Hello, again, fellow indie game pursuers! It is time once again for Indie Insights. Everyone’s favorite fortnightly indie column that’s written by me specifically.
I did not make the joke; that’s growth, people.
Has anything been going on in the news? I have no idea; I’ve been playing video games!
I recently reviewed the swashbuckling rodent sidescroller Curse of The Sea Rats. I also worked in a warehouse during late-stage capitalism in The Last Worker. Then, I followed that up by churning out some dubious B movies in Moviehouse – The Film Studio Tycoon. Not only that, but I’ll also have reviews for Unwording, Murderous Muses, Unheard: Voices of Crime, and Storyteller coming out in the next week. Now let’s get to the other games I managed to fit in this fortnight.
River Tails: Stronger Together
This cute and collaborative adventure is designed for co-op play. However, it can be played solo, which I did because I have no friends. I will preface this by saying that the game is currently in extremely Early Access on Steam, so it is one I will be revisiting in the future.
Currently, there are only two chapters available to play. You play as either Flurple the kitten or Finn the fish and guide them together through a journey upstream and away from danger. Of course, if you are me, you play both simultaneously. You can play couch co-op by sharing a keyboard and controller. Your mission is to solve puzzles and navigate obstacles. Flurple can obviously not go in the water, while Finn can’t go on land. That also means there are only puzzles and areas that one of the characters can reach.
Visually, the characters and landscapes are really fun and bright. The main duo is a cute team of unlikely friends, while the dangerous wolf is a sharp and strange design. It works. It seems like playing inside a kid’s Netflix cartoon.
When it comes to the cut scenes, unfortunately, they do not work on my computer., which is strange because it plays very well otherwise.
It also claims it has added keyboard support, but I really don’t recommend playing with one until it’s implemented properly. Their Steam page still says it is designed for a controller, and a keyboard won’t work. It will, just not brilliantly. Overall, River Tails: Stronger Together has some great promise, and the gameplay is already pretty solid. It just needs some fine-tuning and more content. I’ll be back for you, Flurple and Finn! The game is currently available in Early Access on Steam.
These Doomed Isles
Resource management sim These Doomed Isles sees you, a God, managing your settlement of followers. This rogue-like, deck-building, city-builder is a fun entry in the already full world of resource sims. You start with a small piece of land, a shrine to yourself, and a couple of followers. You also get a small set of cards to get you started.
Cards like the Forest, Lumberjack Hut, and Cabin are starter cards. Placing down the forest card gives your lumberjacks something to cut down for resources. To gain those resources, the hut has to be within range of the Forest and have workers assigned. Cabins give your followers somewhere to live. Building like Tax Collectors, Panning Huts, Fishing Platforms, and Taverns add to resources and follower happiness. The cards will cost resources, gold, or faith to draw, so you have to keep an eye on your stocks. Otherwise, you could be left unable to remove anything for several seasons (I did this.)
There are also defensive buildings and units you will need as well because you will be attacked by pillagers who will get more difficult to defeat and increase in numbers as you progress. Land cards allow you to connect land you already occupy to neighboring islands and expand your settlement size. It will also trigger random events for you to choose, positively or negatively affecting your followers.
If your follower’s happiness or faith gets too low or the shrine is destroyed, it’s game over. The game is in early alpha, and the demo can be played on Steam. It plans to release in Early Access later this year.
Upcoming Releases:
- Action rhythm game God of Rock releases on April 18th for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
- Delivery-based platformer and bizarre-looking adventure Sun’s Hatbox releases on April 20th for PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch.
- The highly anticipated continuation of Coffee Talk, the story-rich coffee shop sim Coffee Talk Episode 2, releases on April 20th for PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
- Turn-based RPG that is definitely not based on any monster-collecting games, Cassette Beasts releases on April 26th for PC and Linux.
