5 Indie Games You Should Keep An Eye On This Year
This is a guest post from Contributor Vaughn Hyde.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of games that come out in a given year, many of which most people will never know anything about. In an effort to combat this reality, today I’ll be bringing you five indie games you should keep an eye on this year.
5. Orion: Shadow of Jeroba
The story of Orion follows the exploits of a small creature named… Orion. After being cast out of his home Orion must travel the land in search of a mysterious force called Kardia. Along the way you’ll come across all manner of NPCs, some friendly and others much less so. Orion is a roguelike game with RPG mechanics, featuring several different skills and abilities, each with their own set of improvements. Personally, my favorite part of Orion, and the reason I think you might want to follow its development, is the beautiful pixel art. The developers of Orion, From Heart We Make, have crafted a mesmerizing world filled with interesting characters, all inspired by games they loved when they were young. It only took one look to get me hooked and I hope the same happens for you.
4. Omno
Omno is a 3D puzzle platformer developed by Jason Manke. In Omno you take control of a wanderer in possession of a powerful magic relic. With the aid of this staff and possibly a friend, you’ll traverse an ancient and wonderous world. But, of course, no matter how beautiful the world is it’s only as good as its inhabitants. On your journey, you’ll find many an intriguing creature – everything from turtles to crabs and even dinosaurs. Omno is one of the few games that I was attracted to because of its gameplay. After seeing a trailer featuring the game’s protagonist surfing down a slope of sand on his staff, I was hooked. And I’m even more hooked now that it has had meteoric success on Kickstarter and will be receiving not only additional lore and a secret ending but console ports as well. Omno is currently slated for a fall 2019 release date on Steam that I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting.
3. Flynn: Son of Crimson
Flynn: Son of Crimson is a 2D action platformer by Studio Thunderhorse. In this wondrous tale, you’ll take control of Flynn on his quest to defend his homeland of Rosantica from the invading forces of the Scourge. Using the ancient power of Crimson, Flynn will help man and beast alike take back their lives from the Scourge, all the while revealing the mysteries of his past. Being the pixel whore that I am, I was obviously drawn to Flynn: Son of Crimson because of its amazing pixel art. However, I soon found myself enamored with the lore and the combat of the game as well. Combat in Flynn: Son of Crimson is very fast paced and you’ll have to balance several different weapon types along with magic spells to fend off the forces of the Scourge. I hope to see a release date announced soon, but for now, I’ll just have to be sated
2. Infinitesimals
Infinitesimals is one of the coolest and most interesting ideas I’ve heard for a game in a long while. At the risk of oversimplifying it, it’s like Honey, I Shrunk The Kids but with aliens. In Infinitesimals you’ll play Captain Orkney, a grizzled veteran of a militaristic society on the brink of collapse after your unit is decimated you’re sent to regroup with a new unit far away from the front lines. However, you soon realize that you’re not as far away from the conflict as you were led to believe. The best part of Infinitesimals, in my opinion, is the immense creativity shown by the team over at Cubit Studios through the mechanics of the game. Things like a jet booster that aids you in jumping to unimaginable heights, destructible environments, and an awesome spider tank, show how imaginative this team really is. One of my favorite activities each week is checking in on the development of Infinitesimals and seeing what kind of amazing new additions are implemented. I honestly can’t say I’ve ever done that with a game before, but I guess that’s what makes it so special.
1. Eagle Island
Eagle Island is a 2D action platformer with procedurally generated levels based entirely around falconry. You’ll join Quill and his pet owl, Koji, on their journey to explore the world of Eagle Island and save Ichiro from the clutches of the deity Armaura. Along the way, you’ll come across magical feathers that transform Koji into different elemental forms allowing you to combat any situation, along with upwards of eighty-five different skills and abilities. But that’s not all. Eagle Island isn’t just a story based adventure game, it also comes with Roguelite and Speedrun modes, for those not looking for a long story based experience. Eagle Island also boasts an amazing 16-bit art style, that easily sets it apart from many of the other games in the falconry genre. With the announcement that Eagle Island will be released not only on Windows PC but Nintendo Switch as well, I had to make sure more people know about this beautiful game.
All of these games are made by incredibly small teams, or in some cases a single person, so please consider giving them a quick look. I sincerely hope that this small list of amazing indie games helps you narrow down what games to follow as we head into 2019 and I can’t wait to see what surprises this new year has in store for us.
