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[mild sriracha]

Former Dawn (NES + MXM1 mapper)

I was ready to call this a hoax because the screenshots were ignoring some of the very obvious limitations of NES (e.g. maximum 4 colors for every 16x16 pixel area of BG). But the creators are talking about an advanced mapper chip (MXM-1) that circumvents many of the limits of the original hardware, so color me impressed.

 

[Holammer]

Final Formation is a sequel to Jaleco's 1984 arcade Formation Z.
Developed by Happymeal Inc, a small'ish Japanese company doing mostly mobile games but seems to be increasingly dipping its toes in console development.
In the game player can transform between different forms (tank/mecha/aircraft) and explore an open world type environment. The story is presented with a digital comic by mangaka Watari Yuu
Image grabbed from the Steam page, I can't find any video.

Releases October 2025 on Nintendo Switch and Steam 2026.

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Death by Scrolling is an action roguelike by Terrible Toybox, Ron Gilbert's company (the guy behind Secret of Monkey Island and many other games).
It's an auto scroller where the players needs to collect 10k gold to pay the ferryman and escape purgatory.
Coming Soon for PC.

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Aggelos 2, a metroidvania by French developer Wonderboy BOBI unsurprisingly draws a lot of inspiration from later Wonderboy games. The dev seems to be enamored with 8 & 16-bit games and also sells Mystic Valley, an 8bit style Zelda clone on Itch and he's got an unofficial fangame sequel to Golvellius on his homepage.

Coming soon for Xbox, Switch, PC & Playstation.

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Demon Crush is a promising beat 'em up by indie studio Revering Castles. It had a failed Kickstarter, but remains in active development and the team include some veterans.
Release date TBA for Playstation Switch, PC & Xbox.

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Windswept is a oldskool platformer by Australian indie dev Weatherfell is the product of a successful Kickstarter. Lead by a small Twitch Streamer using GameMaker.
Releases 2025 on all consoles + PC.

 

[Holammer]

Threads of Time is an upcoming JRPG beating Square-Enix at their own HD-2D game. Developed by Canada based Riyu Games and it looks like it's being developed by a fairly large team. Clearly a love letter to Chrono Trigger & old SNES era Final Fantasy games.
PC version announced with release date TBA, also comes on Xbox.

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This indie SHMUP was just released. Pretty ambitious for a solo developer. "Shinu Real Arts" is already prototyping the next game and has a previous horizontally scrolling shooter on Steam. Character portraits are so-so, but Zun made lots of beer money with Touhou and he can't draw for shit.

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Panic in Puzzle World by US based indie dev Iced Lizard Games, despite the name is an action platformer.
Comes to PC in 2026. Their previous games saw release on consoles so Xbox/PS/Switch down the line seems likely.

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Aurascope by German developer Nick Oztok has been in development for five years and it saw a successful Kickstarter (I'd call it a soft pre-order) earlier this year. Release date PC version "coming soon" with a Switch version planned.

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Wall World 2 by Russian developer Alawar. The game is roguelike with mining and tower defense. It expands on the first game with new enemies, features and upgrades for the spidertank. Unfortunately a lot of world building with exposition dialogue, in the demo anyway.
Releases November 11th this year on PC.

 

[Holammer]

Halloween 1985 releases just in time for Halloween on Consoles & PC.
By Spanish indie dev Spoonbox Studio.

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Action platformer Cosmo Knight Zion by Mexican indie dev Zeichi Games was just released. Not only does it ape the look and feel of a Gameboy Color game, it runs on actual hardware.
Its kickstarter failed to reach console stretch goals, but it's available on PC now. The GBC rom should be on their Itch page.

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Pipkin by US based developer Gregdude is a suitably Halloween themed JRPG with heavy influences from Earthbound with its combat and style, features creature collection from Pokemon. Successfully funded in a modest kickstarter. Looks great, but I'll point out there's some style clashes in the art.
Out now on PC.

