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A guide to 2016's summer indie games

So yeah, summer's almost here. And a lot of games are coming out this summer. No, not the Mirror Edge's and Deus Ex's, but the smaller titles that you might not know about

So here's a guide to some of what's coming out this summer (well June, July, and August)

And this isn't counting stuff that might get a summer release date like Rain World and Songbringer

===

June

The Solus Project - June 7th
Get immersed in your own personal Ridley Scott movie, as you explore and survive an incredibly atmospheric alien planet
PC, Mac
tsp_screen51.jpg

Steamworld Heist HD - June 7th
Steampunk robots engage in 2D turn-based bullet-ricocheting combat
PC, PS4, PS Vita

Wasted - June 7th
A wild wasteland roguelite shooter from Adult Swim Games
PC

House of the Dying Sun - June 7th
A Tie Fighter/Freelancer-inspired space shooter that combines dogfights from your interceptor cockpit and tactical fleet command
PC

Ghost 1.0 - June 7th
A sci-fi action roguelike from the developer of Unepic
PC

On Rusty Trails - June 13th
A quirky color-switching platformer from the devs of Tiny & Big: Grandpa's Leftovers
PC, Mac, Linux

Dead By Daylight - June 14th
A slasher movie as asymmetrical multiplayer game, as one killer hunts a team of survivors
PC, PS4

Inside - June 29th
Playdead's bleak dystopian follow-up to Limbo
Xbox One

Swordy
A colorful weapon-swinging local brawler
PC, Xbox One

Breached
Scavenge, fly drones, and explore in this sci-fi mystery game
PC, Mac, Linux

July

Fossil Echo - July 1st
A young boy traverses a distant land and climbs a looming tower in this hand-drawn platformer
PC

Furi - July 5th
A vibrantly-stylish boss-rush brawler
PC, PS4

Inside - July 7th
Limbo's long-awaited dystopian follow-up
PC

Necropolis - July 12th
A stylized roguelite dungeon crawler from Harebrained Schemes
PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One

Videoball - July 12th
Minimalist 2D sports game whose spartan design belies a surprising amount of subtlety and depth.
PS4 PC XB1

Rimworld - July 15th
The closest yet to sci-fi Dwarf Fortress, as you manage and maintain a colony on an alien planet
PC, Mac, Linux

Zombie Night Terror - July 20th
Control an undead horde in this blend of zombie apocalypse and Lemmings
PC, Mac

Hive Jump - July 20th
Eradicate the alien bug hives with up to four players online, brought to life with dynamically-lit pixel art
PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U

Death Road to Canada - July 22nd
Organ Trails, plus combat against hordes of up to 500 zombies, plus silly humor that allows for party members like a Bruce Lee analogue and magic anime hero
PC, Mac, Linux

Obduction - July 26th
The long-awaited next puzzle adventure from Cyan Worlds
PC, Mac

Candle
A gorgeous hand-painted adventure game
PC, Mac, Wii U

Timespinner
A metroidvania where time control is part of your arsenal
PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS

Syndrome
Flee and fight in a sci-fi horror game on an infested vessel
PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One

August

Abzu - August 2nd
Gorgeous underwater exploration adventure from talent behind Journey's art
PS4, PC

No Man's Sky - August 9th
Explore, fight, trade in a procedurally-generated universe
PC, PS4

Pan-Pan - August 24th
An open world puzzle game with a colorful aesthetic
PC, Mac

Ira - August 31st
A sprawling episodic narrative adventure that stretches from the 1930s to space itself
PC, Mac, Linux

Hero Generations: ReGen
A 4x/roguelike hybrid set across multiple generations of your hero's lineage
PC, Mac, Linux

Summer

Below
Capy's oppressively atmospheric roguelite
PC, Xbox One

RunGunJumpGun
Use your gun to jump and shoot in this chaotic precision platformer
PC, Mac

GoNNER
A stylish frenetic roguelite platformer/shooter
PC, Mac

This Is the Police
A strategy/adventure game revolving around police, corruption, and crime
PC, Mac, Linux

Headlander
A head-swapping retro sci-fi action game from Double Fine
PC, Mac, PS4

Monsters & Monocles
Tackle this steampunk dual stick shooter with up to four friends online
PC, Mac, Linux, PS4

Okhlos
Lead an angry mob against the Greek gods themselves in this Devolver-published destructive RTS
PC, Mac, Linux

Rise & Shine
Adult Swim's vibrant shooter adventure where different bullet types offer special abilities and tactics
PC, Xbox One

Project Highrise
A modern take on SimTower, as you build and manage a looming business tower
PC, Mac, Linux

Narcosis
Survival horror on the Pacific seafloor
PC, Mac

Cosmic Star Heroine
A sci-fi JRPG featuring forbidden technology and ruined worlds
PC, Mac, PS4, PS Vita
 

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Thanks for the thread. Some great looking titles here!

