Indie Selects for August: End Summer with Some of Our Favorite New Launches
Raymond Estrada, Tao Sila, Jun Shen ChiaID@Xbox Backup Dancers
When the ID@Xbox team decides what titles to include for our monthly selects, sometimes there is a clear favorite or a genre that really resonates with the team that month. This was not that month. We all needed different things from our games at the end of this summer and this month’s six handpicked Indie Selects really reflected that.
There are incredible narratives with wonderful, handcrafted art, action-packed platforming with unique maneuvering, anxiety-riddled survival horror, and some much-needed silly cat puns. Whether you need to end your summer with a laugh, a good cry, and/or just some really dope gameplay, August’s Indie Selects has you covered. Here is our list (in no particular order):
We’re so excited about the release of the long-awaited Cat Quest 3, letting players take to the open seas in this brand new 2.5D feline swashbuckling action-RPG. Explore the Purribean – a vast open world full of zany characters, exciting quests, treasure, adventure, and dastardly Pi-rats. Fight on land across a wide variety of dungeons and biomes, and for the first time ever, in the sea with your very own ship. Expect a boatload of cat puns, loot to collect from weapons to spells and costumes, and deadly bosses to take on including the fur-ocious Pirate King. Best of all, you can play Cat Quest 3 solo or in local co-op with a buddy.
Get whiskered away on a hearty catventure in Cat Quest III, the third installment in the award-winning Cat Quest series!
Play as a swashbuckling purrivateer in this 2.5D open-world action RPG set in a fantastical pirate-themed world – the Purribean – an archipelago swarming with Pi-rats searching for the Northern Star – a long-lost mythical treasure. Alongside your trusty spirit companion, set sail through the Purribean in your very own ship! But beware, the seas are dangerous, and a meow-tiny is nigh as the hordes of Pi-rats under the order of the Pirate King hunt you down…
RETURN OF THE CAT
The cutest action RPG you know and love returns for a colorful adventure filled with furr-iously fun gameplay! Delve into a paw-geous new world with varied dungeons and biomes to explore, and encounter fierce battles with the newly refined combat system featuring tighter attack combos and weapon swapping. Playable in either solo or local co-op!
SAIL THROUGH THE PURRIBEAN
For the furr-st time in the series, sail the seas and battle in your very own ship! Explore the waters on your ship, seamlessly zip to shore, and traverse the land on paw to hunt booty in the paw-esome pirate world – the Purribean! There's treasures galore to be found, including new weapons, like the blunderpuss, furr-ocious spells, gla-meow-rous costumes, and more!
X MARKS THE SPOT
Embark on your very own treasure hunt and craft your own story with complete furr-eedom! Choose to explore the deepest corners of the Purribean at your leisure, or say ahoy to a quirky cast of characters and aid them in their quests along the way, in any order! The meow-steries of the Northern Star reach far and wide, and it’s up to you to investigate, gather clues and uncover the many secrets of the Purribean. This (cat’s) tale is yours to make, so weigh anchor and let’s go!
The first full release from Squid Shock Studios is a breathtaking action platformer inspired by the rich tapestry of Japanese folklore. The striking art style combines hand-drawn animation with traditional Japanese papercraft. The gameplay initially feels familiar and appealing with minimal handholding, but the movement mechanics create a unique and rewarding means of traversal. Players gain a midair jump and dash upon hitting an enemy or other object which results in very satisfying and free-flowing combat. Pair that with excellent level design, an enchanting world, and memorable characters, and suddenly you have a can’t miss Metroidvania-style game.
Flow with acrobatic grace and agility through a mysterious world of myth and legend in Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus, a colorful hand-drawn adventure inspired by Japanese folklore.
Undertake a mystical journey as Bō, a celestial blossom (fox tentaihana) descended from the heavens to play a key role in an ancient and mysterious ritual. Use your legendary bō staff to bounce and glide fluidly through an otherworldly realm of hand-drawn, dreamlike landscapes, strange and adorable yokai, and massive monsters summoned from ancient legends of Japan.
Discover a mysterious and haunted world
Explore a diverse and interconnected world in a 2.5D side-scrolling action-platformer with Metroidvania elements. Journey to a haunted castle, a thriving Japanese-inspired metropolis, and many more strange and wondrous places—then find ways to travel back and fully explore newly unlocked paths and surprises.
