Indie Selects for May 2026: Big Moments, Bold Games

Mouse: P.I. for Hire doesn’t feel like you’re playing a game so much as stepping inside a cartoon that refuses to sit still. Developed by Fumi Games, this first-person shooter drops you into a black-and-white, rubber-hose world where everything moves with an exaggerated life. Buildings stretch, enemies snap into motion, and even the smallest interactions feel animated with intention. It’s not just a visual style — it’s the language of the entire experience.

You take on the role of a private investigator navigating a city that feels equal parts charming and dangerous. As I moved through its streets, what stood out wasn’t just the action, but how naturally the mechanics support the chaos. Combat is fast and responsive, built around fluid movement, quick weapon swapping, and staying constantly on the move. Encounters reward awareness — dodging incoming attacks, repositioning, and using your environment to stay one step ahead.

Weapons lean into creativity as much as function, giving each firefight a slightly different rhythm. Some moments feel precise and controlled, while others unfold in bursts of animated mayhem. Beyond combat, there’s light exploration woven in, encouraging you to scan your surroundings, uncover hidden paths, and piece together the larger mystery driving the story forward. There’s a constant sense of motion — like the world is pushing you ahead. Enemies don’t just appear; they burst into the scene. Combat plays out like a sequence from a vintage animated short, only with you at the center of it.

On Xbox Series X|S, smooth performance and visual clarity keep that momentum uninterrupted, allowing the animation-driven world to fully take over. Mouse: P.I. for Hire doesn’t just ask you to play — it invites you in, hands you the lead role, and lets the lights, camera, action unfold around you.

– Steve Allen

Dosa Divas

Dosa Divas playfully suggests that saving the world might come down to a perfectly cooked meal. At its heart, it’s a narrative, turn-based RPG that weaves together exploration, cooking, and thoughtful strategy in a way that feels both fresh and deeply human.

Players follow sisters Samara and Amani as they journey in a customizable spirit mech, confronting a corrupt fast-food empire while rebuilding connections between fractured communities — one shared meal at a time. Cooking isn’t just a charming side activity here; it’s central to the experience. The meals you prepare directly shape combat outcomes, healing, and even relationships, making every choice in the kitchen matter just as much as those on the battlefield.

What really stood out during my time with Dosa Divas wasn’t only how smoothly these systems work together, but the heart behind them. The rhythm between exploration, helping villagers, cooking, and combat feels intentional and rewarding, creating moments where small actions carry real emotional weight.

Fans of games like Octopath Traveler or Bravely Default will recognize the familiar turn-based foundation, but Dosa Divas builds on it with a playful, flavor-based twist that gives the genre its own personality. I’ve spent time in its world, and it’s the kind of game that gently pulls you in and stays with you — especially if you’re drawn to story-driven RPGs that treat food not just as fuel, but as a meaningful form of connection.

– Jessica Ronnell

Content Warning

Content Warning is a co‑op survival horror game, except it’s been possessed by the unholy spirit of influencer culture. You and your friends aren’t trekking into creepy depths of an abandoned ancient world to unearth untold secrets or save the world. You’re there for the clips. The clicks. The clout. Of course, all of that only counts if you actually survive long enough to upload it. It sounds completely ridiculous on paper, but let’s be honest, it’s uncomfortably accurate.

The setup is simple and wildly unpredictable. You have three days to film scary moments, rack up views, and win. Squad up, gear up, customize your digital faces, and descend via diving bell into the “Old World”: procedurally generated underground ruins packed with weird artifacts, lost loot, and plenty of monsters. Once you’re down there, it’s showtime. The camera holder decides what gets filmed, even switching to selfie mode while running for their life. Close calls, and actual deaths, boost views, so don’t save your friends, save the footage. You can respawn them later.

Views earn ad revenue, which you’ll spend on better gear for more views and a slightly improved chance of surviving. If at least one of you escapes with the camera, you reap the rewards and can even watch the footage back together, complete with viewer comments. If everyone dies, no worries… you can always go back to retrieve the camera on your next run.

The game is simple, but absolute chaos. Content Warning thrives on friends goofing around and committing to the influencer bit, resulting in laugh‑until‑it‑hurts moments. You can play solo, but it really shines with other people, so I highly recommend squadding up with friends or jumping in with randoms. Also, in‑game chat and a surround‑sound headset feel essential. If I hear a scream behind me, I immediately know which way to run and where to aim the camera.

