2012 has been a great year for indie video games. From survival horror to puzzle platformers, there was a little bit of everything to satisfy all types of gamers.
Klei Entertainment gave us Mark of the Ninja their best effort to date, a game that rewards the cunning and patient with an interesting story and plenty of choices, Hotlined Miami created by proved to be equally satirical and sadistic while Incredipede by Northway Games stunning landscape realized by Thomas Shahan.
But with the way things are shaping up, 2013 could be even bigger. We’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of 7 indie titles releasing in 2013 that you’re going to want to keep an eye on.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted is a survival shooter game described by developer Big Robot’ as the British indie S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted, a spin-off from Big Robot’s other project, Lodestone, takes place in a “dynamic open world” inspired by the good old British countryside. In the game artificial gentlemen, descibed by the developer as “ape tea-drinking, poachers that lurk in reed-beds, and red-eyed hounds that patrol the moor”, hunt humans for sport. In order to escape you must not only fight against these robotic enemies, but also gather the scattered piece.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted gathers up elements of exploration, non-linearity, AI interaction, survival, robots, sinister butlers, and hot drinks, and blends them into a rich pixelly pulp. Combat is a big part of the game which is primarily a challenge of brainy stealth. The approach you take in escaping the island is up to you.
Tengami
Tengami is an adventure game set in Japan of ancient dark fairy tales featuring an intentionally minimalist beautifully paper architected pop-up world.
Each of this game’s scenes is presented as the double pages of one such book, that fold and unfold at your fingertips in order to solve puzzles, discover secrets, and make progress. The soundtrack of the game is composed by the company’s famed musician, David Wise, who wrote the scores to titles like Donkey kong Country and Star Fox Adventures.
Tengami is set for release first on the iPad in 2013, with PC & Mac version to follow soon after.
Mater Obscura: A Sine Requie Tale
Dreampainters, the Italian team behind indie horror gem Anna, have recently revealed their upcoming project, an RPG featuring many quests titled Mater Obscura: A Sine Requie Tale.
The game’s protagonists are Marcello Cappanera and Anna Maida and the game takes place in the Sanctum Imperium, a theocracy founded in Italy after the resurrection of the dead. Gamers will be able to fight or talk to resolve the situation, providing multiple ways to complete the game.
Mater Obscura: A Sine Requie Tale is based in one of the most famous scenarios in the Sine Requie pen & paper RPG game and therefore will be supervised and approved by both the authors Matteo Cortini and Leonardo Moretti of Sine Requie.
Mater Obscura: A Sine Requie Tale is expected to arrive at the end of 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnp0NKpWuuQ&rel=0&w=580&h=361
Red Barrels, a Canadian independent game studio founded by industry veterans from some of the biggest game franchises in history, including Prince of Persia, Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell, are currently working on their first title, a survival-horror game titled Outlast.
According to Red Barrels Outlast promises to deliver a true survival-horror experience which aims to show that the most terrifying monsters of all come from the human mind. “There are already a lot of great games out there about terrifying monsters that eat brains; we want Outlast’s to be scary because you’ll know the enemies you face still have them,” said Philippe Morin, co-founder of Red Barrels.
Outlast will be coming to PC as a digital download in 2013.
Dark Matter developed by InterWave, creators of the FPS/RTS hybrid Nuclear Dawn, is a side scrolling platformer that will offer exploration, branching upgrade paths and levels that open up as you acquire new equipment. Dark will give gamers motivation to go back and revisit old locations allowing them to unlock more and more resources and blueprints in a way similar to Metroidvania games.
In Dark Matter, you are low on resources and health, your enemies are very powerful and even the simplest critter can kill you with ease, if you let them catch you unaware.You must carefully decide whether to craft yourself ammo, or health, or weapon upgrades, and once you commit resources to one of those, you won’t be able to go back on your decisions easily.
There are also influences from Silent Hill and Resident Evil, where there is a lot of action, and a lot of exploration, but the sense of impending doom never quite leaves you, because you can’t be quite sure what’s coming out of the shadows next.
Prison Architect is a top down construction and management simulation where the player takes control of the running and building of a maximum security prison.
Prison Architect is already shaping up to be a deep and complex title. You’ll be charged with the role of both architect and governor and you will build every detail of the Alcatraz of your dreams, from the foundations to the light fittings, having to take into account such small details as where your deliveries arrive, and sandbox micromanagement themes such as choosing where to put lights, position cell blocks in relation to the canteen, and how they connect together.
Unfortunately Prison Architect has no set release date as yet, with Introversion apaprently aiming for sometime in 2013, but you can get alpha access here from $30.
Apotheon is a 2D platform action-rpg set on the rich stage of ancient Greek mythology. Hera, the queen of Olympus, has overthrown her husband Zeus, and taken his throne as ruler of the Gods. Bitter and scornful towards the race of mortals, she launches a murderous campaign to scour them from the earth.
As humanity’s last champion, you must pass through the land of the dead, infiltrate Mount Olympus, and end the wrath of the Gods. With sword, spear, and shield in hand, you will sneak, conspire, loot, and battle your way through majestic palaces and chthonic depths as you climb towards godhood. Only by stripping the old gods of their powers, and taking control of the elements as your own, can humanity hope to survive the coming oblivion.
Along with a large single player campaign in a massive open world Mount Olympus, Apotheon will include online multiplayer with deathmatch and team based gamemodes. Apotheon is currently in development for Steam with an intended release in 2013.
Those are the indie titles that we’re most excited for in 2013, but it is more then certain that many more are out there that we couldn’t fit on this list. They may not be the only games we’re all looking forward to playing, but they’re the ones we’d give anything to have arrive a little sooner. Happy new year everybody 🙂
