Trying to play every great indie game these days is impossible. There are simply too many. If I narrow it down, there are still dozens of indie games from 2024 that I haven’t even started. To give you an idea, here’s some of that list:
Thank Goodness You’re Here: By nearly all accounts, this game is one of the funniest games of the year. The animations are stunning (it feels like watching a cartoon, not playing a video game) and the worst part is it’s short! I should be able to finish this in one or two sittings, but I still haven’t gotten around to it yet.
1000xResist: Hailed by many critics and fans as one of the best narratives in gaming so far. As a writer, I do feel a need to check this one out.
Mouthwashing: From what I’ve heard this is one of the best examples of existential dread out there. I’m not scared, you’re scared.
Minishoot’ Adventures: This game has been described as ‘The Legend of Zelda but you’re a spaceship’ which sounds awesome. (I don’t know what the apostrophe is for either.)
Cato: Buttered Cat: A highly-praised puzzle platformer that finally asks the question, if buttered toast and a cat were stuck together, which side would they land on?
Caravan SandWitch, Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, and The Plucky Squire are games that I think could have made my top list, but I’ve only managed to get through the first few hours. So I would like to continue playing them.
Worst of all. I’m already falling behind in 2025.
Eternal Strands, Citizen Sleeper 2, FlyKnight, and The Headliners. Just a few indie games that have been released in the last few weeks and have been getting great reviews. But I haven’t had time for them.
This introduces the age-old question for video game enthusiasts like me: how do you handle the backlog? Or more generally, how do you make time for what interests you?
Interest and creativity is not something that I find takes well to a schedule. Unfortunately just because I decided that this weekend I will spend a few hours trying out Eternal Strands, I can’t guarantee that when the time comes I don’t feel like trying FlyKnight instead. Similarly, when it comes to my writing, it’s not as easy as saying: “I’ll write this on that day at that time.” Deadlines help, like trying to put this newsletter out every Thursday. But that doesn’t always stop me from, for example, writing this line at 1pm on Thursday.
Maybe the best I can do is set aside the time. When hundreds of indie games are released every year, I have to accept that I cannot get to everything. It is painful to admit, and that backlog will keep growing. But there’s really not much I can do other than play games all day every day, and that would not be good for many reasons.
So I am learning to try to take the opportunities when they come.
On Sunday I had a few hours in the morning to myself, so I finally booted up Fowl Damage, a game developed by May Gardens and Red Nexus Games (the same Red Nexus Games that developed last year’s rogue-like pachinko-game Peglin). I played the demo for Fowl Damage at least a year ago and was immediately hooked by its clever take on precision platforming. But more on that at the bottom of the newsletter.
Over the last year, I’ve realized that I really enjoy precision platformers. My appreciation for them unfolded when I spent a weekend in Seattle at PAX West. There I got to play three incredible upcoming precision platformers: Love Eternal, Croak, and Tethergeist, the last of which has a free demo available now on Steam.
Realizing this appreciation led me to finally try Celeste, an all-time indie classic, for the first time last month. This game has been out since 2018 and in my backlog ever since. But it wasn’t until I played other games that I understood exactly what I was missing out on.
I don’t know if this is sage wisdom or even a good idea, but I think it pays to follow your heart and listen to what you enjoy. I strongly believe that a good game is a good game regardless of genre, but exploring the various takes on a genre you like can be a great way to branch out to new experiences. My current personal renaissance with precision platformers led to me finally explore a game that had been on my backlog for seven years.
So I will do my best to give myself time. Nothing more, nothing less. I won’t force myself to commit to playing a certain game or writing a certain topic if I don’t feel ready for it in the moment.
I’m not saying this is the right thing to do, for me or anyone. It’s still a subject I will be thinking about and probably writing about for a while. All I hope is you get something out of reading this. Even if it’s just a game recommendation or two.
If anyone reading this has their own methods or system for dealing with a backlog, whether it’s games, movies, tv shows, books, or whatever else you’re into, I’d be interested to hear about it. If you’re reading this in your email you can directly send a reply. If you’re in the substack app, you can leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
Further Reading
Keep up with my other writing at Gamepressure where I cover the news and write more about topics in the gaming industry:
Big news from today: The Pokemon Company has announced a Pokemon Presents presentation for next week. No doubt there will be news about Pokemon Legends: Z-A, but what else could be announced?
Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals have had a tumultuous week. First the Overwatch 2 director called Marvel Rivals competition “exciting,” then Marvel Rivals announced the release date for more Fantastic Four characters, then a Marvel Rivals team had some surprising layoffs despite the game’s massive success, and finally, the day after the Marvel Rivals’ layoffs, Overwatch 2 had a big upswing in player count on Steam.
Elden Ring Nightreign had a big week with a round of network tests where players were able to try out the game. But the game also found itself facing some backlash from players questioning the reuse of assets for a new game.
A content creator was caught sharing false news of a major Assassin’s Creed: Shadows delay without vetting sources. How we know: the source made it up.
What I’ve Been Playing
On Monday, Steam Next Fest begins. This digital festival happens for one week three times a year, and is an opportunity for developers to release and promote a demo for their upcoming game. In the week leading up to the fest, some developers will get their demo out early. Such was the case with one of my most anticipated games: Aethermancer.
This upcoming game is developed by a studio called Moi Rai Games, the same team that created another creature-battler, Monster Sanctuary. Pokemon left a huge influence on me, and I will forever enjoy games that let me build and train a team of monsters with unique and powerful abilities.
In Aethermancer, you play as a being made of pure aether. You are able to harness the souls of monsters that live in the void and summon them to fight by your side as you venture into the void to save the world. Engage in three v three turn-based battles against wild monsters and slowly progress and upgrade your team to survive.
While the battle mechanics can get complicated, as your team grows in power you begin to build a sort of flow state. My team of creatures made use of an effect called “sidekick” which allows a monster to attack once immediately after its teammate. Each monster can normally only attack once, but if my team takes their turns in the correct order, it can result in five or six attacks in one turn.
I am surprised at how much content there is to find in the demo so far, and it’s easy to see how replayable this demo could be. Which is a good thing because the full game does not have a release date yet, and I will need to be occupied until then.
Aethermancer is a roguelite game, meaning that you are not expected to win on your first attempt. When you are defeated your character returns to their starting point outside the void, ready to venture forth again, but this time with a better understanding. Which creature you start with is determined by which souls you were able to capture in the previous attempt. The more you play, the better you understand the game, the creatures, and what you need to do to win. Or at least for now reach the end of the demo.
If you give the Aethermancer demo a try, let me know what you think!
Indie In Review
As promised above, today I want to talk a little more about Fowl Damage, a precision platformer from May Gardens and Red Nexus Games.
The core mechanic of Fowl Damage is simple. You are an egg. If you fall from too far you will break. If you jump into the ceiling you will break. This seems simple. Just do small jumps. But in Fowl Damage, every jump is the same height and velocity. There’s no controlling it.
So how do you play a platformer where your own jump can kill you?
That’s the brilliance of Fowl Damage’s level designs. The more you play the more you start to recognize which platforms are high enough to reach safely and which are low enough to fall to without breaking. Progression is rarely a straight line.
For example, in this screenshot, to travel from left to right you will need to:
Roll right up to the gray box, jump to the highest platform, the square with the red light on top.
Then roll right onto the long platform, careful not to fall between them. This is where the egg is currently in the screenshot.
Now, you need to roll to the left onto the gray square, and then carefully take each step down to the right.
Jumping at the wrong time, the wrong height, or falling further than the height of those final steps will result in you having to start over. But don’t worry, I unlocked an achievement pretty early for breaking 100 eggs.
Fowl Damage was such a joy to play. Every new level introduces new elements, such as water bubbles that can catch you, but restrict your jumping ability. Even after breaking a dozen eggs I still found myself smiling from ear to ear as I tried to figure out the key to progressing through each level.
This is one of those puzzle games that makes you feel like you’re accessing a part of your brain you didn’t know existed. But really, it’s just about learning your abilities and limitations, and applying that to new obstacles and more complex challenges.
Fowl Damage can be completed in 3 hours, so don’t be intimidated that you might be stuck as an egg for too long. The game provides a wonderful experience, and doesn’t overstay its welcome. But that doesn’t mean you can’t replay levels and try to beat your best times, or least amount of cracks. Fowl Damage also features a level editor that I haven’t explored yet, but sounds like a great way to continue finding new levels to try, if that’s something you’re after.
What’s Next
Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it. Next week I have several ideas, but by next Thursday I will be at least three days into Steam Next Fest, which will give me so many great free demos to try out for unreleased games. So next week could end up being a list of recommended demos that you can try for free. If that sounds interesting leave a like, and if you haven’t, don’t forget to subscribe so you get this newsletter sent directly to your inbox every week.