Big Walk, retro electronic repairs and other new indie games worth checking out
Engadget · C · trust 42/100
Plus, finding love in the skies and a Toem 2 release date.
House House/Panic 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 RoboCop: 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 JandoSoft 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.
Developer: House House Publisher: Panic 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 PlayStation 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.
Developer: Mandragora Publisher: tinyBuild Platform: Steam (Windows, Mac) Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until August 20
ReStory 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 ReStory , as more than 750,000 people have wishlisted it on Steam.
Developer: Upstream Arcade Publisher: Weekend Games Platform: Steam (Windows) 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…
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