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

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

I’ve a protracted flight this weekend and I’m just a little torn over what to play whereas I’m within the air. I’ve my Switch 2, Steam Deck and Playdate with me (extreme, I do know). As such, there are numerous methods I can go right here. I have never but burrowed my means into Donkey Kong Bananza, in order that’s a robust choice. But then there are all of the Playdate Season Two video games I’ve but to take a look at — Taria & Como is one I positively wish to play — whereas my Steam Deck is bursting with video games and is operating out of cupboard space.

Decision paralysis is an all-too-common affliction as of late, significantly in terms of video games or selecting one thing to observe. I really feel like the neatest selection right here is to play no matter is taking over probably the most house on my Steam Deck that I’ve but to play, so I can simply scrub it if I’m not . I’ll in all probability do this except I do my ordinary 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 certainly be first-ballot inductees. While the third entry within the sequence maybe did not fairly hit these heady heights, it nonetheless has its followers and was well-received when it debuted on iOS and Android by way of Netflix late final yr. Just over seven months later, Monument Valley 3 has sailed onto extra platforms. Ustwo Games’ considerate and trendy M.C. Escher-inspired puzzler is now out there on PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

RageSquid and writer No More Robots had a shock in retailer this week after they instantly launched Descenders Next throughout a showcase of that sport and its downhill biking-focused predecessor. This is a multiplayer motion sports activities sport 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 present in early entry and there is a two-year roadmap to the 1.0 launch). Descenders Next is obtainable on Steam, Xbox and Game Pass for Xbox and PC.

Wheel World appears far more stress-free than Descenders Next, though your mission is to avoid wasting the world from full collapse. The launch trailer for this open-world biking sport from Messhof (Nidhogg) has impeccable vibes. Between races, you can seek for components to improve your bike. Given its stellar observe document, any sport that Annapurna Interactive publishes is value testing, and I’ll definitely be giving Wheel World a spin. It’s out now on Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, in addition to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

Wildgate is a multiplayer shooter from writer Dreamhaven’s Moonshot Games division. Dreamhaven CEO Mike Morhaime is a co-founder and former president of Blizzard. Almost all the firm’s first wave of staff used to work at Blizzard too. So it is perhaps not an excessive amount of of a shock that Wildgate has a refined, colourful look. The group extraction shooter — which is now out there on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series 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 to this point. It has launched the total model of the pleasing motion RPG Lynked: Banner of the Spark (by FuzzyBot Games), cast a publishing partnership with Game River for its tactical wargame Mechabellum and unleashed two video games of its personal within the form of tabletop RPG occasion sport Sunderfolk and now Wildgate.

Supervive (beforehand referred to as Project Loki) is a sport we have had an eye fixed on for some time 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 car, extra playable characters, sooner revives, an upgraded person interface and much more.

Upcoming

Agefield High: Rock the School is a story journey sport 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 bucks to make that occur, so be it.

This challenge from Refugium Games, which is in growth 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’s set in 2002 and is alleged to have a soundtrack full of 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 sport, Agefield High: Rock the School 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 properly as Don’t Starve, however that is hardly a nasty factor. You’ll hop between islands in the hunt for sources and methods to develop your colony. You’ll 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. Maybe I’ll begin a long-overdue Lost rewatch within the meantime.

Getting misplaced in a fictional world for dozens upon dozens of hours may be fairly interesting, and I do get pleasure from bigger video games in that vein. But so many video games are too bloated as of late and I do love shorter, extra targeted experiences. Catto’s Post Office is alleged to take round an hour to finish.

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

You know the way, in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud has an enormous sword? Well, what should you may have a weapon like that in a puzzle-focused motion platformer? Enter the splendidly titled Gigasword from solo developer Studio Hybrid and writer Akupara Games. Along 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 out there now.

Speaking of video games with incredible names, The Player Who Can’t Level Up positive has a type of. This is an motion roguelite that’s primarily based on a webtoon that debuted final yr. It has a slick, attractive trailer and — because the title suggests — you will not have the ability to stage up your character. You can, nonetheless, choose perks that will help you hunt monsters. Tripearl Games is the studio behind the challenge, for which it is focusing on a 2026 debut on PC and consoles.