Confinement continues and independent video games are a great alternative to entertain yourself. Here we discover the 8 best indies for April.
We are still at home. The vast majority of the population – Spanish, but also worldwide – face the reality of confinement with the same courage as a month ago. Culture, and especially video games, have played a fundamental role in keeping everyone in good spirits. Many have found comfort and entertainment in recent releases such as the bucolic utopia of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the extracurricular activities of Persona 5 Royale or the hypertrophied nostalgia of Final Fantasy VII Remake. Along the same lines, indie novelties have also contributed to livening up the running of the bulls with titles such as Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
After a March that confirmed that spring, indie changes, April has left us and will leave several independent proposals that well deserve another saying: April, indies thousand. Not surprisingly, the fourth month of the year provides a large number of indies with which to continue resisting. Puzzles, survival and even some cyberpunk to ease the wait until Cyberpunk 2077 arrives are some of the 8 dishes that await you in the following menu.
Filament (Beard Envy)
We can't think of a better work to start our recommendations than Filament, an indie that locks us in a spaceship full of puzzles. It is easy to empathize with a protagonist trapped between four walls. Simple in appearance, the new Beard Envy offers countless puzzles of surprising depth and a carefully crafted storyline, which hook you into command from start to finish. In the skin of this astronaut, we must guide a small robot that will use a thread to connect different elements of each room and thus give us access to the next.
The complexity of the puzzles is constantly increasing during the game and they will present a real challenge in no time. We also won't deny how much we love that reasonable resemblance to Portal, as Filament tells a story through its puzzles, and both the puzzles and exploration help discover the ship's story bit by bit. If your premise appeals to you, keep an eye out for its Steam launch on April 23.
Help Will Come Tomorrow (Arclight Creations)
With the flame of the October Revolution just ignited, a train derails in the middle of the Siberian steppe. The catastrophe has scarcely left any survivors, and the few that remain must contend with extreme cold, lack of food, and countless dangers until help arrives. That is the point at which Help Will Come Tomorrow starts, a survival and resource management game set in Russia in 1917. Its appeal, rather than formal, lies in the narrative and the relationship that is created between the protagonists.
From Arclight Creations it has been detailed that Help Will Come Tomorrow has a relationship system in which the habits, ideologies, social classes, prejudices and above all the constantly deteriorating mental health of each character have a notable impact on their interactions. Thus, this indie establishes a double dynamic of survival, of the individual and the collective, that will force us to meditate well on each decision. In addition, its careful historical setting has captivated us. We don't know if help will arrive tomorrow, but we do know that Help Will Come Tomorrow will do so on April 21 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Cloudpunk (ION Lands)
Although knowing that the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in September 2020 will not be conditioned by the coronavirus has greatly alleviated us, our thirst for megacorporations, androids, neons and dystopias is insatiable. That is why we are so happy to discover Cloudpunk, an indie of unquestionable cyberpunk influence with a very particular proposal. In the title of ION Lands we embody a delivery man who works for a company that is not entirely legal. Like any rider today, go. The position only requires following two rules strictly: never miss a deal and do not ask about the contents of the package.
Throughout the game we will discover what this corporation hides while chaining deals or wandering around a wonderful and vast futuristic city. Of course, Cloudpunk is far from being a linear game. Both in exploration, which appears to leave quite a bit of freedom, and in decision-making. We are not obliged to leave the package at the destination that has been indicated to us and perhaps we will earn more money to do some favors. There will be consequences, of course, but only with these kinds of detours can we discover the different storylines that this indie offers. Cloudpunk arrives by express delivery to Steam from April 23 and soon to the rest of the consoles of this generation.
Biomass (Final Scene Dev)
What would be of this type of lists without a metroidvania? A rarity, of course. Biomass opens on April 28 on PC with a proposal that will undoubtedly amaze those most related to the genre and lovers of a good challenge. Because, above all, Biomass is a difficult title. Challenging, while echoing old school and recent icons like Sekiro. An example of all this are the final bosses, whose phases – hello, Miyazaki – are unlocked through exploration and fulfilling certain requirements. In other words, this indie rewards curiosity with even more complex and stimulating matches. Although this makes it a work with a very specific audience, we believe that its careful pixel-art is well worth everyone's attention.
The Flower Collectors (Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH)
Another must in any of these articles: something of national representation. But not in the usual sense, with a work signed by a Spanish studio – Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH is Viennese – but with a story set in our country. The Flower Collectors evokes Barcelona in 1977, with a democracy still in the making and the recent death of Franco. We play a wheelchair-bound police officer, witness to a murder, who has the help of an ambitious young journalist to find out the truth about the crime. All this from the balcony of the house, as if it were one of the current balcony vigilantes, but with more decency and discretion. In this indie, you have to use binoculars, camera and transistor to solve the mystery. The influences of Hitchcock in general and of La Ventana Indiscreta in particular are more than evident. If you're attracted to his roll detective voyeur, you have a date on Steam since April 21.
ITTA (Glass Revolver)
Does boredom take over you during quarantine and do you need some action? ITTA is the answer. It is a hybrid between bullet-hell and boss-rush in which, returning to Castilian, we will avoid countless bullets while chaining one final boss after another. With the excuse of a family revenge and guided by the spirit of her cat, the little protagonist we play as in this twin-stick shooter must face 18 final bosses. In addition to a multitude of combat styles, ITTA has accessibility options similar to those of the acclaimed Celeste. For example, making ourselves invincible or increasing damage multipliers to make the challenge more affordable. We look forward to ITTA and its fascinating pixel-art coming to PC and Nintendo Switch on April 22.
In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)
In Other Waters is a unique game in many ways. This indie puts us on the circuits of an artificial intelligence whose task is to guide a xenobiologist in search of her lost companion through a vast and mysterious alien ocean. His exploration approach combines a certain touch of walking simulator under the sea with a touch of metroidvania, since certain improvements will have to be unlocked to access various points on the stage. The interesting thing is that we do not scrutinize the waves as the xenobiologist, but as the AI that guides them. Precisely for this reason, In Other Waters invites us to scan everything, collect samples and ultimately help facilitate the rescue mission. It is that relationship between machine —which it is sometimes difficult to label as such— and person, in the narrative that underlies it, that makes this indie so special. Since April 3 you have the opportunity to delve into the depths of the ocean with your PC and / or Nintendo Switch.
Moving Out (SMG Studio, Devm Games)
Just look at a fraction of the gameplay of Moving Out to establish a direct comparison, and to some extent correct, with the Overcooked saga. Both are cooperative physics-based games in which multiple players transport things from one point to another on stage with obstacles and hilarious unforeseen events. The two also share the Team 17 seal and a traced graphic section. And both Moving Out and Overcooked, above all, guarantee hilarious games.
This casual proposal is launched at an ideal time due to confinement, as it will brighten up those afternoons of sofa and family control. Moving Out will adapt to any player thanks to its difficulty options, which we can modify by altering the time limit, the weight of some objects so that they are more or less easy to transport, and the interface so that it is not difficult for anyone to see and read the game. Moving Out can be enjoyed on PC and all consoles of the present generation from April 28.
Stay home … playing indies
As every month, the last lines serve to remember that independent development is in constant motion and that we will soon see new exponents of this golden age of indie. For this reason, we invite you to closely follow the news of the independent scene in FreeGameTips. And above all, to stay at home while the confinement lasts and we can resume our lives. Less is missing.
