Big Walk, Retro Electronic Repairs And Other New Indie Games Worth Checking Out

Overview

Big Walk, retro electronic repairs and other new indie games worth checking out

Plus, finding love in the skies and a Toem 2 release date.

Details

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As ever, we'll highlight a bunch of new games you can jump into this weekend, and share some updates on games you can check out in the weeks and months to come.

If you've been waiting for a bargain on certain older titles, though, you're in luck. There are several Steam sale events taking place at the minute. One of those is Steam Cyberpunk Fest, which runs until August 10 at 1PM ET.

Naturally, Cyberpunk 2077 — which can be considered an indie game — is on sale for 70 percent off. An ultimate edition that includes the Phantom Liberty expansion is 60 percent off. There are deals on lots of other games, such as the acclaimed Robo Cop: Rogue City (90 percent off), Ninja Gaiden 4 (40 percent off), Routine (30 percent off), Ghostrunner (75 percent off) and Ghostrunner 2 (80 percent off). Cyberpunk Fest includes some demos too.

Publisher Kitfox Games is also running a sale until August 10. Boyfriend Dungeon is 70 percent off, the super-charming Pupperazzi is 60 percent off and Caves of Qud (which is also part of the Cyberpunk Fest) is 20 percent off. In addition, there's the Wholesome Games Celebration, which runs until August 13. Discounts here include 30 percent off Is This Seat Taken — which hit PS5 just this week — and 25 percent off Tiny Bookshop.

In last week's edition of this roundup, I mentioned Turnip Mountain, a climbing game that you can control with two mice, one for each hand. It was a multiplatform release that included a Nintendo Switch version. I thought it was odd that there was no Switch 2 variant, since the dual mouse control seemed like a great fit for the system, given you can use each Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse.

As it turns out, publisher Jando Soft told Engadget that the original plan was to release a Switch 2 version, but Nintendo didn't approve it. "We tried for several months, but we couldn't delay the release any longer," the publisher said. "If enough people want it, we'll definitely try again and see if we can make a Switch 2 Edition happen."

I have one last note before we dig into this week's new releases. Overcooked just celebrated its 10th anniversary with news that the series now has more than 100 million players. Developer Ghost Town Games is working on a creepy-ish co-op game called Stage Fright. I'm looking forward to that. But, goodness, would I love to have more Overcooked too.

Platforms: Steam (Windows, Mac; Steam Deck Verified), PS5, Nintendo Switch 2 Price: Usually $20, with a 25 percent discount on Switch and Steam until August 18. Available to claim on Play Station Plus

The latest project from Untitled Goose Game developer House House is a co-op puzzle and exploration game that makes heavy use of proximity chat. Big Walk sees you going on an adventure with up to 11 of your friends across an open world.

You won't get far if you play solo and there's no matchmaking, so you'll need to rope in at least one friend or find new pals to hop in with you. There's crossplay support across all platforms, which will help you get enough people together.

You'll need to communicate well with each other to solve puzzles and move forward. Along with voice chat, gesturing is important too, especially when you're tackling puzzles that prevent you from hearing each other. When you're separated from your buds, you can keep in touch using walkie talkies, notes, flares, cowbells and so on.

Reviews for Big Walk have been absolutely glowing so far. I'd like to check it out, even though I don't especially love using a microphone while playing games. I'll have to get over that if I want to make the most of going on a large stroll with some companions.

Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until August 20

Re Story has been on my radar for quite a while and I can't wait to dive into the full game. It's a repair shop management sim in which you clean and restore retro gadgets. Many of them clearly draw inspiration from real-world gizmos like the Tamagotchi, Nokia phones, Playstation Portable and original Xbox. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news — devices from the 2000s can certainly be called "retro" at this point. The names of many of these products have been changed, but there are officially licensed Atari devices in the mix.

At times, you won't have what you need on hand to repair an item. You can scour the web for components or other devices that you can strip for parts. Customers will sometimes ask you to customize their gadget and you'll need to manage your shop's finances. There's a branching narrative that plays out depending on your choices.

I dug the demo and this is an instant buy for me. I'm far from the only one who's interested in Re Story, as more than 750,000 people have wishlisted it on Steam.

Price: Usually $9, with a 15 percent discount until August 20

Echobreaker is all about going fast. It's an isometric precision platformer in which your character is brought in by a company to put a time-altering armored body rig through its paces.

You'll need to take out all of the enemies before you can complete a level, in similar fashion to Neon White. Finding ways to do that while maintaining as much momentum as possible is key. You can slow things down and then get a burst of speed after taking out an enemy. You can sacrifice units of health (or "echoes") for special abilities. In some cases, you can use these to earn more echoes.

