Patapon’s spiritual successor, co-op Lego and other new indie games worth checking out
Some of the year’s biggest blockbuster games have just dropped or are coming very soon. But among the likes of Borderlands 4, EA Sports FC 26 and Battlefield 6, there are a ton of neat indie games popping up. We’re here to tell you about some of ’em and what else is going on in the space with our weekly indie games roundup.
There were showcases this week from Critical Reflex (which was packed with neat oddities), Game Devs of Color, Six One Indie and Convergence. There’s far too much cool stuff in these for us to highlight everything — during the Six One Indie preshow alone, I added three games to my Steam wishlist. So, if you’re into indie games and have the time, I recommend checking these streams out.
If all of that isn’t enough for you, there’s another indie showcase coming next Wednesday called Indie Fan Fest from The Mix and Digital Bandidos. That’s not all: a Capcom stream is taking place on September 24 (not exactly indie, but Pragmata looks interesting) and rumors of a PlayStation event are ramping up ahead of Tokyo Game Show next week.
Elsewhere, I’ve been keeping an eye on an Itch.io game jam that’s been running this past week. It’s all about falling block games. I’m really enjoying the updates that a developer named Wallaber is sharing on Bluesky for a project called Jelly Well.
A quick note for any indie developers who are joining us before we check out some of this week’s new releases: submissions for the December edition of Day of the Devs are open. Landing a spot in that showcase is one of the highest-profile spotlights an indie developer can get these days, so if you have a cool game to show off, shoot your shot.
New releases
The team behind Patapon is back with a spiritual successor to that classic rhythm game series. There are strategic and roguelike elements in Ratatan, which is from TVT Co. Ltd., Ratata Arts and publisher Game Source Entertainment. There’s co-op for up to four players as well.
You’ll need to match the beat of the soundtrack to defeat enemies, and battles can feature more than 100 characters. It all looks quite charming, though I can’t help but think of that song by Babymetal and Electric Callboy whenever I read the game’s title (the immensely catchy “Ratatata” is rarely far away from my thoughts anyway). Ratatan is out in early access on Steam for $25, but there’s a 10 percent launch discount until September 28.
Lego Voyagers is a lovely-looking co-op adventure from Light Brick Studio (Lego Builder’s Journey) and publisher Annapurna Interactive. It’s out now on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Steam and Epic Games Store.
Here, you and a partner (there’s local co-op and online support) will go on a journey to rescue an abandoned spaceship. Your lil’ bricks can snap together and combine with other Lego pieces to solve puzzles as you make your way through this land. It’s said to be a fairly short game, clocking in at between three and five hours, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing given how much bloat there is in many games.
I’ve had my eye on Henry Halfhead — from Lululu Entertainment and co-publisher Popagenda — for a while and I’m looking forward to checking out this sandbox adventure. You play as Henry, who is just the top half of a human head. You can transform into any nearby object and play around with things in the environment. A narrator will react to your escapades as you solve challenges and guide Henry through life. There’s a co-op mode too.
Henry Halfhead is available on Steam, Switch and PS5. It typically costs $13, but there’s a 25 percent launch discount until September 30.
11 Bit Studios’ Frostpunk 2 has now landed on Xbox Series X/S and PS5 after debuting on PC this time last year. It’s a city-building survival sim that starts 30 years after a blizzard ravaged the planet and caused an eternal winter.
I dig the set up and aesthetic here. City builders in this vein aren’t usually my kind of thing, but since Frostpunk 2 is on Game Pass, I might give it a try.
Don’t Die, Collect Loot hit early access on Steam this week. This is a vertically scrolling Vampire Survivors-esque roguelite from solo developer Dan Marchand (aka Dan Makes Video Games) and indie.io.
If you’ve been looking for a new way to watch numbers go up and live out a power fantasy, this one might be of interest. For what it’s worth, I love the chiptune music in the trailer. Don’t Die, Collect Loot costs $10 and there’s a 10 percent discount until October 3.
A trailer for Troleu hooked me in during publisher Critical Reflex’s showcase. At its essence, this is a trolleybus conductor simulator, but it looks like things will get very much out of hand. You’ll get into fist fights with unruly passengers (who may include aliens) and punt them from the vehicle if necessary. There are multiple routes, leaderboards and even a T. rex. It all seems quite chaotic.