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The Crazy HyperDungeon Chronicles by Italian developer Fix-a-Bug released a week ago. An RPG with an overhead perspective and turn-based combat. Came on my radar because of a funny mishap with its Japanese demo localization. The Japanese title became Kuso Danjon, "Kuso" means literally shit, and it's used like an expletive like shit/fuck in Japanese. They should have gone with the name, it's short and funny.

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Here's Skigill, another Action-roguelike by solo developer Achromi. The twist in this one is how the player field is the skill tree and you run around activating the nodes.
An experienced developer with a previous Link's Awakening style game with the same B/W style.
Releases very soon on Steam Early Access.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

Halloween 1985 releases just in time for Halloween on Consoles & PC.
By Spanish indie dev Spoonbox Studio.

Nice. Reminds me of Donut Dodo, which was great.

 

[Holammer]

This surprise indie hit you haven't heard about released the other day. It sold 10k copies in the first 24 hours and managed to score an impressive 699 user reviews with a 99% overwhelmingly positive user score in 48h. By Brazilian indie dev Gagonfe, a very productive guy with lots of games on Steam.
A lesson to Japanese developers, not every game needs a waifu, sometimes a turtle hunting jellyfish is enough. Available now on PC.

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Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart was announced just a few days ago. By Massachusetts based Snoozy Kazoo, the guys behind the Turnip Boy games and a departure from their previous games. A Dungeon Crawler where you seduce monster girls to fight for you. Strong pixel art with bits of PS1 era style 3D for the dungeon.
Planned 2026 release on PC.

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Pixel depot is the first game by Laughing Manatee Games. A Seattle based husband and wife team. A Sokoban [the crate moving game] clone which innovates by adding enemies & enviromental hazards to the mix. On PC now.

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Dragon Blazers by Sylph, the indie dev behind Garlic.

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Hyke is an oddity because of the pedigree. It looks like a simple indie at first glance, but it's actually overengineered. By Akatsuki Games, a pretty big developer with games like KAIJU NO. 8 on PC and smartphones and DBZ Dokkan Battle. The amount of voice acting from some big name VAs and the art makes it feel like it had a considerable AA budget behind it. It's even published by Aniplex, a Sony owned company behind many Anime series.
Out now on Playstation, Switch & PC.

 

[Sophist]

That game went under the radar but looks pretty nice. i will wait for a deal, however.

 

[Holammer]

Kingdoms of the Dump is co-developed by two US based indie studios, Roach Games and Dream Sloth Games. A fairly ambitious looking JRPG with a garbage theme.
Out now on PC, the game was funded with a Kickstarter and console ports remain possible down the line.

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Dancin Divas was released today, a sidescrolling beat 'em up by MrPr1993 and that's not a studio, it's a Puerto Rican artist drawing naughty images in the interwebs. I'm unsure, but it might be largely solo developed. The character select & Game Over screen feel authentic even if the art is simplistic.

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Splatchinko is slated for a 2026 release, developed by a tiny team of Italian guys. Taking inspiration from Pachinko and Peggle.

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Yami Kids is an edgy Pokemon clone with Persona elements and a 8bit style presentation. Funded by a Kickstarter.
Releases 2026 on PC. They seem positive to console versions, but no commitment afaik and they missed the console version stretch goals.

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Frogreign by Australia based Arkanpixel. A metroidvania (Developer calls it a "Zeldavania") where the gimmick is the frog prince's tongue, which can be used to pull objects and as a grapple hook. No release date TBA but it's been in development since 2023. A devblog on the YT channels shows some fairly ambitious stuff and setting not see in the trailer.

 

[Trilobit]

Perhaps already posted, but this is a long thread, so I can't be bothered.

 

[Holammer]

Here's another pixel art Metroidvania by Japanese indie devs. If it looks familiar? That's because Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya (Cave Story) is doing the art.
Release date on PC tentatively for 2026.

