Another month without any real AAA releases, so the summer of indie games continues. It’s been a while since the charts were this varied, and anything could take the top spot. It’s the first fully indie chart, lets take a look at how well it went and whether the big VR releases for July placed anywhere.
Starbound – Purchase on steam
Procedural generated 2D futuristic minecraft, or Terraria in space finally Left Early Access this month. This came as a surprise considering the most common question for 2015 was “IS Starbound abandoned?”. Unlike the games it is influenced by there are multiple planets to visit, different player classes and space to explore.
RWBY: Grimm Eclipse – Purchase on Steam
A 4 player Hack and Slash based on the hit RWBY anime. The videos show a well animated game, however beyond that there is a disturbing lack of polish. This is a former Greenlight and Early Access game, and unfortunately it shows. For something based on a highly acclaimed anime there is a near total lack of story.
Poly Bridge – Purchase on Steam
A bridge building game built for streaming. Its physics are decent with graphics that don’t make the main game hard to play. The difference from other bridge builders however is the ability to stream your game on twitch and let your audience play it the same as Twitch plays pokemon.
Rimworld – Purchase on Steam
Released into Early-Access this month, Rimworld is another game using procedural generation for most of it’s systems, from the story to the gameplay and dangers. Build up a colony on a random planet, try to grow and survive. I’ve been playing this a lot and so far have lost colonies to fire, starvation, fire, disease and fire. It’s well worth playing even in this early state.
INSIDE – Purchase on Steam
The not a sequel to Limbo, from the developers that made Limbo. Control a boy (like Limbo), through a stark stylised 2D environment (like Limbo), solving environmental puzzles (like Limbo), while the story is told through play (like Limbo). I don’t understand why people are comparing it to Limbo as it has (very limited) colour.
Ratz Instagib 2.0 – Purchase on Steam
Ignore the name, this is actually a competent tournament shooter. One hit kills, fast movement and oversized environments all wrapped up with a cell shaded bow. The unreal tournament inspired gameplay comes with one small problem, the new unreal tournament is currently free.
We Happy Few – Purchase on Steam
Procedurally generated, survival, kinda horror, We happy Few is the second game on our charts that released into Early Access this month. The creepy alternate 60’s vibe hides a by the numbers survival game which has need meters that need constant attention. If you can ignore the meters for long enough the atmosphere is excellent even at this stage, the disturbing talk shows on numerous TVs presented by Captain Jack will have you wanting more.
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair – Purchase on Steam
Word count increasing title Earth Defence Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is a third person action game that in a AAA month wouldn’t be here. It’s cartoon style and bonkers acting are a throwback to when games just dropped you into the fun without much in the way. Earth Defence Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair lets you fight giant creatures in a super suit and crazy weapons, what’s not to love?
NECROPOLIS: A Diabolical Dungeon Delve – Purchase on Steam
A chart without a roguelike indie game just doesn’t feel complete, this one did skip the customary Greenlight and Early Access though.
Klocki – Purchase on Steam
A minimalist puzzler.