House of Dying Sun, Necropolis and Fossil Echo look awesome.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I pretty much only play indie games at this point, and really increasingly only in a few genres, hahah. There's a handful of maybes, but the Yeses for me, pending quality, are: Fossil Echo; Obduction; No Man's Sky; Ira; Below; This is the Police; Headlander.

I also expect Kentucky Route Zero episode 4 to make it out this summer.
 
Wish Swordy had online multiplayer, it looks super fun.

Also completely forgot about Necropolis. That game looks great.

And of course looking forward to Below...if it ever comes out.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Project Highrise is one I have on my sights, being a big fan of SimTower/Yoot Tower.

Just caught this in my Steam queue and that was my first thought. Not that I have some particular reason to believe it'll be good, but that I wish someone made a new The Tower/SimTower/Yoot Tower and this is the first group I've seen try so I hope they do well!
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
You forgot Steamworld Heist HD June 7th badass. PS4, Vita, Steam at least
 
This is fantastic list, thank you! I've been really looking forward to Headlander, and there's some really interesting games on the list I haven't heard of.

For PS4 players, Oxenfree just came out! It was made by former Telltale/Disney devs, and is a supernatural/horror dialogue-focused adventure game. which seemed to have a really positive reception from PC/Xbox GAF earlier in the year. I'm looking forward to giving it a go!
 
For PS4 players, Oxenfree just came out! It was made by former Telltale/Disney devs, and is a supernatural/horror dialogue-focused adventure game. which seemed to have a really positive reception from PC/Xbox GAF earlier in the year. I'm looking forward to giving it a go!
My GOTY as of now. I abaoluted loved it, and it's probably the most innovative game in the subgenre since The Walking Dead. The walk-and-talk mechanic allows for a pace that Telltale-style adventures never could do, and it implements a meaningful New Game Plus into a narrative adventure
 

Joystick

Member
Summer 2016 is over. You have your months mixed up. The Southern Hemisphere is all that matters.

In other news those games look great. I'll be checking some of them out. Thanks for the thread.
 
House of the Dying Sun looks amazing - please come to consoles!

Also, had no idea TimeSpinner was coming out next month - I thought I had backed that on KS, but I don't recall receiving any updates for it. Will need to go and check.
 

georly

Member
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa timespinner is in july!? I backed the darn game and had no idea. Must have missed that in their more recent updates.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Obduction is one of my most anticipated titles at this point. With so many games claiming to be Myst-like (e.g. The Witness), they all end up missing the point. Cyan is the only one that can actually deliver on this front.
 
House of the Dying Sun looks amazing - please come to consoles!

Also, had no idea TimeSpinner was coming out next month - I thought I had backed that on KS, but I don't recall receiving any updates for it. Will need to go and check.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa timespinner is in july!? I backed the darn game and had no idea. Must have missed that in their more recent updates.
Yup, the Steam page lists it as July 2016
http://store.steampowered.com/app/368620
 

CRIMSON-XIII

Neo Member
there is that 14.99 rpg cosmic star heroine or whatever its called coming this summer to ps4 and vita.. its gonna be sick, old school rpg, like chrono trigger, cant wait.
 

Shari

Member
Thanks for this thread. Im pretty much an online coop geek, what can I get out from here aside from Monsters & Monocles (insta-buy)?

For the offline part, Below is a guaranteed buy for me and a few others have spark my curiosity thanks to OP.

Suscribed!
 
Thanks for this thread. Im pretty much an online coop geek, what can I get out from here aside from Monsters & Monocles (insta-buy)?

For the offline part, Below is a guaranteed buy for me and a few others have spark my curiosity thanks to OP.

Suscribed!
Hive Jump and Necropolis are up your alley
 

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
Both Below and No Man's Sky look incredible. Really hope the really good games garner some attention so that I don't miss them just because they at a glance didn't register with me.
 
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