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This promising looking Smash Bros clone with a Touhou theme was announced early 2023, but development ceased and the developers released the source code and art assets on Itch.
A damn shame, anyone familiar with the setting would have loved it.

https://krankees.itch.io/touhou-fractured-transcience

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Silver bullet by UK based 1CC Games is an arcade style game taking inspiration from classics like Cabal with some modern ideas and mechanics.
Available on Switch & PC

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Being and Becoming, an underwater based Metroidvania by American indie dev Itcthys was announced in 2022, it's having an upcoming playtest (sign up on Steam if interested).

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SacriFire is a 2D-HD game by Polish developer Pixelated Milk. It was successfully funded in a 2021 Kickstarter and is nearing it's Q1 2026 release. The developer previously made a turn-based JRPG called Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs in 2017. Releases first on PC with console versions later.

 

[Liopleurodon]

 

[Sophist]

It's from the creators of If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers, a free game with an absolutely gorgeous pixel art.

 

[Trilobit]

Mind blown:

It'd be cool to have a game which simulates this.

 

[yurinka]

Nice. Reminds me of Donut Dodo, which was great.

I know the folks who did Haloween 1985 and completed it, it's a great game. I also know the publisher of Donut Dodo, Flynn's Arcade. They also published the even more fun Galacticon:


Or Eternum EX:


or Murtop:


I also know the devs of these other games, all of them really fun old school-like indie arcades made in Spain. Like these two published by Abylight:

Cursed Castilla (a.k.a. Maldita Castilla EX):


Syper Hydorah:


These aren't arcade, but also are great pixel art indie games made in Spain made by a popular local indie:
Unmetal


Ghost 1.0 (one of the best Metroidvanias I played)


And well, I assume everybody knows them, but Blasphemous, Blasphemous 2 and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (all 3 made by the same studio) and great too.

 

[Holammer]

Nitrome, a small British indie are working on remakes of their old flash titles. Trailer shows Twin Shot Deluxe, Silly Sausage & Skywire.
They made dozens of small flashgames in the past and some contract work for Shovel Knight Dig.
Planned for PC & Switch.

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Evil Egg by Ivy Sly, a US based solo developer with a bunch small indie titles under his belt. This might be his most ambitious project to date, a Robotron style twin-stick shooter hell bent on giving you an epileptic seizure.
Because the dev is such a chad & anarchist he paid Valve 100 bucks to offer the game for free and it's pretty good. Turn on Disco mode to really strain the photoreceptors in your eyeballs.

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Project Ultibyte is a new Smash Bros style game using ripped sprites and art from classic 16-bit console & arcade games.
It's not for me, maybe for you.

PROJECT U

projectultibyte.netlify.app

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The release date for Shinonome has been pushed forward multiple times and it's now listed as TBA. It was meant to launch on Steam Early Access in 2023, a rogue-like where a Japanese shaman exorcises ghosts and goblins with traps, blades and guns. Developed by Japanese developer Wodan Inc and I'm guessing it's being developed on and off as they do contract work for other companies.
The developers might be actual legends

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Ghost Vanguard by Japanese indie dev Wombo Combo Games. A tiny studio with two previous smaller games. This one appears to be very ambitious and was successfully funded on Kickstarter. PC & Switch as main platforms with Playstation as a stretch goal. A rogue-like fighting game taking inspiration from Capcom's Mystara games and Devil May Cry.
Someone tell the devs Beholders are trademarked and protected.

 

[Holammer]

Touhou Blooming Soul, a metroidvania with roguelike elements hit Steam Early access 2 weeks ago and in its first week it sold 30k copies. Developed by Chinese indie dev 二色幽紫蝶 (Two-colored Purple Butterfly), the guys behind another Touhou based game called Touhou Mystia's Izakaya. IMO, this is top tier pixel art. It launched with 2 completed chapters and is expected to be done in a year, with English and Japanese localization coming up.
Mystia Izakaya came out on the Switch, so a console version later sounds likely.

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Shadows of the Afterland by Spanish indie Aruma Studios is an old skool point and click adventure. They really nail the DOS era VGA look.
Out now on PC.

