“Board The Alabaster, one of The Filament Corporation’s flagship research vessels, and try to wrestle control back from a mysterious complication which left the ship locked down and the crew missing.
“With only the help of Juniper, the ships stricken pilot, face fiendishly difficult puzzles that will push you to the limit in a bid to uncover what happened to the crew and why they disappeared.”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, consoles
Release: 2020
“Explore unknown lands and fight mythical beasts on a quest to ask the old gods to restore light to your village. Harness light with your sword and bow to cut down your foes, and discover ancient secrets.
“You play as a boy named Lucen, and after your village is mysteriously shrouded in darkness and fellow villagers won’t wake up, you must take it upon yourself to venture into the vast lands outside the village. Armed with your sword, bow, and legends passed down by generations, you must set out on a quest to ask the mythical old gods for their help.
“Along the way you will traverse environments that have been untouched by civilisation for centuries – lush woods with ruins of altars to the old gods, caves hoarding mystical light orbs to augment your abilities, foggy swamplands occupied by terrifying creatures, and many more.”
Platforms: Windows (hopeful for consoles)
Release: 2021
“Lead Abby the string puppet through a bruised, but beautiful world in this poetic 3D adventure.
“Abby is an artiste held captive at a circus: She spends her days entertaining the audience and her nights in a cage, longing for freedom. One day, she escapes the circus and gets to explore a mystical world.
“Alas, freedom comes at a cost and Abby soon finds herself dragged into the dangers this world has to offer: In a war-torn, medieval fairytale, surrounded by ravaged, starving citizens and hunted by the relentless cut-throat Tonda, Abby has to cross raging rivers, make it through bandit camps and around traps. Her adventure is always accompanied by the lyrical rhymes of puppet master Jack, who is telling her story while holding the strings of his puppets firmly in his ever-helpful hands.”
Platforms: Windows, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Release: 2021
An extremely fast-paced drone racing game that seems to capture at the very least the feel of watching drones zooming around the track. You can play in either first or third person and there are various racing modes including a car chase which sounds like it could be a lot of fun as well as cinematic.
Platforms: TBA
Release: TBA
via everythingindiex
“A noir-inspired detective adventure. Step into the shoes of anthropomorphic raccoon and private eye, Howard Lotor, and explore the beautifully rendered 2.5D pixel art environments of dystopian Vancouver.
“Howard Lotor is smart, self-assured and set in his ways. Caught in the tedium of day-to-day life, he’s resigned to the abuses of the authoritative regime in power and compliant with the systemic inequality that permeates society. But a string of cases that grow progressively more outlandish will put his worldview to the test.
“Backbone’s gameplay is a new take on point-and-click adventure, featuring stealth, exploration, and extensive branching dialogues inspired by classic CRPGs. As Howard, you must traverse the diverse districts of a now walled-off Vancouver, sniff out clues, collect evidence, interrogate witnesses, and choose which leads to follow.”
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Release: 2021
“Lovable, cat-eared Annika sets off on a grand quest on the Island of Spica! 3D adventure & rhythm action genres mesh in the lush, pastoral and beautiful manga-inspired world of Giraffe and Annika!
“Annika awoke from a strange dream to find herself stranded on the mysterious “Spica Island”! Upon exploring, she meets a boy named Giraffe, who seems to know her yet she can’t remember him at all. Giraffe tasks Annika with finding three special star fragments on the island – Only then will she be able to unravel the mystery!”
Platforms: Windows (also coming to Switch & PS4)
Release: February 18, 2020
“Track criminals, solve mysteries, find people and things that are lost, both out in the world and in the life path you’ve chosen. As Biscuit, you’re helping people through your ability to track down what others cannot find.
“Scent is represented by a low, pleasant humming sound on the ground, and like scent tracking in real life, it is INVISIBLE. Picture making your way through a maze, but the walls are removed and the way out is invisible and represented by sound. Due to this unique gameplay mechanic, this game is fully accessible to blind gamers (and they generally seem to excel at playing, moreso than sighted gamers).”
Platforms: Windows
Release: 2020
“A suspense-adventure game in which you play as Mono, a young boy trapped in a world that has been distorted by the humming transmission of a distant tower. With Six, the girl in a yellow raincoat, as his guide, Mono sets out to discover the dark secrets of The Signal Tower and save Six from her terrible fate; but their journey will not be straightforward as Mono and Six will face a gallery of new threats from the terrible residents of this world.
“Will you dare to face this collection of new, little nightmares?”
Platforms: PC, Xbox, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Stadia
Release: February 10, 2021
“Explore the Forest of Dacrima as legendary alchemist Edric Tate, armed with your plucky robot companion L-P1N and search for a cure to The Great Rot. Block, bridge and brew your way through this quintessentially British 3D puzzle-platformer.
“A tale of a treacherous expedition, inspired by Monty Python, which builds trust in two unlikely friends overcoming conflict and finding humour in the darkest of places.”
Platforms: Windows
Release: 2020
A prototype that was made in a few weekends by Cubit Studios that looks quite amazing already but unfortunately has been put on the back burner while they focus on making Infinitesimals. Maybe somebody will get inspired to make something similar as I don’t think there is too much competition around for a modern Zeewolf. 🙃
If you haven’t seen Infinitesimals you can check that out here.