The first-ever IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase just wrapped up, and we had a lot of news about our upcoming indie games to share with you. With games coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and Cloud Gaming – not to mention classic RPGs, Silent Hill-inspired horror, party games, and even groundbreaking interactive documentaries – there’s something here for you no matter what kind of player you are.
Read on for a full rundown of all 20 games we brought along during the showcase – including some world premieres – and get those hard drives ready!
Axiom Verge 2
Axiom Verge 2, the eagerly awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed Axiom Verge, is now available on Xbox! Explore an alternate Earth-like world, replete with the ruins of an ancient, high-tech civilization. Hack machines. Battle monsters. Use your remote drone to enter the Breach, a parallel but connected reality that is filled with its own dangers. You’ll want to search every inch for the hidden items and upgrades you need to survive.
Unleash your curiosity, embrace the unexpected, and get ready to lose yourself in the enigmatic realms of Axiom Verge 2, available now on Xbox!
Birth
Birth is a little game about living alone in a large city. In order to quell your loneliness, you decide to create a friend from spare bones & organs found around the city. Solve physics-based puzzles & discover secrets in lovingly hand-drawn museums, bakeries, bookstores and more. Birth launches on Xbox on July 28!
Dreamers
We are thrilled to introduce Dreamers, an exciting new adventure game coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One developed by PlaySys, which invites players to embark on a captivating journey filled with wonder, puzzles, and unforgettable stories. Set for release on September 1, this visually stunning game features a colourful low-poly 3D graphic style that exudes charm and uniqueness. Dreamers features three protagonists: a curious boy, a brave girl, and a visionary robot, as they form an unbreakable bond of friendship and take on daring escapades together. Expect a refreshingly unique main quest, numerous side quests, mini-games and upgradeable vehicles. Pre-orders open on July 9, and will offer a 10% discount and gain exclusive access to a special demo.
Everspace 2
Everspace 2 will come to Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Game Pass) on August 15. Building on the success of the original game, this spacefaring adventure will bring a 30+ hour campaign, over 100 handcrafted locations, 9 ship types, 7 companions, and much more. The first Everspace made gravitational waves in the roguelike community for its fast-paced combat, combining die-and-repeat gameplay with storytelling. In Everspace 2, the series hops genres, taking space game fans into the realm of semi-open world RPGs where exploration, leveling up, crafting and managing equipment, buying new ships, and upgrading perks are all critical to surviving in uncharted space.
Follow Everspace 2 on Twitter, Facebook, and join the community on the official Discord server for the latest updates.
Hellboy Web of Wyrd
We saw the world premiere of the new gameplay trailer for the upcoming Hellboy Web of Wyrd, an action-brawler-roguelite from Upstream Arcade and Good Shepherd Entertainment. Play as Hellboy and punch, dodge, and blast your way through the mysterious Web of Wyrd in this all-new adventure crafted in partnership with Dark Horse Comics and series creator Mike Mignola.
Jackbox Party Pack 10
The showcase revealed two new games coming in the latest installment of the world’s favorite party game series, Jackbox Party Pack:
Timejinx
What would you do if you had a time machine? Would you go back and try to fix some or travel to the future to see who you’ve become? No! You’d use it to play a high-stakes trivia game! Introducing Timejinx, a trivia game about the things you know you knew. You’ll play the role of a time traveler who meets up with their friends for trivia night at the residence of our acerbic host, Jerri Rigg. But this is not your typical game night filled with tattered cards and stale pretzels. Jerri may not care much about you, but she does care about creating an immersive trivia experience.
Hypnotorious
Hypnotorious is a game where you and your fellow players take part in a virtual stage show where our host, a mysterious hypnotist, mesmerizes you, then gives you a character to play. So thoroughly do you take on this new persona, that when he asks you a question, you will answer as that character! Each player will be keeping their characters somewhat secret because the game is all about deducing each other’s identities. The characters all fit into one of three, secret categories. The categories might be as simple as “Dogs, Cats or Mice,” or they might be something a bit more challenging like “Popular in the 80s, 90s or 2000s.” It’s up to you to figure it out.
