Silky soccer, romancing everything and other new indie games worth checking out

Engadget

7 days ago

Summer is finally here — at least for those of us north of the equator — and you might be planning to spend more time outdoors. Thanks to a swathe of great handheld devices, it's never been easier to play some fantastic indie games wherever you might be, so you can soak up the sun while unlocking achievements.
There are a bunch of intriguing new indies you can check out right now, as well as a significant update for a certain thirst-inducing roguelite that's still in early access. I've also a few upcoming titles in this, the latest edition of our indie roundup. One of them has a Steam demo that you might end up spending several enjoyable hours with.
Before we get started, a quick word of warning: Your wishlist and resolve are about to be tested as the Steam Summer Sale starts next week. I mean, good luck in advance with the bargain hunting! To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
I have to hold my hands up, I was skeptical about Rematch . When it was revealed that Sloclap — the team behind martial arts games Absolver and Sifu — was making an action-focused soccer game, I had some doubts that it would work. Rematch looked like the studio had taken Rocket League and retrofitted it with human characters. And with both that car soccer game and EA Sports FC 25 as competition, Sloclap was really going to have to do something special to break through. I think the studio might have just pulled that off.
Rematch is entirely skill-based with no stat upgrades for your character. You control one player throughout the match, and you'll transition between attacking and defending while rotating the goalkeeper role with teammates. The action is very fluid and fast, and the controls are responsive (they'd have to be). Like in Rocket League , the ball doesn't go out of bounds. There are no fouls or offsides either.
I've really enjoyed my first dozen or so games of Rematch . I came to realize that I'm more effective in a midfield/playmaker role or even as the goalkeeper than as an attacker. I haven't been able to get the hang of using the twin-stick controls to aim and shoot at the goal well enough as yet, but I've figured out a way to both help my team and have fun.
There are some bugs that the developers are racing to fix and the lack of cross-play at the jump is a bit disappointing (Sloclap says it ran into some technical issues there, but getting that sorted is a top priority for the team). Still, Rematch feels like a very sticky game that I imagine many folks are going to sink dozens of hours into. It's already off to a strong start — it surpassed a million players on its first day.
Rematch is out now on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It's on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
After some delays, it's finally time to date everything in Date Everything! As the title of this dating sim from Sassy Chap Games and publisher Team17 suggests, you can romance anthropomorphized versions of things around your home. There are more than 100 voice-acted characters you can woo, from the doors and wall, to a mouse trap and dust bunny behind a couch, to fire and air. Things get pretty meta, as you can also date the devs, the game itself and "your overwhelming sense of existential dread."
There are multiple endings for each character and around 70,000 lines of dialogue, so there's plenty to explore here. Reviews have been generally positive, with praise for the writing and design. I can't wait to see the reactions of my seatmate when I'm playing it on my next flight.
Date Everything! is out now on Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
Lost in Random was received fairly well a few years back and now a roguelite spinoff has arrived. Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is out on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
This is a run-based action game with an isometric perspective and some permanent progression. So, it's very much Hades -coded, though it gives the genre a gothic storybook spin with a dice-rolling element. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
Speaking of which (and in case you missed it), the third major early access update for Hades II arrived this week. Oh, sure, there are new bosses and combat options and so on. All of that's great.
But for many fans, the biggest addition this time is proper character art for Narcissus. Unsurprisingly, he's hot and he knows it. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
From time to time, I'll start playing a demo and very quickly feel that GIF of Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons pop into my head. You know, the one where he goes "Haha, I'm in danger!" (the GIF is actually from a crossover Family Guy episode in which characters from that show visited Springfield, fact fans). Such is the case with Ball x Pit , a game that I am already certain is going to absorb many, many hours of my life.
I didn't get to the Ball x Pit demo until after Steam Next Fest ended, but it's still available until the full game goes live later this year (it's coming to Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch too). After playing the demo, it's easy to see why publisher Devolver Digital dedicated the entire Summer Game Fest edition of its Devolver Direct showcase to this project from indie developer Kenny Sun and half-a-dozen collaborators.
Ball x Pit is a blend of Breakout and Vampire Survivors with base-building elements. As you play the brick-breaking survival levels, you'll earn resources you can use to build out your homestead, which feeds back into the projectile chaos. It's an absorbing loop, but the real fun for me comes in the pit.
Here, your character will (either manually or automatically) fire magic-infused balls at enemy tiles while avoiding their attacks and making sure the bad guys don't reach the bottom of the screen. You'll collect more projectiles and passive upgrades throughout your run. The real magic happens when you're able to fuse together a pair of balls to combine their effects. So, a ghost ball that passes through enemies instead of bouncing between them might also deliver a laser attack to other baddies in the same row or column.
It's already apparent that the gameplay here will run deep. There will be a host of levels, characters and upgrades to unlock. I really can't wait for Ball x Pit to entirely ruin my productivity. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
I loved the Goosebumps books and TV show as a kid, so a stealth game based on the series caught my eye. In Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek (from PHL Collective and publisher GameMill Entertainment), you'll try to avoid monsters in a nightmarish town but if you run into any, you can defend yourself with your slingshot.
This game includes puzzles and an original story with multiple endings, while the art style looks charmingly old-school. It's coming to Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Steam on August 29. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so.
Let's close things out for this week with the latest look at PowerWash Simulator 2 . I enjoyed the first game immensely, and the new trailer shows off some more fresh features that are coming to the sequel, which is slated to hit PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S later this year.
This time around, you'll be able to abseil or use a scissor lift to get to grimy, hard-to-reach spots. Multi-stage jobs are also new in PowerWash Simulator 2, and there will be a public restroom (ick) to make pristine. In addition, you'll be able to buy and restore antique furniture for your home base, while your pet kitties can join you on cleaning jobs. Cute!