– Raymond Estrada

People of Note

People of Note is a bright and bold character-driven experience that blends narrative, music, and turn-based gameplay into something that feels unmistakably Annapurna. The game is centered around a cast of expressive, deeply human characters, brought to life through a distinguished art style and sharp, punchy dialogue that carries real personality in every interaction.

People of Note channels that same “hit the beat, feel the flow” energy that fans of Hi-Fi Rush enjoyed, but translates it into turn-based tactics through tempo windows and music-synced ability play. The game plays like a turn-based RPG with a twist. Combat and progression are tightly tied to music, with characters whose abilities and roles reflect distinct musical identities. Timing, rhythm, and synergy matter, turning each encounter into a performance as much as a strategic puzzle. The soundtrack is an integral part of the gameplay mechanics, shaping the pace of play and reinforcing the emotional beats of the story.

If you love games where music is part of the play, not just the vibe, People of Note is an easy one to love. It’s a stylish, character-driven, turn-based RPG where each party member’s musical identity shows up in their abilities and how they fit into your team. Combat takes on a fresh twist through real-time, tempo-based abilities layered on top of the turn structure, so timing and rhythm become part of your decision making, not an afterthought.

– Chloe Giusti

Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator

“Buy low, sell high, and short an entire universe of babies in this arcade stock market sim set in the world of Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator.” That’s the creator’s description of the game and I’m honestly not sure what more I can add, really. It’s more like gambling on those babies’ randomized ups and downs over the course of their lives, from cradle to grave. As someone who’s never been interested in either real-world gambling or stock trading whatsoever, I wasn’t quite prepared for what a wildly unhinged experience it unfurls the minute you enter into a day of buying and selling (and shorting) predictive stocks based on the fast-paced life events/choices of some alien baby’s entire arc of existence, but here we are.

Your goal is to make as much profit as possible, and you’ll do so by entering a “day” of trading that traces your selected alien’s multi-year lifecycle. That alien’s life ping pongs between successes and massive failures, while stock prices spike and tumble to reflect those events, and you’ll scramble to buy and sell in response to them before your subject dies. Add in different modifiers such as hiring consultants for a cut of profits, who can offer varying insights like fluctuating accuracy on every baby’s life span or percentage of good/bad life events… This game has a lot of different variables that will take newbies (like myself) some time to fully grasp. But once you do, there’s a freefall rollercoaster feel to what’s on offer here.

It’s absolutely not for everyone – from the often squirrelly button UI to the throwback visuals and even, the gallows-style sense of absurdist humor – but there’s no denying that its fast, breakneck pace will elicit laughs, cries, and some serious pounding on tables when a baby alien’s life takes a whiplash turn for the better (and you profit) or the worse (when you tank your account). Proceed with caution or wild abandon – the choice is yours.

Icarus: Console Edition

There’s a certain kind of panic that only Icarus: Console Edition can create. The kind where a peaceful resource runs suddenly turns into a sprint through a lightning storm while your carefully crafted wooden cabin catches fire behind you. And honestly? That tension is exactly what makes it so hard to put down.

 From the creator of DayZ, Icarus drops players onto a hostile alien world where survival isn’t just about fighting wildlife — it’s about surviving the planet itself. Toxic weather systems, brutal storms, aggressive predators, and the constant pressure to prepare for the next expedition make every mission feel meaningful. Whether you’re playing solo or teaming up with friends in co-op, there’s this constant push and pull between exploration and pure survival instinct.

What surprised me most was how quickly simple tasks spiraled into full-blown survival stories. One moment I was calmly mining ore and organizing supplies, and the next I was desperately trying to outrun a bear while my oxygen reserves were running dangerously low. The game thrives on those “well… this went horribly wrong” moments that somehow become your favorite memories afterward.

Mechanically, Icarus blends deep crafting systems with mission-based progression and open-world exploration. Building shelters, researching technology, hunting for food, and preparing for increasingly dangerous drops gives the experience a satisfying sense of growth. The included New Frontiers expansion also adds even more maps, creatures, and opportunities to test your survival skills.

If you enjoy survival games that constantly keep you on edge — the kind where preparation matters just as much as combat — Icarus delivers an experience that feels rewarding, unpredictable, and occasionally downright cruel in the best way possible.

– Steven Allen