Karateka
Digital Eclipse unveiled the next step in its journey: the Gold Master Series. It’s a new line of independent, self-published games that are best described as “interactive documentaries.” Game number one in the Gold Master Series is titled The Making of Karateka, and it’s all about the fascinating story behind a game that changed the industry – the deepest, most exhaustive exploration of the making of a single video game that’s ever been attempted in a video game itself.
The Making of Karateka will include multiple playable versions of the original game, video interviews, design documents, and even unreleased playable prototypes from the game’s creator, Jordan Mechner. Find out more in our full post on Xbox Wire.
Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients
Adventure awaits! Witness the beginning of Astor’s extraordinary journey through the world premiere announcement trailer for Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients. Immerse yourself in the mystical world of Gliese, where dark forces threaten its very existence. Fear not, for a hero is destined to rise and become the planet’s ultimate savior. Guided by an enigmatic presence, Astor must unlock the secrets of the past while collecting legendary weapons that will aid him in his mission to thwart an unholy ritual.
Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients presents a captivating combat system that will leave you fulfilled and craving more. Engage in exhilarating combo-based battles, wielding an array of legendary weapons and harnessing the arcane Runic Swarm to summon powerful constructs, crush adversaries with colossal boulders, or shield yourself behind solid rock formations. Master the art of precision with light, heavy, and ranged attacks, seamlessly swap between armaments, skilfully block, and dodge incoming threats, and build up your combo meter to unleash devastating finishing moves.
MythForce
Saturday morning cartoons are back! MythForce is a roguelike adventure featuring four-player online cooperative multiplayer set in the ever-changing Cursed Lands of Eldryth. Assemble your team and gather your arms, for many perilous foes await you. Will you stand victorious by the power…of teamwork!? MythForce ventures onto Xbox Series X|S from September 12, 2023! For more information on MythForce, visit www.MythForce.com, and follow along for the latest updates on Discord, Twitter and Facebook.
Rain World: Downpour
In Rain World, you are a nomadic slugcat, a cunning and clever animal in a broken ecosystem. Grab your spear and brave the industrial wastes, hunting enough food to survive, but be wary— other, bigger creatures have the same plan… and slugcats look delicious.
In Rain World: Downpour, the slugcat has evolved– alongside some of its most terrifying predators. Five new slugcats travel the haunting landscape/deathscape of a vast, ancient civilization, driven by curiosity, revenge, hunger, and mysterious, higher truths. Will they find what they truly seek? Or is their fate preordained to another meal in its unforgiving food chain?
Roman Sands
Today, Serenity Forge and Arbitrary Metric announced that Roman Sands RE:Build is heading to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S this winter. In this exciting and beautiful adventure, you’ll find yourself stranded on the luxurious shores of a timeless retreat, where the eccentric inhabitants anxiously await the world’s end. As you navigate their whimsical requests, a hidden truth about this place begins to emerge. Will you uncover your escape route?
In this surreal and mind-bending adventure, you must manage a decaying zoological research facility, where survival becomes paramount amidst a crumbling world. Guided by a distant voice on the radio, you must adapt to a new existence. Prepare for two broken realities to intertwine in Roman Sands RE:Build, a genre-blending masterpiece by the creators of the IGF award-winning Paratopic. Roman Sands RE:Build is a delirium-charged journey into apocalypse which collides through visual novel, adventure, puzzle solving, horror, and survival simulation.
Scarlet Deer Inn
Scarlet Deer Inn is an embroidered narrative platformer. Players will experience an emotional story, an interesting cast of characters, a dark dungeon full of monsters, and branching dialogues leading to optional backstories and bonus locations in a unique mix of an adventure game and a fast-paced platformer. The game stands out with its actually embroidered character frames and hand-painted backgrounds inspired by Studio Ghibli movies, Slavic folklore, and medieval Europe.
Sea of Stars
A Sea of Stars demo is now available, and pre-orders are open on the Xbox Store! Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG inspired by the classics. It tells the story of two Children of the Solstice who combine the powers of the sun and moon to perform Eclipse Magic, the only force capable of fending off the monstrous creations of the evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer.
While the demo features areas that will be part of the final game, it does not reveal any major spoilers from the main story. It is designed to give a hint of context, but mostly showcase some gameplay systems and mechanics around dungeon crawling and combat. It aims to provide a sense of the tone and vibe without giving away major points of the journey.
