Indie games always bring a unique experience, either with a unique art style, interesting characters or a story design that leaves audiences baffled. These qualities help indie games differentiate themselves from the assembly line products that are AAA titles.
Many people look forward to playing indie games because they are refreshing and are often short but impressive adventures. 2022 has already seen many examples of great indie games, with Stray taking the position so far as the best of these titles, a title worthy of being recognized as Game of the Year.
With only four months to go in 2022, you may be wondering if there are still any good indie game titles to be released, as the end of the year generally sees an influx of big titles. I’m here to tell you that there are still a ton of indie games to be excited about, and we’re going to take a look at five of them right now.
Note: This article reflects the opinion of the writer.
5 great indie games yet to be released in 2022
1) Slime Rancher 2
If you’ve enjoyed Slime Rancher, chances are you’re looking forward to the release of its sequel, Slime Rancher 2. You won’t have to wait long, as the game isn’t coming until later this month, with a September 22, 2022 release date, when it will be made available on Early Access for Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows.
In this first-person life simulation indie game, you’ll see the return of Beatrix LeBeau as the protagonist as she sets out to explore a new location called ‘Rainbow Island’. The gameplay remains much the same as in the previous game, with players having to build a ranch and oversee the breeding of different types of Slimes.
Slimes must be fed so that they can produce ‘sudden’, which is an in-game currency and can be used to upgrade the ranch and its equipment. Slimes also react and change based on how they are fed and come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with new ones introduced in Slime Rancher 2.
2) OXENFREE II: Lost Signals
Another sequel to the indie game, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is the second game in the OXENFREE series from developer Night School Studios and publisher Netflix. If the first game has anything to offer, expect a lot of mystery, suspense and supernatural creepiness from the sequel.
Main character Riley returns to her hometown of Camena, five years after the events of the first game. After strange radio signals, she stumbles upon a mystery that “turns out to be more than she expected,” which is frankly a scary prospect.
While you don’t need to play the original to understand OXENFREE II, it does provide additional context to the game. Your choices determine the story in this narrative adventure game, so be sensible with your options and think at least twice before making a decision. The indie game is set to be released sometime in 2022.
3) Little Devil Inside
Developer Neostream Interactive is working on an upcoming action-adventure indie game, Little Devil Inside. The game will be released in Q4 2022 and later on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and later on Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
The game follows the lives of explorers in a Victorian-inspired setting as they embark on a journey to discover monsters and supernatural happenings. It is played from a third person perspective and features open world exploration, survival elements and combat. Survival elements are not meant to be too hardcore, while players can use weapons such as a sword, shield and rifle in combat.
The world consists of a diverse biome, with the story taking the characters to different locations such as forests, swamps, mountains and deserts. As part of the exploration element, there is no fast travel and you have to manually travel to different locations, solving any problems along the way.
4) Somerville
Somerville is a sci-fi indie game developed by Jumpship, who will also publish the game when it comes out later in 2022 (a specific release date has not yet been announced). The game takes place after some kind of catastrophe when aliens visit Earth and follows a protagonist who tries to reunite their family.
Jumpship is a studio co-founded by Dino Patti, who previously worked in Playdead. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Playdead were the developers behind the hugely popular indie game Limbo and Inside. Somerville certainly shares certain similarities with these two games, but it also seems to bring new elements with it.
First, the game offers 3D gameplay and full cutscenes. Another new aspect is that you won’t be alone in Somerville as the main character is accompanied by a dog throughout the game. My guess is that the dog eventually turns out to be some kind of hidden alien.
5) SEASON: A letter to the future
SEASON: A letter to the future is an open-world exploration game being developed by Scavengers Studio. The developer debuted a trailer during the PlayStation State of Play event in June 2022, where it was revealed that the release period would be Fall 2022 and that it will hit PlayStation consoles and PCs.
This indie game looks spectacular and the cel shaded art style is used to create some really beautiful environments. Exploration is at the heart of the game, with the primary goal appearing to be to just get out and about, cycle around on a bike and meet different characters around the world.
Played from a third-person perspective, the game alludes to a catastrophe that “washes everything away”, which I suspect is the driving force behind the story. Apart from this, details about the story remain fair and few, while gameplay seems to revolve around exploring a strange new world, recording videos or voice memos, and meeting new people.
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