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.
Advertisement Advertisement
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.
... continue reading