It’s round 3 of #PitchYaGame! Indie developers once again flocked to Twitter to pitch, consult with experts, and get as many eyes as possible. For us, it means another huge batch of fantastic, intriguing, and often weird indie games.
Don’t forget to check out Round 1 and Round 2 of #PitchYaGame for even more top indie games. Now – onwards to the top 10 indie games we collected from #PitchYaGame, Round 3 (as always in no particular order).
Toodee and Topdee
Toodee and Topdee is what you get when you mix a 2D platformer with a top-down puzzler. Sounds pretty cool, right? Right. When you see this cute game in action, you understand just how clever this premise really is.
The game starts Toodee, who lives in the second dimension, and Topdee, who lives in the third. Together, they solve puzzles, fight pigs and bats, and solve “mind-melting” puzzles. It’s the puzzle-solving bit that got me really interested in Toodee and Topdee – developer dietzribi shared a few videos of the game in action, and it looks truly inventive.
Check out some Toodee and Topdee gameplay in the pitch below, and head over to the game’s Steam page to wishlist it and/or try out the demo.
Misshapen
The first sentence of Misshapen’s pitch, all in capital letters, is “Portal as if it was made by Cronenberg.” How on earth can I ignore that? Am I supposed to just continue on with my life pretending I never saw this wonderfully grotesque sentence? I don’t think so.
In Misshapen, you solve environmental puzzles by *checks notes* distorting your enemies in creepy ways. Eww. You do that by growing tumorous lumps out of their bodies and building “living structures” that help you manipulate the environment. Eww again. There are different kinds of lumps, too! Sticky lumps, heavy lumps, floating lumps…
Fans of body horror and weird puzzle games should find a lot to… love? in Misshapen. If you’re one of those fans, you can join me in wishlisting the game on Steam.
Lord Winklebottom Investigates
Lord Winklebottom is a giraffe. A top hat-wearing, pipe-smoking giraffe. But that doesn’t stop him from being a world-famous detective in the 1920s.
On this latest (and first) adventure, Lord Winklebottom Investigates the murder of a prominent axolotl explorer (I’m pretty sure an axolotl is a type of Pokemon). Joining Winklebottom is Dr. Frumple, a hippopotamus that is very particular about how you make tea (according to a demo I once played during one of the Steam Game Festivals).
We’ll meet an assortment of lovely animal suspects, solve dozens of puzzles, and play as a gentleman giraffe in this lovely point-and-click adventure game. Once again, be sure to head over to the Steam page and wishlist an indie title made by the one-woman studio Cave Monsters.
Witchery Academy
Forget Hogwarts! It’s time to visit the Witchery Academy. It’s a life-sim that simulates a young student’s life learning magic (and some farming by the look of things).
You’ll spend your days at the academy studying spells, growing plants for your potions, talk with other soon-to-be wizards, and exploring the grounds. That does sound very much like what Harry Potter does in his spare time, doesn’t it? Well, maybe apart from the farming bit. All the while, you’re accompanied by your trusty spirit animal – an adorable wide-eyed cat. A magic cat is way better than an owl – take that, Hedwig!
If this beautiful, colorful, and magical life sim is right up your (Diagon) alley, you can follow the dev on Twitter, or join the game’s Discord.
Conscript
Full disclosure – I backed Conscript on Kickstarter. I’m a sucker for old-school survival horror, and there aren’t all that way WWI games out there.
While this particular pitch isn’t all that enticing, it is straightforward, telling you exactly what you’re getting with Conscript. You play as a French soldier fighting in the Battle of Verdun in 1916. You have limited supplies and weapons to fend off both enemy soldiers and “psychological manifestations.” “Psychological manifestations” and the visuals make me think of Silent Hill, so Conscript is already in excellent company.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Conscript already has a Steam page. Be sure to wishlist it if you’re into horror games – this one looks promising.
Schim
In Schim, you play a frog-like creature that jumps between pools of shadow. Why? I’m not sure at the moment, but it’s a neat concept, and the game just looks really pretty.
Frankly, apart from the concept and beautiful visuals, Schim is a bit of a mystery. We don’t know anything about it – at least nothing that I could find on the developer’s Twitter account or website. You can find more nice-looking videos that highlight the game’s striking visuals, but not much else. I really do hope Schism will become a fully-fledged game, though.
I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know, OK?
Chicken Police
I immediately fell in love with the concept of Chicken Police. It’s a buddy-cop noir adventure game where you play a police detective on a case of love, death, redemption, and chickens.
The black-and-white visuals are a stark contradiction to the silly art style of photo-realistic animal hybrids. It’s difficult to take the game seriously when the hard-boiled detective is also a chicken in a trench coat. But I guess that’s exactly what developer The Wild Gentleman was going for. I also adore that all of these abominations (no offense) are fully voiced with over eight hours of dialogue.
I sincerely can’t wait to play Chicken Police on Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch whenever it decides to fly the coop.
Gori: Cuddly Carnage
From a noir adventure, we move on to a fast-paced murder-fest. Gori: Cuddly Carnage is a vibrant action game where you slaughter mutant unicorns using your razor-sharp hoverboard. And you’re a fluffy, bloodthirsty cat (the “bloodthirsty” part is a bit redundant, I’ll give you that).
Gori looks like good, harmful fun. The devs warn players that underneath its shiny and adorable exterior, this game is full of adult content. There’s foul language, excessive gore, and more, so it might not be for everyone.
I, personally, love the flashy colors and the disturbing toys you slice through – especially that frightening jack-in-the-box teddy bear. According to the pitch, that makes Gori: Cuddly Carnage the perfect game for me. I guess I’ll have to try out the game’s demo and see if it’s correct in its assumptions.
The Last Friend
So we did cop poultry and murderous cats. Now it’s time for dogs that need our protection and, most likely, our cuddles. The Last Friend is an “action-packed adventure of saving doggos.” I all for saving doggos, so that is mainly why this game is on the list. Although it also looks like a lot of fun.
Instead of just adopting and giving them a loving home, we use tower-defense gameplay to protect our four-legged friends from mutants, robots, and vegans in a post-apocalyptic world. When your defenses are not enough, you can take matters into your own two fists for some nice arcade beat ’em up action.
The game’s Steam page promises us a cast of crazy characters, and a mystery surrounding the sudden disappearance of the world’s dog population. A world without dogs isn’t a world I want to live in, so you better believe I’ll be there to try and stop it from happening.
Lockheart Indigo
Do you miss your old Game Boy? Actually, me nigher, but that’s maybe cause I never had one. Lockheart Indigo looks like a fantastic way to make up for that.
It’s a crime-thriller where you play a cynical detective trying and solve the murder of a robotics tycoon. While we played cynical detectives before, what I find interesting about Lockheart Indigo is its battle system. Instead of fighting, punching, or slashing, detective Beatris Summers uses persuasion as her method of attack. Facts are her weapons, and I really like that idea.
Lockheart Indigo should probably be out by the time you read these lines. Although it looks like a Game Boy title, it’s available on Steam.
Bonus: Alpaca Ball
Alpacas playing soccer. Sure, why not.