Troleu, which was made by solo developer andrground, is out now on Steam. You can get it for 20 percent off the regular price of $10 until September 29.
Speaking of aliens, here’s a theme park (and zoo?) simulator with a difference: it’s set in the universe of Mars Attacks. In Mars Attracts, you can abduct humans and experiment on the lowly primates for the entertainment of Martians, who come for the cruelty. The Convergence Games showcase featured a short look at the early stages of the game — experimenting on the loely specimens is your path to unlocking upgrades.
Outlier’s Mars Attracts is in early access on Steam. The $25 game has a 10 percent discount until September 22, and I might just pick it up.
Upcoming
Relooted was one of the more exciting games that caught our attention during Summer Game Fest. South African developer Nyamakop is creating a heist game that sees your crew setting out to reclaim plundered African artifacts from the hands of private collectors. It’s a terrific setup, and you can now find out how the game actually plays thanks to a demo that dropped this week on Steam.
You’ll get to play through the tutorial and one mission while getting a sense of the game’s story. Before you grab any of the valuable artifacts, you’ll need to spend a little time planning your escape from a given area with the help of your crew. You can replay the mission to try different options and routes.
I enjoyed the demo quite a bit. The movement is slick (it reminds me a bit of Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield) and the light strategy and puzzle solving sits just right for me. There’s no release date for Relooted as yet, but I’ll absolutely be playing it. The game is coming to Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox Series X/S.
Dispatch is a game we’ve covered a few times, and now it has a release date. This is a superhero workplace comedy from AdHoc Studio, a team of former Telltale developers. It’s about a sidelined hero who becomes a superhero dispatcher.
The animation and art look sumptuous, and there’s an outstanding cast that includes Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer and Jeffrey Wright. Dispatch is coming your way on October 22 on Steam (where you can check out a demo) and PS5.
Jupiter Junkworks had flown under my radar, but it’s firmly on there after a gameplay trailer was featured in the Convergence showcase. It’s a Tetris-style game in which you can slam parts of each tetromino into gaps further down the screen.
This arcade puzzler from Pixel Drake has a narrative that involves a trio of ragtag travelers learning to work together and make something of a spaceship salvage yard. Jupiter Junkworks is coming to Steam and Switch, and there’s a demo on the former.
It wouldn’t be an indie game roundup without a Metroidvania, and this week Critical Reflex showed off one that’s also a dating sim. There’s a new Steam demo available (but no release date as yet) for 2Awesome Studio’s Altered Alma, the trailer for which is drenched in a lovely “cyberpink.”
Okay, how about another Metroidvania? Solo developer Eric Manahan (aka The Matte Black Studio) is billing Lucid as the first “Celestoidvania” — take a wild guess which platformer it’s taking inspiration from.
One other reason to get excited about Lucid is that it features music from bearbot and the legendary David Wise, who famously worked on the Donkey Kong Country series. Fingers crossed that the crystalpunk aesthetic of this game will lead Wise to create a piece that’s on par with “Aquatic Ambiance.” In any case, a demo for Lucid is available on Steam now. There’s no release date as yet for this game, which Apogee Entertainment is publishing.
A Heavy Morning was the most compelling game to me in the Game Devs of Color showcase. It’s a narrative adventure focused on mental health. The aim is to help a young woman who is struggling to get out of bed to start her day. Among other things, you’ll enter her mind to help remove mental blocks with the help of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques.
The latest trailer for this game from Saf Interactive and co-publisher Bright Gambit features an absolutely lovely art style. You’ll be able to play it on Xbox and Steam this fall.
I’ll take any excuse I can to write about Skate Story. Every time a new trailer pops up (as was the case during the Game Devos of Color showcase), I think it’s one of the coolest-looking games I’ve ever seen. Publisher Devolver Digital has now confirmed that along with the previously announced Steam and PS5 releases, Sam Eng’s Skate Story is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.
Alas, there’s still no release date for Skate Story. But Devolver says it will arrive by the end of the year, so I’m glad it hasn’t been pushed back to 2026.
