A spooky NES platformer, more N++ and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our latest roundup of what’s going on in the indie game space. I’ve reluctantly paused Ball x Pit^[1] for long enough to share some neat new releases and more details on upcoming games — some of which are arriving very soon. We’ve got a notable update for a classic as well.

Steam Next Fest is taking place at the minute, and you still have until Monday to join in by checking out some of the many, many demos that have gone live for the event. Thanks partially (okay, almost entirely) to being unable to escape Ball x Pit, I’ve only tried a fewm Next Fest demos so far.

I’m a fan of Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield and after last year’s sequel, it’s cool to see solo developer Neil Jones (aka Aerial_Knight) trying something totally different. Aerial_Knight’s DropShot^[2] is a skydiving first-person shooter with finger guns and dragons. It’s a single-player game in which the aim is to take out your opponents and reach the ground first. Like Jones’ previous games, it’s stylish and fast-paced. I’m planning to check out the full game when it arrives down the line.

It certainly helps to be a fast, accurate typer when you put words together for a living, but I wasn’t quick or precise enough to win any rounds in the Final Sentence demo^[3]. This is a battle royale for up to 100 players in which you’re at a typewriter and have to bash out sentences (or other strings of letters, numbers and symbols) in a race to the finish. If you run out of time, make too many mistakes or don’t win, it’s lights out, courtesy of the masked figure with a revolver who’s standing in front of you.

There are some nice touches here. Having to type out the rules in the first few rounds is a clever idea on the part of developer Button Mash. I haven’t won a round myself yet (I finished in second place a couple of times), but watched some streamers play. It’s very funny when the winning player flips the bird at the guy holding a revolver in front of them.

Final Sentence is coming to Steam later this year. Maybe I’ll have learned how to spell “sphinx” by then.

There are a few other Next Fest demos I’d like to try this weekend, namely:

• Crashout Crew^[4] (Overcooked-style co-op chaos with forklifts^[5])

• Reanimal^[6] (co-op horror^[7] from the team behind Little Nightmares and Little Nightmares 2)

• Slots & Daggers^[8] (as if I need another slot-machine-based roguelite^[9] in my life right now)

• The Last Caretaker^[10] (sci-fi survival)

• Goodnight Universe (we’ll get to that)

I’ve been looking forward to Skate Story^[11] for forever, but I think I’m going to skip that demo. I’m already sold and I’m fine with waiting a couple more months^[12] before playing the whole thing.

There are a couple of showcases coming up next week that might be worth keeping an eye on. The third annual edition of DreadXP’s indie horror showcase is set for 1PM ET on October 23. You can catch that on the publisher’s YouTube channel^[13].

Two hours later, you’ll be able to tune into the Galaxies Autumn showcase^[14]. This will feature more than 50 games, including world premieres, gameplay trailers and other announcements. Games that will be featured include PowerWash Simulator 2^[15], Mouse: PI For Hire^[16] and Denshattack^[17], all of which are firmly on my to-play list.

New releases

Mister Scary is a weird little guy. I love when you get to play a game as a weird little guy. The game of the same name is a spooky NES homebrew platformer from Calgames.

Mister Scary can stomp on his enemies, or freeze or burn them after eating a snack. When Mister Scary ducks, he becomes immune to damage because he’s taking a nap. I appreciate that. Nothing scary can happen while you’re snoozing.

Mister Scary is $10 on Itch^[18]. You’ll need to plug the ROM into a NES emulator to become Mister Scary.

The only reason I still have Flash Player installed on my PC is so I can open N, which sits on my desktop, once in a while. I’ve been playing that classic freeware platformer for a long time, and now there’s a good reason for many people to revisit the third entry in the series.

As a thank you to the N++ community, Metanet Software is releasing a free update to mark the 10th anniversary of the game’s PS4 debut. TEN++ is said to include the developer’s “most challenging levels yet.” Given how darn tough these games are already, that’s saying something. The update is available now on Steam^[19] and it’s coming to the console versions of N++ soon.

The Cabin Factory is an anomaly-hunting (i.e. spot the difference) game in the style of The Exit 8. You’ll examine horror-themed cabins that are built for use in movies and theme parks to make sure they aren’t actually haunted. If you spot an anomaly, you’ll want to get out of the cabin post haste.

This $3 horror walking sim from International Cat Studios and publisher Future Friends Games debuted on Steam last year, and it just hit consoles in time for Halloween. It’s out now on PS4, PS5^[20], Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S^[21] and Nintendo Switch^[22].

Upcoming

After CloverPit and Ball x Pit, I was planning to take a break from roguelikes/roguelites before diving into Hades 2. Alas, the latest game from the legendary Ron Gilbert now has a release date, and it’s very soon!

In Death by Scrolling, the aim is to collect enough gold to pay a ferryman so you can escape purgatory. However, there’s a wall of fire coming after you the whole time, so you’ll need to keep moving in order to try to stay alive. You’ll also need to avoid or stun an unkillable grim reaper as you collect gold and gems that unlock upgrades.

Death by Scrolling is from Gilbert’s Terrible Toybox and MicroProse Software. It’s coming to Steam^[23] on October 28.

There’s a lot going on in Silly Polly Beast. It’s safe to say this game is a shooter, but the release date trailer rapidly flits between perspectives and genres. There’s an emphasis on survival horror, along with puzzles and stealth segments. Polly will even sometimes remove the board that’s strapped to her back for some skateboarding sequences.

This is said to have a story that morphs and evolves as much as the gameplay does. After escaping her hellish orphanage, Polly lands right in the underworld and has to navigate her way out of that too.

Developer Andrei Chernyshov and publisher Top Hat Studios are behind Silly Polly Beast. It’s coming to Steam^[24], PS4, PS5^[25], Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S^[26] and Nintendo Switch on October 28.

Also coming to Steam^[27] on October 28 is a project from Autoscopia Interactive that’s designed to be played in a single sitting. As Long As You’re Here is a first-person game that places you in the role of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. Her memories of the past, including her late brother, blend into the present as Annie settles into living with her family.

As Long As You’re Here started as a student project by Marlène Delrive, who was trying to better understand what her grandmother was experiencing in her final years. “The aim is to create a mature and nuanced experience that shows the difficult repercussions of losing not only your memory, but also your agency and sense of time and place,” the developers said.

Let’s close things out with a new trailer for Goodnight Universe. This is a cinematic adventure in which you play as a six-month-old baby. This particular infant is incredibly intelligent and has psychic powers. Isaac simply desires familial love and acceptance but (shock horror!) a tech company wants to take away the tot.

As with Nice Dreams’ last game (the stupendous Before Your Eyes), you control Goodnight Universe with your peepers via your device’s camera. It seems fascinating, and I really have to check out the Next Fest demo. Publisher Skybound Games is bringing it to Steam, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on November 11.
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