Find your flow
Navigate the world’s platforming challenges with acrobatic precision, elegance, and finesse. Use Bō’s distinctive move-and-reset system to reach new areas efficiently or recover when your footing flounders.
Master new staff transformations
Brew and drink arcane teas to unlock powerful new abilities for Bō’s shapeshifting staff. Mash foes with the Mochi Mallet, unlock new movement techniques like the Lotus Dash and Grappling Gun, and gracefully power up along your journey.
Collect powerful Daruma allies
Each colorful Daruma doll you discover can be upgraded and summoned to the battlefield, where these adorable and powerful allies can deploy spells and other spectacular abilities to aid you in combat.
Drawn from a dream
Explore a vibrant 2.5D vision that blends the beauty of paintings, the personality of hand-drawn illustrations, and the elegance of papercraft.
Spirited cast of allies and enemies
Engage with a larger-than-life cast of bizarre and adorable yokai (supernatural spirits from Japanese folklore) and other original characters inspired by Japanese myth, all brought to life with traditional hand-drawn 2D frame-by-frame animation. Help them with their side quests—or just stop by for a chat and a cup of tea.
Mythic boss battles
Challenge massive, awe-inspiring monsters drawn from Japanese folklore! You’ll need to call upon all of the knowledge and acrobatic skill you’ve gained to vanquish these powerful adversaries and advance further in your quest.
Move to the music
Drift along to the music of a gorgeous original score composed by Moisés Camargo, blending traditional Japanese instrumentation with modern orchestral music.
Pepper Grinder is an action-packed adventure game, starring a pirate named Pepper and her super powered drill, Grinder. It’s equally easy to pick up and play for ten minutes… or lose hours in. The game is reminiscent of Celeste, with precise jumps needed, hidden treasures and challenging puzzles. The puzzles were just easy enough to keep me from feeling frustrated while also being challenging enough to give a great sense of satisfaction when figured out. The boss battles add another layer of depth to the game, forcing me to think through new strategies for movement. I also thoroughly enjoyed cashing in my loot at shops to power up Pepper, open new paths on the world map, and snag collectible stickers for my stickerbook.
Pepper Grinder is an action-packed pirate adventure starring the titular Pepper, a seafaring soul with a passion for prospecting, and Grinder, her super-powered drilling device.
Shipwrecked and robbed of her treasure, Pepper must spin up her trusty sidearm to reclaim what the mischievous Narlings stole. Armed with Grinder, Pepper burrows through terrain & water, controls machines, and pulverises all enemies blocking the way towards recovering her missing fortune – with interest!
Pepper's progress will not be that simple, however, as mysterious beings begin to emerge from the shadows…
Gritty Gameplay
Cruise through a colorfully animated world with precise movements, fluid drilling, and thrilling leaps.
Thrilling Drilling
Chew through the world with Grinder and find new drill bits to ramp up the chaos and solve clever puzzles.
Conquer & Collect
Pick up jewels and other riches during your adventure and cash them in at shops to power up Pepper, open up new paths on the world map, and snag collectible stickers for your stickerbook.
The open-world, first-person shooter, roleplaying, survival horror, base-building game has finally seen a console re-release. 7 Days to Die spent 11 years in early access on PC and had a console release in 2016, but hasn’t seen updates since 2017. The 1.0 update brings the game back to Xbox on par with the PC version, which has seen some major (and well-received) changes. Your goal in this game is to gather resources, build shelter, craft weapons and tools, survive the horde, repeat. Maximize your characters skills in areas like scavenging, looting, and base building while exploring huge, unique biomes with cities, lakes, mountains, valleys, and roads. The much-needed quality-of-life improvements made over the years make a huge difference to this console version of the game. Believe me, it was worth the wait.
This game is a work in progress. It may or may not change over time or release as a final product. Purchase only if you are comfortable with the current state of the unfinished game.
How long will you survive? With over 18 million copies sold, 7 Days has defined the survival genre, with unrivaled crafting and world-building content. Set in a brutally unforgiving post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead, 7 Days is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. It presents combat, crafting, looting, mining, exploration, and character growth, in a way that has seen a rapturous response from fans worldwide. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!
