It’s me again! It’s been a while since my latest Indie Corner installment. My focus has been on other things lately. However, I am looking forward to showing you more.

Gamescom 2021 has come and gone, and with it, a lot of game announcements. While some may be disappointed by the lack of huge games, I rather enjoyed the experience. There’s plenty of games I’m looking forward to. There’s a lot happening out there, and I want to showcase it as much as possible. In the meantime, however, let’s have another good dose of indie goodness!

Alekon

I covered this a bit in my E3 article back in May, but I wanted to gush about it a bit more now I’ve had time to play it.

It would be lovely if we could get Pokemon Snap on PC, wouldn’t it? With Nintendo happy to keep things in their own special ball pit with blackjack and hookers, this is a pipe dream. I reviewed the new Pokemon Snap on here a few months ago, and I rather enjoyed my time with it. However, I’m happy to say the indie challenger has risen to take it on. It might even steal its crown… Don’t believe me? I know that’s a pretty big claim to make.

Alekon might be one of the indie golden hits in 2021, even if it hasn’t had many sales. I personally think that’s a crying shame, but I’m really liking this. A unique, somewhat improved take on Pokemon Snap, Alekon is one hell of a debut. Taking all the things that make Pokemon Snap memorable and adding more features, it’s incredibly promising. I can’t quite believe it’s made by only three people.

The devs behind this are wonderful as well, and I’ve had the joy of talking to them for the past couple of weeks. They are hardworking, passionate, and lovely to talk to. After a tough couple of weeks for me, it was a blessing to speak to them, who very graciously offered me a copy of their game to try out. I’ve been playing it for a while, and so far, I’m really impressed with its quality. It’s not often I get drawn into a game from the beginning, but Alekon is achieving that and then some.

With its diverse range of characters that feel alive, a ton of features and minigames that feel refreshing to play, beautiful visuals, and great worldbuilding, Alekon is shaping up to be something truly special. I love the free-roam options after completing the on-rails courses, and it works wonders for replayability. Pokemon Snap could learn some lessons from that. I haven’t completed it yet, but I’m enjoying every minute of it. While I enjoyed the Snap remake a lot, it didn’t go far enough to innovate itself from the original back in the ’90s. Alekon feels different and refreshing, and I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about it.

Expect a more detailed review by me in the coming weeks, but this might be the PC’s competitor to Pokemon Snap…and it might just be better. It’s on Steam now for $15.

Wildermyth

This game is a dungeon campaigner’s dream.

Wildermyth might be one of my favorite indie games in recent years.

When it entered Early Access in 2019, it finished in my Top 5 games for that year. I’ll go as far as to say it could join the indie elites such as Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress, and Factorio. The game is that good.

Wildermyth is a Tabletop RPG. At its heart, it’s designed for you to make your own characters and campaigns, but it comes with five fully-fledged story campaigns with a ton of generated events, battles, and content to explore, as well as more randomized campaigns. The random campaigns have seen major improvements, now with events to create a tie-in story that is different every time.

The campaigns I have played so far found it humorous, well-written, and enjoyable to play. There’s also a massive amount of variation, and every campaign feels different. Your characters age and change, form relationships depending on events, get wounded, get random buffs, or even die. Losing your characters hurts because of their development, making it one of the most personal RPGs I have played. Because of all the different events, the campaigns give you a lot of replayability, although you will see the same events crop up over time.

The art style in Wildermyth is a mixture of cartoons and paper, capturing 2D characters in a 3D environment during the battle mode. Their movements are basic, but it’s done well, and the combat is deep and complex. There are lots of different weapons with different abilities, and the magic system is unique and well-made. I really enjoy the combat system, which is one of the best I’ve seen in an RPG. It really keeps you interested, and the enemies have diverse abilities. It has flexible difficulty modes, and it can become really challenging in harder modes.

The nice thing about Wildermyth is the customization. This is designed to make your own characters and campaigns like Popup Dungeon (though far more refined). You can edit your character’s appearance and write up their histories, bringing your own personal touch to them. With a full editor and powerful tools, there are plenty of content mods for abilities and items, with more to come.

The 1.0 release of Wildermyth has been a stunning success, and I’m happy to see it getting the attention it deserves. With a beautiful art style, refreshing and addictive gameplay, and oozing charm, Wildermyth comes packed with content. Five fleshed out custom campaigns as well as endless randomized campaigns, plus a simple, quick battle option to try things out? This game punches well above its modest price tag of just $25.

Galactic Mining Corp

It’s no secret: indie games have been killing it this year.

It’s no secret: indie games have been killing it this year. It’s kind of why I started this series in the first place! I came across Galactic Mining Corp when inside another Discord server. Made by a single guy in Windybeard, it’s the latest of a selection of small titles promising far beyond their buck. This one is a sequel to his 2017 title Geo. While Geo was a pretty solid title in its own right, Galactic Mining Corp promises to improve on it in pretty much every way, and I’ve been having a blast with it.

Taking the mantle of a small mining company, you spend your time drilling endless planets, moons, and asteroids for loot. That’s the gist of the game. No real story elements or anything like that, but there is a ton of things you can collect and unlock, and the gameplay loop is addictive. Your hired crew and rooms are built to increase the power and health of your drill, which goes a long way in the drilling for resources game. Some planets come with hazards that will destroy your drill unless you protect it, and there are hundreds of upgrades to collect. So far, it’s been quite engrossing, and even if I’m only a short way into the game, it hasn’t become boring.

Another promising indie release for 2021, and the developer is very good with feedback. Go pick it up. It’s only $10!

That’s all from me this week, but I’ll be back soon enough. I promise not to leave such a gap between this one and the next installment on Indie Corner!

#adventure #dungeonsanddragons #gamingnews #indiegame #ttrpg pcgaming