Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms have been an excellent financial aid for certain indie games. Without the money needed to keep the lights on, the computers running and the coffee flowing there would be a ton of amazing games we wouldn’t have been able to play today.
The popularity of crowdfunding has since taken off and now we see almost too many games launching their campaign each day, making it harder for people to discover their next favourite project. The idea behind this (repeating) article is to highlight a few personal favourites in the hopes of giving them a small boost and hopefully giving you, the reader, a nice feeling of generosity (and some awesome indie games to play!)
NOTE: We’ll try to focus on the projects that need the coverage and have not yet been funded.
Arisen is made by a small, yet inspired Belgian team called Maratus Games. It’s a story-driven game in which you express yourself with your emotions, embodied by cards. Your choices will impact the world around you while you unlock new cards.
You start the game as a slave and as the story progresses you will gradually gain power until you’ve earned your freedom back. What will you do when you are free? Shall you help the others or shall you take advantage of your position?
While similar narrative games may ask you to pick one of multiple dialog options when presented with a branching path, Arisen does so via Cards.
As the game progresses, you’ll unlock more and more cards to reply with, each representing an emotion, like sadness or anger. Depending on the card you pick in a certain situation, the story will take a different route and you’ll have to live with the outcome.
A Fox Tale is a beautiful pixel-art platforming adventure made by a solo-developer. You play as a brave fox, exploring a cyberpunk world of wonder and horror.
As you travel through various breathtaking areas and hop from platform to platform using your special powers, a compelling story will evolve around you, giving you insights into your past and the losses you’ve had to endure.
Probably the most notable aspect of A Fox Tale is the vivid pixelated artstyle and fluid animation. It mixes old and new with its retro look and modern platforming gameplay, creating a visually pleasing aesthetic. This is an adventure you won’t want to miss.
NOTE: Only 24h left at the time of writing! Get in there quick!
Chiaroscuro is a 2D action-platformer with Metroidvania elements made by small indie studio BlackberryKin. Play as an amnesiac protagonist (yes, we’re going with that old videogame trope) and gain new abilities as you face off against monstrous creatures, as well as other adventurers with their own hidden plans for the light they all covet.
It won’t take long for you to notice the similarities it shares with Hollow Knight, from its gameplay to its aesthetics, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: there are a lot of evolutions still left to be explored and players are obviously hungry for more.
It seems to have an interesting story, centred around the gods of balance, Yin and Yang, who’s coexistence maintained peace throughout the land. When Yang vanished, however, she took the light with her, leaving everything in darkness.
Over time the world’s inhabitants adapted to this dark existence, but when rumours started spreading of the light returning, a set of adventurers took it upon them to restore the balance of the world. It’s in these interesting characters that Chiaroscuro really excels, seeing their design really makes me want to learn more about them.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We hope you liked this new article format and that you’ve discovered a few new projects that can use your support. It’s not easy getting eyes on your indie game these days, so please consider spreading this article around to help out the developers!