GAME FEATURES
* Explore – Huge, unique and rich environments, offering the freedom to play the game any way you want, featuring 5 unique biomes and worlds up to 100 square kilometers in size.
* Craft – Handcraft and repair weapons, clothes, armor, tools, vehicles, and more with over 500 recipes. Learn more powerful recipes by finding schematics.
* Build – Design your fort to include traps, electric power, auto turrets, automated doors, gadgets and defensive positions to survive the undead in a fully destructible and moldable world.
* Cooperate or Compete – Work together to build settlements or against each other raiding other player’s bases, it’s really up to you in a wasteland where zombies and outlaws rule the land.
* Create – Unleash your creativity with access to over 800 in-game items, and over 1,300 unique building blocks and a painting system that offers infinite possibilities.
* Improve – Increase your skills with a multitude of perks under 5 main attributes. Gain additional skills by reading over 100 books. 7 Days to Die is the only true survival RPG.
* Choose – Play the campaign world, or dive back in a randomly-generated world with cities, towns, lakes, mountains, valleys, roads, caves and over 700 unique locations.
* Combat – Encounter nearly 60 unique zombie archetypes including special infected with unique behaviors and attacks progressing in difficulty to provide an infinite challenge.
* Survive – Experience real hardcore survival mechanics with nearly 50 buffs, boosts and ailments that will impact the gameplay in ways that can both challenge and aid in your survival.
* Destroy – Buildings and terrain formations can collapse under their own weight from structural damage or poor building design with real structural stability.
* Loot – Scavenge the world for the best weapons, tools, and armor with 6 quality ranges providing thousands of permutations. Augment items with a multitude of mods.
* Quest – Meet several Trader NPCs who buy and sell goods and offer quest jobs for rewards. Enjoy many unique quest types supported by over 700 locations.
* Customize – Create your own character and customize your character further in-game with a huge selection of clothing and armor you can craft or loot in the world.
* Drive – Enjoy the badass vehicle system where you find all the parts, learn the recipes, craft and customize your own bicycle, minibike, motorcycle, 4×4 or gyrocopters and ride with friends.
* Farm or Hunt – Plant and grow gardens for sustainable resources or head out into the wilderness and hunt over a dozen unique wild animals.
Full details on the latest status of the game, how you can give feedback and report issues can be found at: https://7daystodie.com/
The Star Named EOS takes players on a gorgeous hand-drawn adventure to help Dei uncover the mystery of his missing mother, through beautifully crafted spaces, intricate puzzles that require keen observation and photographs that let him tap into emotionally charged memories. Lovely voice-acting, unexpected narrative twists and turns, and a gorgeous soundtrack will keep you hooked through its pacey runtime.
The Star Named EOS is a story-rich puzzle adventure built around photography. Explore a beautiful hand-drawn world as you photograph some of the most precious yet fleeting moments in life. As you recreate photos from the past, you will slowly uncover the truth of a family mystery, and the love hidden within fragmented memories will eventually become clear.
Games like this remind us of what incredible narratives can be built in this medium. This game is about grief, love, and connection. It is a unique life simulation that tells an emotionally charged narrative amongst family and friends experiencing a tragic loss. You interact with this community and give them things to do and say to other people. Everyone has different needs, different schedules, difficult tasks ahead of them, and means to distract and recenter themselves. They also have wishes that drive the narrative and connect them with other characters. It is all a big balancing act – just like real life. This game is so unique, deeply moving, and leaves a lasting impression. I honestly cannot believe that this is a playable game (and I mean that in the most positive way possible).
Closer the Distance is a deeply moving, slice-of-life sim that tells a story about the connections between family and friends in the face of tragedy. Following a fatal car accident, players take on the role of Angela, a young girl from the town of Yesterby, who finds herself watching over her loved ones as they navigate the grieving process. Using her ethereal ability to influence the townspeople she once knew, Angela’s choices will ultimately determine the fate of Yesterby.
Closer the Distance combines several key gameplay features for an immersive playthrough. The game's compelling narrative is emotionally charged and highlights themes of empathy, community, friendship, grief, and closure. Choices-matter gameplay allows players to make decisions that affect the outcome of the story, making each playthrough unique. Closer the Distance offers something for everyone, and its emotional depth and engaging gameplay will leave players wanting more.