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XeGrader Plus is a shooter by Tokihiro Naito, the guy behind the Hydlide series of games. This is an upgraded version of a homebrew game he previously made for MSX2 and PC-8001 over 20 years ago.
Release "coming soon".

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Graytail by Korean indie Concode games is described as a Zelda-like. A mix of pixel art and 3d.

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Tearscape by unknown indie dev NERDS TAKE OVER came out around the same time as Blooming Soul and is a another metroidvania with Gameboy Color style resolution and color palette. If I had a dollar every time one of those released, I'd probably have like... 10 bucks now!

 

[Holammer]

Pip Puzzle is a puzzle game with similarities to games like Puyo Puyo and Columns. The main artist is Japanese, but maybe Third Wheel Dev is an international team? I really try to figure this stuff out.
The game will feature some crossover characters from indie games and fittingly the first one will be Leah from Crosscode. Coming soon to PC.

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Flipwitch - Temples of Temptation is an upcoming sequel to 2023's Flipwitch. A surprisingly good Metroidvania up there with and even improving on the Shantae games. The "flipwitch" skill is a polarity switch type mechanic which changes the main characters gender and the swinging Electro-Funk soundtrack is amazing. Developed by Japan based Momo Games's and it's self-published this time. Only catch is, it's a hentai game.
Release date TBA and it's 100% guaranteed not to make it to consoles, not even Switch.

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The embarrassment does not stop here, Momo Games is also working on Passionfruit, a farming sim inspired by Harvest Moon & Stardew Valley. IMO, they should scale back the sexual content so they can reach a bigger audience. It's going to cripple their potential sales.
Release date TBA, but it seems to be early in development. The art is rough compared with the quality of Flipwitch.

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Harma by Japanese indie dev Indirect Shine is a deckbuilding rogue-like. It was recently shown at TIGS (Tokyo Indie Games Summit) and there's a demo on Steam.
Launches soon on Steam Early Access.

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Roadout by Brazil based Rastrolabs Game Studio releases May 14'th on all Consoles & PC.
An action RPG in a post-apocalyptic setting.

 

[Holammer]

Clockwork Ambrosia got a release date, an indie Metroidvania for PC. Developed by Realmsoft, a small Denver based team and they worked on it on and off since 2014. No kickstarter (they tried), no early access, just a few guys with a dream. Game got this unusual cabinet oblique projection perspective you seldom see it in sidescrolling games nowadays. I would normally be against using it, but the madlads made it work and it gives an old school vibe, like a SNES game.

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Casualties Unknown is an unforgiving cave exploration game by Orsoniks, a Polish solo dev with a few small projects on Itch.
Here the player is an anthro creature, one of thousands of captives forced to go on a suicide mission on an alien planet, attempting to retrieve a lost cargo. The big draw in this one is the damage system, the body is divided into 15 parts which can be individually damaged by falls or attacks. Treating wounds is done with small minigames where you set bones, bandage or pull out shrapnel. Hunger, lung capacity, blood volume, radiation exposure, everything is modeled.

There's a *lot* of positive buzz for this one, 300k downloads of early Itch versions and the Steam Next demo did well with a 97% overwhelmingly positive user score.
2026 release on PC.

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Wendingo Blue is a Beat 'em up/Action RPG which launched on Steam's Early Access January 2025. Developed by EndlessFluff (previously EndlessFluff Games), a NYC based indie that's been around for awhile, they are probably best known for Valdis Story: Abyssal City, which is a bit of a cult classic. Wendigo Blue is set in the Valdis universe.

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My Familiar is a collaboration between a couple of North American studios, an JPRG with an unusual setting and legit graphics.
Story follows a Texan guy who suddenly finds himself on the island of Wish and transformed into a purple bat creature. Since this is an American Isekai, he wants to get outta there. There's a ton of often smart dialogue and turn based combat, everything looks super polished.

Started development around 2020, was previously meant for 2025, now with release date TBA for PC & Switch.