If you’re someone who loves video games, then this past weekend was a slice of heaven. Non-stop streams featuring unique and incredible-looking games one after another, and after watching all of them… or at least as many as I was aware of, I’ve compiled a list. I’m like the Santa of video games. I’m making a list, I’m checking it twice, and I’m ready to let the people know about the best indie games from Summer Game Fest. 26 games is a lot, so I’ve broken the list into two sections. The first section is made up of my 10 favorites. Every game not only has a link to its Steam or PlayStation store page, but I’ve also included descriptions that the developers have on those pages to make sure you’re well-informed about what these games are. The second section of the list may look like pictures of upcoming games with their titles written underneath, but if you click on one of those pictures, you will be whisked away to that game’s Steam Page so you can hopefully be just as intrigued as I am and wishlist it. Also, if you’re still reading this (we all know you already scrolled down to the good stuff), thanks for checking out the article. This was a lot of fun to put together.
10.) The Great Coffee Caper
The Great Coffee Caper is a cute and cozy RPG where it’s up to Detective Hootsworth to figure out who stole the town’s coffee beans! Uncover clues in fast-paced clue battles, question the charming townsfolk, and figure out hoooo dunnit! On a dark and stormy night, a terrifying fiend stole all of the coffee beans in the town! His tall top hat and spine-chilling roar are sure to send the nearest tortoise shivering in their shell!
Never fear, Detective Hootsworth is on the case!
Uncover clues, question the charming townsfolk, and more!
Catch the thief and solve the mystery in The Great Coffee Caper!
9.) Gourdlets Together
Welcome to Gourdlets Together, a relaxing multiplayer building and fishing game set in the world of Gourdlets! Design your own island in an adorable, colourful world inhabited by cute little vegetable folks, and level up your fishing skills, all while you hang out and chat with friends online! Spend your fishing earnings on new buildings, items, upgrades and accessories, and make your island feel like home. Visit your friends’ islands, get inspired by their creations, and enjoy gourd vibes together!
8.) Town to City
Break free of the grid in Town to City: a cozy city builder that invites you to create a beautiful and bustling community.
Freely place houses, shops, and amenities and natural elements to delight your residents and encourage new families to move in. As your population grows, so can your ambitions: create multiple towns that can grow alone or thrive together, helping the whole region develop and prosper.
In story or sandbox mode, you’re free to build at your own pace, placing each flower bed with pixel precision, or prioritise growing your economy and developing your town into a thriving city.
Key Features
– Full campaign and sandbox modes
– Truly grid-less city building tools
– Town and citizen management
– Rich customisation
– Research trees
– Photo mode
– Beautiful voxel art style
– Relaxing soundtrack
7.) End of Abyss
In the depths of a mysterious underground compound, a mission to investigate disturbances of unknown origin spirals into a harrowing descent through a broken and abandoned world. Play as the young combat technician, Cel, as she uncovers the truth behind the facility’s derelict areas and confronts the monstrous creatures that roam them.
Enter the Abyss
Descend into the halls of a sprawling complex, where broken machines whisper to you from the depths, and nothing you encounter is fully human.Fight to Survive
Outmatched by the twisted horrors you face, you must upgrade your gear and adapt, pushing your limits just to stay alive against the crushing pressure of the facility you’re trapped within.Explore Lost Paths
Navigate branching paths and uncover hidden areas using your Scanner and the tools you unlock along the way. Pathways open as you grow stronger, allowing you to return to forgotten corridors and secrets once sealed away.
6.) Wander Stars
Join Ringo, a young martial artist looking for her brother, and Wolfe, a mysterious scoundrel running from his past, as they join forces in an unlikely partnership to collect the pieces of the fabled Wanderstar Map. Across 10 “episodes” of anime-inspired adventure, Ringo and Wolfe will have to work together to find answers, make up for past mistakes, and travel across the universe in search of their goal. And who knows, maybe they’ll learn how to get along at some point!