To progress, you'll need to beat a level within a certain time limit — you can go back and redo them for better times and ranks. Figuring out the ideal routing and executing runs cleanly are essential here.

I've played a bit of Echobreaker and while I've broadly enjoyed it so far, it's not totally clicking for me in the way games like Rollerdrome have. It looks and sounds great, and zipping around the courses feels satisfying. My lack of engagement is more about me lacking the patience to optimize runs than it is an indictment of a well-designed game.

Platforms: Steam (Windows). Coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 12 and Switch 2 later this year

Price: Usually $15, with a 15 percent discount until August 12

Akatori has been a long time coming. I first saw this during E3 2021 and it's been on my Steam wishlist since then. It's a very pretty-looking Metroidvania in which you use a staff for traversal and combat. It can even transform into a bird that you use for gliding. There are more than a dozen skills and abilities to use and seven biomes to explore.

You play as a teenage girl named Mako who sets out to save all of these worlds from storms that are poisoning all life. Steam reviews suggest Akatori is tough, but I might be willing to let it kick my butt if I can drink in those visuals.

Platforms: Steam (Windows, Mac, Steam OS/Linux; demo available), i OS, Android

Price: Usually

I adore the concept of this game. You play as a pigeon on the hunt for its one true love among hundreds of thousands of birds in a life-sized city. The developers used real-life map data to build out their versions of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo and New York. Once you finish the main game, you can keep going and explore a procedurally generated world.

Players have submitted rejection messages that Wristwork has started adding to the game. Alternatively, birds that aren't The One might give you a hint on how to find the pigeon you're actually seeking.

There are two ways to play Pigeon: A Love Story in co-op. You and up to eight friends can race to find your paramour or split up and search for each other. You can "coo" into your mic to help you locate them, if you want.

Another thing I'm into here is that you can play the Steam version of Pigeon: A Love Story as an idle game. Your pigeon can search for its one true love in the corner of your screen while you're doing other things. While Valve hasn't verified the game for its handheld system yet, there's said to be Steam Deck support.

Ladder Lad is a different flavor of platformer. As with the brilliant Öoo, there's no jump button. Instead, you elevate yourself from the ground using a ladder that you drag around. Along with helping you reach higher platforms, you'll use the ladder to bridge gaps, pogo and slide on like a sled. The ladder's movement is based on tilt controls.

As you progress, you'll unlock attachments, including a hot air balloon and one that enables you to tunnel. Fun idea. I like the name of the game too.

I enjoy this game title as well. I was reasonably sure — based on the name alone — that developer Silver Bullet had to be based in the UK, Australia or New Zealand. Mr Trippy is a pun on the Mr Whippy brand of ice cream products that are available in those locales. Sure enough, the studio is located close to Manchester.

Anyway, this is a management sim in which you run an ice cream truck. It just so happens that said business is also a front for drug dealing. You'll be upgrading your truck and expanding your territory while trying to evade the long arm of the law, in part by laundering your ill-gotten gains.

Platforms: Steam (demo available for Windows), PS5, Switch

There have been lots of cleanup games, from the likes of Spilled and A Little to the Left to Hozy and Power Wash Simulator 2 (Kaiju Cleanup is on my wishlist too). Hazard Pay takes the genre in a different direction by making it a Sokoban-style pushing block puzzle game.

There are more than 70 levels/biohazard incidents to handle, and you'll encounter more mechanics and hazards as you trundle along. For instance, you'll use vats of acid to dispose of remains and blood as a conduit for electrical circuits. There are leaderboards as well, which are ranked based on the number of steps you take.

Let's wrap things up with yet another title joining the jam-packed slate of releases in September. We heard back in March that Toem 2 would be out sometime this summer, but it's just missing that window by a few days.

Like Toem, the sequel is a relaxing, black-and-white exploration and photography game. Your camera will have more capabilities this time around, so it'll do more than help you solve puzzles and document the interesting things you discover. You'll need to do that and complete quests to fill your journal with stamps so you can open up more regions.

With so many other games on deck for September, this could be a nice break from the high-octane action of Control Resonant and Marvel's Wolverine, or the frights of Silent Hill: Townfall. If you haven't played the much-loved original game, you can snag it for 90 percent off on Steam and PS5 (i.e. $2) if you're quick enough.

Key Takeaways

• Big Walk, retro electronic repairs and other new indie games worth checking out

• Plus, finding love in the skies and a Toem 2 release date

• Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space

• If you've been waiting for a bargain on certain older titles, though, you're in luck

• Naturally, Cyberpunk 2077 — which can be considered an indie game — is on sale for 70 percent off