Indie

Until now, I hadn’t encountered or heard anything about Frameland: A Binary Tale. This JRPG takes clear inspiration from the classics of the past and immerses you in a world where humanity fights for survival after an event that causes machines and robots to go rogue, taking over what remains of the planet.
You play as Ryiu, mysteriously transported to this strange land with no memory of how he got there. Alongside unexpected allies, you’ll uncover secrets about Condorra and fight to return home. The story is told through two intertwining perspectives, delivering an emotional journey filled with mystery, survival, and hope.
The gameplay revolves around turn-based combat, where timing your moves is crucial for maximum impact. Well-timed attacks and blocks can be the difference between victory and defeat, adding a layer of real-time strategy to classic RPG mechanics. Customize your characters with remnants—special artifacts that grant unique abilities—and plan your moves to exploit enemy..

Zerra’s Adventure, developed by Foca Productions, offers a refreshing twist on the classic turn-based RPG formula, where there’s no need to worry about random encounters. Instead, this game is all about intentional exploration, quirky humor, and dynamic combat. Traverse whimsical landscapes—from frog-filled forests to infernal deserts and spider-infested caves—each one teeming with treasures, dangers, and peculiar enemies.
In this colorful world, you’ll face an array of strange foes, including armed rabbits, giant penguins, and even hyper-muscular gym-goers. Battles are fast-paced and tactical, requiring careful use of each character’s unique abilities.
Zerra’s Adventure features a diverse party of six playable characters, each with their own skills, attacks, and personalities. Exploration is a core part of your journey. You’ll need to navigate environmental hazards like spikes and fireballs while solving puzzles to progress and uncover secrets. The game is packed with surprises, inclu..

A few hours ago, I discovered an open-world RPG with a unique retro art style and impressive lore that draws from myths and folklore. It’s called Fallen Gods and is being developed by the indie studio Wormwood Studios, the same team behind the intriguing point-and-click adventure Strangeland.
I think the real strength of this RPG lies in its storytelling. You are cast into a brutal world as a once-mighty deity, now stripped of your divine stature and left to fight your way back to godhood. This narrative-driven rogue-lite RPG emphasizes choice, consequence, and survival. Every playthrough is different, challenging you to navigate a world of shifting paths, mysterious encounters, and morally complex decisions. You’ll have 90 days to reclaim your place in the Cloudlands or face permanent defeat. You can find all the documents detailing the game’s lore on the official website.
At the heart of Fallen Gods are the choices you make. From gathering a warband of loyal followers to deciding whe..

Here we are with the fifth installment of my series dedicated to Indie RPGs that I stumble across from time to time and write about on TBL. I also have to admit I’m a bit overwhelmed by how many great projects I want to talk about but just can’t find the time—new games keep popping up like mushrooms after the rain.
Anyway, below are 10 of the most intriguing titles from recent weeks, including roguelikes, JRPGs, an interesting Battle Brothers-inspired game from the creators of Fell Seal, a survival game featuring vehicular combat straight out of a Mad Max scenario, and an RPG that lets you deal with elves and dinosaurs—yes, you read right—and much more.
Just a heads-up: most of these projects don’t have a confirmed release date yet (except for one, which is already available in Early Access). My goal here is to shine a spotlight on these projects, helping them gain as many wishlists as possible. So, go and support 🙂
Dust RaidersLet’s kick things off with the Mad Max-inspired survival t..

Exil is another gorgeous side-scrolling Metroidvania that’s just hit Kickstarter, and it’s absolutely smashed its modest funding goal of… a singular dollar.
In true Metroidvania spirit, Exil has you traversing ”mystical landscapes” to ”uncover hidden paths and secrets” with fast and fluid action that lets you switch between different ability loadouts on the fly. What really caught my eye in the trailer below was how it riffs on Cuphead’s delightful parry – where you can double jump off of pinkish projectiles – which encourages you to put yourself in danger if you want the extra advantage.

Exil Kickstarter Teaser (2024) – YouTube

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Exil also has a vague ”multilayered story” that asks you to piece together its disparate fragments and is inspired by Attack on Titan. I’m wondering if that manifests in a Breath of the Wild or Outer Wilds way where you actually need to collect nuggets of information to find out what’s really going on – or, if it’s more of a wordless, ‘make ..

In Tavern Talk, the drinks you mix affect an adventurer as they ready themselves for a quest, almost choosing what they do for them.

You have a lot of power as a bartender, as the drinks you mix change the strength, stealth, logic, and other stats that each adventurer has. These drinks change how they take on quests or go about the rest of your day, so there is a lot of power in them. Often, when a customer comes in, they have a specific stat they are aiming for, along with a number of liquids that stat needs. The rest is up to you. You can pick drinks from a recipe book and then start tinkering around with liquids to match the recipe. Once the drink is done, it’s served. If you make a mistake, you do get to feed the potion to a weird frog guy.

Tavern Talk has a fun cast of characters who all feel unique and interesting, making you want to invest in their adventures and help them out in the only way that you can. While your drinks have an important effect on the adventurers, you can ..

Starstruck: Hands of Time fights battles by playing guitar and overcomes obstacles by making giant hands flatten towns.

An unpleasant fate is heading towards Dawn and Edwin’s town. Bad things tend to happen when artists feel unappreciated in this world, and this destructive force is a doozy. To turn the tide, you’ll need to battle some comical, yet sinister, forces in the world. But since you’re musicians, the easiest way to do that is to play some good guitar tunes for everyone. So, bust out your old Guitar Hero and Rock Band guitars (or just use a regular keyboard or controller – the game isn’t picky) and get ready to save the world with your art.

While your musical talents can get you out of a lot of trouble, sometimes the world just puts too many obstacles in your way. This is when it’s also helpful to have help from a giant hand that can flatten buildings. I feel like people become more respectful of your musical talents when they’re afraid of being bashed by a hammer the size o..

Sally sees players soaring across a peaceful world in a flying boat, sharing tasks among a community of characters.

Slice of life style adventure games are always my jam! I like the idea of relaxing, building out my own little world and seeing where adventure takes me. When I saw Sally at Gamescom, I was pretty excited to hear about what this cozy adventure game would become.

This game sees you playing a young child of the same name. She is an orphan living on a flying boat with two adults and a bunch of other children. The boat itself is massive, flying through the sky and bringing you to new locations. You and the rest of the children on the boat are often working together to achieve goals.

You can actually pick what part of a task you are interested in doing and the rest of the children divide up the other tasks, so there is a feeling of community since you don’t need to take on tasks you don’t want. I ended up making some food by following a recipe and gathering ingredients whil..