Wander Stars is inspired by the anime the developers grew up watching in 1990’s Venezuela and shows like Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, One Piece and more.
It plays out across 10 “episodes”, each of which takes between 60-90 minutes to complete. Each episode features a map to explore with procedurally generated battles, special events and other secrets to find along with the main story events.
5.) Discounty
Manage your own discount supermarket! Get caught up in small-town drama, organise and plan your shop’s layout, and strike lucrative trade deals as you expand your secretive aunt’s business empire. Selling more frozen fries will surely heal this broken community…right?
Step into the quirky harbour town of Blomkest, where your aunt has entrusted you with managing its only supermarket. Design and organise your shop, manage stock levels, work the checkout, and strike trade deals. Build relationships with the charming locals, and grow your business empire while navigating community dynamics. Use every tool at your disposal to expand your business, but be mindful: rapid growth might ruffle a few feathers in this tight-knit community. Will you pursue endless profits, or find a way to benefit everyone in Blomkest?
4.) Demonschool
Demonschool is a new-style tactics RPG where motion equals action. Defeat big weirdos in between the human and demon worlds as Faye and her misfit companions, while navigating university life on a mysterious island.
- Tactics: Rewind any action during the planning phase and create combos to dispatch your foes.
- Story: A light horror narrative told through huge avatars with side quests aplenty.
- Schedule: Plan your school schedule to level your characters and build their skills.
- Friendship: 15 characters with whom to build relationships.
3.) Let’s Build a Dungeon
Run a game studio your way and see how things develop in this multi-layered management sim from the creators of Let’s Build a Zoo. Design and build your very own MMO world, fit to be filled by hordes of virtual players
Manage the day-to-day running of your game studio, from hiring and firing to keeping your investors happy
Attract new virtual players to your MMO masterpiece by expanding your world, designing new quests and monitoring player journeys
Progress through the campaign to develop new items, environments and mechanics that bring your ideas to life
Playtest your RPG at any time to see the world through the eyes of a player
Mix-and-match quest styles for endless replayability
Customise using thousands of items, or design your own
Negotiate tough conversations with shareholders, staff, players and publishers to make meaningful choices that will impact the direction of your studio.
2.) Mixtape
On their last night together, three friends embark on one final adventure. Play through a mixtape of memories, set to the soundtrack of a generation.
En route to their final party together, a perfectly curated playlist draws three friends into dreamlike reenactments of their formative memories. Experience a variety of narrative vignettes exploring the pivotal moments that shaped them. Players will immerse themselves in the teenage wasteland by playing through a mixtape of joyful gameplay, from skateboarding and flying to taking photos after hours at an abandoned theme park, hitting baseballs, and putting on a fireworks show from the backseat of a car. It’s the greatest hits of the teenage experience, from the first kiss to the last dance.
From Beethoven & Dinosaur, developers of BAFTA award-winning game The Artful Escape, Mixtape draws inspiration from classic coming-of-age movies, bringing together nostalgic aimlessness, mischief, music, the highs and lows of adolescence, and the bittersweet feelings brought about by growth, transformation, and moving on.
Featuring music from DEVO, Roxy Music, Lush, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, the Cure and many more.
Skate. Party. Avoid the law.
Hang out. Sneak out. Make out.
1.) Grave Seasons
After a treacherous escape from jail, you’ve made it to your new home in Ashenridge, an idyllic town with some seriously unsettling vibes. While trying to establish your new farming life and embed yourself in the neighborhood, murders start to occur in the town, putting your new peaceful life at risk.
Grave Seasons is a narrative led farming sim with a terrifying twist – someone in the town is a supernatural serial killer.
Honorable Mentions
Thinks of a Thoughter 
[…] I’m making a list of only ten. For those unaware, I already have a list that covers the 26 best indie games I saw at Summer Game Fest. What I’m about to attempt is truly a Herculean effort. So, without further delay, […]
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