Second Wave
Second Wave is a free-to-play online multiplayer hero-based shooter MOBA set in the world of Armantia, offering players an easy-to-play but hard-to-master experience. Players take on the role of a legendary hero or exile to fight an endless war for the Arcane Stone, a mystical artifact that has helped Armantia advance in both Science and Technology. There are currently two game modes for players to choose from, Domination and 3-Way Battle, with additional modes in active development.
Solace State
Can you retain your humanity while fighting against a corporate biotech conspiracy? Play as the young hacker Chloe who confronts political plots as she fights for her friends and her neighbors. Your choices in building up relationships and communities can revolutionize into more or less freedoms. In a game with 31 fully illustrated characters and over 200,000 words, meet Torrent, a local who shares Chloe’s intuitive hacking abilities, Sueli, a community leader who grapples with expectations with different levels of governance, and Alden, a socialite who was Chloe’s first love. In a world where humanity’s rights are fracturing through biotech greed, how can Chloe restore hope for the people?
Stray Souls
It’s no secret that the team at Jukai Studio are huge fans of the Silent Hill series, and has no doubt been a major influence on Stray Souls. Which is also why we’re extremely excited to announce that we’re collaborating with the legendary Akira Yamaoka as a special guest composer! Akira’s work on Silent Hill is iconic, and we are honored to have him contributing new original music to the Stray Souls soundtrack. Listen to the world premiere of Akira’s track “Splintered Minds” featured in our brand-new trailer!
Stumble Guys
Players will soon discover the joys of Stumbling when Stumble Guys races to console. The fast-paced, frenetic and highly-social fun of Stumble Guys will launch first on Xbox, giving the game’s massive community more ways to battle with friends in an epic quest to be the last Stumbler standing.
Stumble Guys is a worldwide phenomenon on mobile, known for its accessible and competitive play style that is constantly evolving with varied events, tournaments, and imaginative levels. Stumble Guys regularly adds new mechanics, offering Stumblers more ways to cross the finish line, whether on foot, in vehicles, or through a high-stakes First-Person Stumbler mode. The game is enjoyed by tens of millions of players every week and was one of the top 10 most downloaded apps in the world in 2022.
Xbox players can pre-register now on StumbleGuys.com to join the party on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One and lock in launch benefits, including early Beta access and free launch gifts.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Take on the role of one of the notorious Slaughter family, or their victims, in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a third-person asymmetrical horror experience based on the groundbreaking and iconic 1974 horror film. Texas. Early 1973. Ana and a group of close friends embark on a journey to the small dusty town of Newt, TX, the last known location of Ana’s missing sister, Maria. The group’s search quickly turns into a nightmare of unimaginable proportions when they mistakenly invade the home of Leatherface and his cannibalistic family. Tied up, tortured, and left for dead, the group must find the strength to fight back and escape before it’s too late.
Featuring strategic 3v4 team-based multiplayer gameplay, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will allow players to truly experience this iconic franchise for the first time in video game history. The only question is, who will survive and what will be left of them?
Vampire Survivors
After extensive research, developer poncle has concluded that everything in life is better with friends: That’s why Vampire Survivors is getting a local 4-player couch co-op mode! Be the bullet hell with your besties!
In local couch co-op mode, you can continue your current game or; if you’re new to Vampire Survivors, begin your session with up to 4 local players. Players can seamlessly switch between single and co-op play between stages and unleash chaos. Like every good co-op game, Vampire Survivors will also offer opportunities to test your friendship… and stretch the definition of the word “co-op”.
Worldless
Worldless is a stylised 2D adventure platformer with turn-based combat and a mind-bending, interpretative narrative. Players will walk the line between physical and astral planes within a shapeless world, embarking on a journey of self-growth where the possibilities are infinite, the challenges are immense, and transcendence awaits those brave enough to embrace the unknown.
Related:
History You Can Play: The Making of Karateka Is the First in a Series of Interactive Documentaries
Stray Souls Interview: Legendary Silent Hill Composer Akira Yamaoka Joins the Team
A Deeper Dive into Vampire Survivors’ New Couch Co-op Mode
Source: Xbox Blog
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