie,” especially after Annapurna Interactive’s successful coming-of-age story game. Mixtape.
Microsoft’s ID@Xbox the program has provided development hardware and publishing support to indie teams of all sizes around the world and helped launch thousands of games directly on your Xbox console or the Xbox app on PC.
If there’s one indisputable truth about indie games, it’s that there’s a wide net that spans different genres of games — ultimately bringing together a unique set of experiences that can have a lasting impact on those who play them.
We celebrate Indians here at Windows Central ID@Xbox program has been highlighting monthly new releases, big and small, that we think are worth your time. From solo-dev projects like recently released OOLO to those supported by larger publishers such as 11 bit studios (Frostpunk, The Alters) and Annapurna Interactive (deviant, Note People).
With so many new experiences launching every day, it’s easy for some really awesome games to slip under your radar, so here are five recently released indies that should be next in your gaming queue.
Motor slice
In 2008, EA published Mirror edge — a hyper-modern, minimalist action platformer challenged players to parkour their way through a city of glass in first-person to overthrow a tyrannical regime. The game was a success and a sequel came in 2015. Sadly, this was the last we saw of Faith in action, but Mirror’s Edge certainly managed to launch a new genre of platforming, with several indie developers picking up the torch to continue the genre today.
Motorslice, developed by Regular Studio and published by Top Hat Studios, is one such indie that gives speed runners and parkour enthusiasts a new playground to explore. Players become ‘P’, a young woman tasked with making her way through a devastating megastructure covered in deadly traps and harboring some massive bosses. As a “slicer”, P is armed with a chainsaw and accompanied by a malfunctioning orb drone tasked with eliminating the machinery of an abandoned structure at all costs. However, nothing is as easy as it seems and P will have to climb, run and slide his way through the brutal and ultimate landscape of Motorslice.
Featuring an atmospheric soundtrack by Pizza Hotline and voice acting by Kira Buckland, Motorslice is an acrobatic, low-poly parkour game that’s now available as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription. Motorslice is supported by Xbox Play Anywhere, so you can take it with you Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Xbox Cloud Gamingor a handy handheld device for some quick swipe and slice action.
Constance
You know what goes well with platforming? Metroidvanias. The two genres come together like paint and paintbrushes, which is a perfect way to introduce Constance. Constance, developed by Blue Backpack and published in collaboration with ByteRockers’ Games and PARCO Games, is a story set in a non-linear connected world where the player uses a powerful paintbrush capable of special techniques that can be used to discover secrets, sketch inspiration found during the journey, and refine those sketches.
Upgrade and customize Constance’s abilities by upgrading sketches, but be careful! Brush techniques can increase the corruption in Constance’s paint, which can have a negative effect when it reaches full corruption. Like similar platformers, Constance leans towards difficulty, but gives its players the chance to continue challenges after death or try a different path from a safer place.
Constance writes a meaningful story about the psyche and explores the character’s mental health through various biomes and enemies that represent elements of creative struggle, work-life balance, and finding purpose. Constance is now available Xbox Series X|S.
Urban Jungle (Full Version)
Urban Jungle, developed by Kylyk Games and published by Assemble Entertainment, is a charming simulation and puzzle game where players like Pharita can manage a collection of plants to create a delightful, plant-filled haven. Each plant has its own value, and players must arrange them in the apartment to maximize comfort and aesthetics. Despite the stress-free gameplay, plant placement is a strategic challenge. Moving around plants for optimal aesthetics helps unlock new plants, while engaging in environmental puzzles adds to the emotional story of the game. Other items in the apartment are also interactive, including lamps and humidifiers.
Urban Jungle is available as a standalone game, but an extension of the DLC story that covers the blossoming love story between Pharita’s brother Racatha and her lover Nurgun. Design and decorate Nurgun’s new house and make sure all the details are perfect for Rachata so that Nurgun can propose. An additional story chapter can be purchased as DLC for Urban Jungle, or the game and DLC can be purchased together as a complete edition.
Urban Jungle is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and compatible handheld devices. Play Xbox Anywhere.
Strange antiquities
In 2022, developer Bad Viking partnered with Iceberg Interactive to publish Strange Horticulture, a cozy and rewarding stealth puzzle game that deals with all things witchy, planty, and weird. This was a well-received point as it saw players manage their own herb shop and go on adventures through strange scenarios and add to their collection of herbs that could cure those who trouble you or maim your enemies. It seems natural that Bad Viking would expand that universe this time with Strange Antiquities.
Strange Antiquities leans on the puzzling shop management genre of its predecessor, but ditches the herbology of its past for new hidden artifacts. The townspeople have many unusual problems, and only the goods found in your quaint, candle-lit shop can help. Observe your customers, listen to their stories, and then choose to help them, even if it means cursing their enemies with terrible suffering.
Developed by two brothers from the UK, Strange Antiquities invites players into a world that’s both eerily dark and warmly inviting, full of unusual NPCs to interact with and unique places to explore as you discover more about the city of Undermere and the antiquities that can be found there. Strange Antiquities is now available Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
The Coma 3: Bloodlines
Developed by Dvora Studio and published by Headup, The Coma 3: Bloodlines is the latest entry in the 2D escape and hide and seek horror adventure series set in Seoul, South Korea. Sehwa Private High School has become a haven for people learning about the cursed underworld and the nightmare dimension. Coma 3 expands beyond the walls of a private school to allow players to explore new locations and experience the mysterious occult.
There’s no fighting in The Coma 3, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be afraid of. Abominations running amok will happily hunt and chase you, making stealth and strategic moves your only chance of survival for the game’s three playable characters. Players who have experienced the previous games in the series can look to The Coma 3: Bloodlines for a satisfying story with the mysteries of the past finally revealed.
The Coma 3: Bloodlines is available now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
