Indie Games I'm Hyped For This Year

There are several games I'm looking forward to this year, all indie titles. I grew up playing a lot of AAA games, but gradually shifted more and more to indie games as I aged. I have Steam and Itch to thank for that! People are so creative, and some of my favorite games are exceptionally weird and creative. Who's Lila is one of my favorite games, and its main hook is that you have to make expressions for the protagonist Will, as he has a condition. I joked that the game was an autism simulator, but there's more to it than that.

But back to games releasing this year...

One I pre-ordered a physical copy of is Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER. It's a sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories, a game that is also near and dear to my heart. I may still buy the digital copy for Steam at some point, but I'm content to wait for my physical copy. I've been excited about this game since it was first announced, and loved the demo! But I have so much going on right now that I don't have the time for it (along with a sizeable backlog).

Another game I'm looking forward to comes out this week! I learned about it a few days ago from a post shared by the dev on Mastodon. It's called Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago, and is basically an idle game inspired by Tamagotchi and rpgs. As someone who is almost done with one of several indie games, I am hyped! I think it will also play well on the Steam Deck, which is always a plus. It's a super cute game that even my gf is excited for, and they aren't normally a fan of idle games.

And last but not least, The Empress of Aeser. This is a game by one of my favorite indie devs, and I've played all but two of her games to date. Her stories feature a fun take on vampires, set in an alternate world that gives kind of...twenties vibes, iirc? So not a modern setting, but you get magic, demons, etc. This particular game focuses on a character from previous games, and is an adventure / visual novel with puzzles!! I've had the opportunity to see some of the behind the scenes art and script, as I do support the dev on Patreon. I believe it's coming out this year. 

There's just a bit of housecleaning that needs to be done. I recommend playing the earlier games before starting this one, so you aren't left completely in the dark. I myself plan on playing the two games on my backlog before diving into this one.

So these are just a few of the games I'm hyped for. There's always more, as this only covers some of my wishlist.