5 Beautiful New Indie Games to Emotionally Latch Onto

The indie game scene is choc-a-bloc with some real beauties, the kind of stuff that makes you feel good about the games being made today.

I love playing video games that, in one way or another, make me feel something. That could be happy, sad, shocked or simply at peace. It’s quite an amazing thing to get an emotional response from a video game. I mean, it’s not unheard of in the industry, as we’ve learned from just how many of us have bawled like babies over the video games we love.

This list showcases, in my eyes, some of the truly beautiful indie games available to play at the moment, all of which have been released in the past year. Not only are they all beautiful in different ways, but they are all very different games from one another, so if one doesn’t tickle your fancy, perhaps another might.

Please, my beautiful reader, take a look.

Wayward Strand

Wayward Strand is a slow-burn investigative game by Aussie devs Ghost Pattern, and follows the journey of a teenage aspiring journalist who must spend a few days on a decommissioned luxury air vessel turned floating hospital. During your stay, you’ll go around the airship speaking with the various old folks that live there and learning about their lives both past and present, while also helping out your mother who is a nurse at the hospital.

I honestly believe that Wayward Strand is one of those once-in-a-lifetime games. Luke’s review of the game really says it all: not only is Wayward Strand a truly beautiful experience that showcases a semi coming-of-age tale alongside the realities of growing old, but it is also so deeply Australian. From the voice acting and stylistic choices, to the landscapes and its setting in 1970’s Australia, Wayward Strand is a truly gorgeous homegrown tale. You will cry.

Beacon Pines

Beacon Pines is a choose-your-own-adventure game developed by American studio Hiding Spot, and puts you in the role of both yourself, the reader of a storybook, and Luka, the protagonist of said storybook. As both the reader and Luka, you will journey through the story of a gorgeous small town riddled with mystery, collecting charms and causing trouble to progress through branches of the story and eventually turn this classic Disney-esque world on its head.

Visually, Beacon Pines is eye-wateringly spectacular. The game’s character and environmental artist, Ilse Harting, absolutely knocked it out of the park here. When I played this game, I found myself constantly sitting back and just saying, “Wow!” The story itself really throws you for a loop as well, and goes unexpectedly dark in contrast to the childlike wonder you get from just looking at the game on a base level. All around, Beacon Pines is an absolutely wonderful experience for many different reasons. If you’d like to know even more before you jump in, John’s review outlines just how fantastic Beacon Pines is.

Wylde Flowers

Wylde Flowers is a story-based farming/life sim by Aussie devs Studio Drydock that follows Tara Wylde, a young woman who returns to the rural island of Fairhaven to live with her grandmother, care for her farm and… learn witchcraft?

I think calling this your average farming game or Animal Crossing clone would really detract from what makes Wylde Flowers so special. Sure, it’s a great farming/life sim that follows a fair few of the familiar notions of games before it, but it’s an in-depth and fruitful story game at its core that also features some really clean cute visuals. The character models may look a little mobile game-y at first, but any distaste you may have will fade fast. I mean, just look at those farm animals. That cow? A perfect cow.

One Dreamer

One Dreamer is a point-and-click, game-coding adventure game made by Aussie solo developer Gareth Ffoulkes that follows the trials and tribulations of a burnt-out indie game dev jumping hurdle after hurdle to finally release their dream game.

I’ll be honest folks, I cried my eyes out in the first hour of playing One Dreamer. That being said, I cry pretty easily. HOWEVER! One Dreamer is an incredible experience that pulls you into a struggling indie developer’s world, both real and virtual, and doesn’t let go. The lighting and bloom on normally quite ordinary pixel art adds a whole new layer to the game visually, and the voice acting, storytelling, and soundtrack are just phenomenal. Chef’s kiss. Bellissimo.

Dorfromantik

Dorfromantik is a hexagon-based building strategy and puzzle game developed by German studio Toukana Interactive, where you place procedurally-generated tiles to create idyllic village landscapes. One could say that it’s a city-builder, but the look, feel and gameplay mechanics of it would place it more in line with a cozy version of Settlers of Catan without anybody trying to ruin your longest road.

While the early access version of Dorfromantik has been out since last year, the full version only released in April (and the Switch version comes out September 29) and features a whole lot more than the EA release. Dorfromantik is one of those games that is not only satisfying to look at, but is also satisfying to play. To quote Luke here, “You should definitely play it.”

Have you played any recent indie releases that you consider to be truly beautiful games? Let us know!