Paralives Studio

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. We're here to tell you about a bunch of new games you can dive into this weekend. Plus, we've got some announcements and updates for other games that are coming your way.

Before we get started, a quick reminder that Summer Game Fest is next week. I'm absolutely certain that will include announcements for a ton of neat indie games, especially from side events like Day of the Devs and Wholesome Direct. Perhaps we'll also see some cool indies at larger showcases from PlayStation and Xbox, as well as the main Summer Game Fest stream. As ever, we'll be bringing you all the major SGF news here on Engadget.

We got warmed up for those festivities with a couple of showcases that aired on Thursday, including the latest edition of Thinky Direct. The folks at Thinky Games brought us announcements for more than 40 puzzle games during this stream. There were a lot of neat-looking games that I'm sure I'd quickly find frustrating if I ever actually played any of them.

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is a follow-up to one of our favorite puzzle games. An updated Steam demo now features the entire first chapter of the sequel, which has splitscreen couch co-op support. Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School, from Coin Crew Games and publisher iam8bit Presents, will hit PC and Xbox later this year.

I really dug the trailer for Hello Again, which has a pretty great title for a time-loop game. I love the art style and, let's face it, I'm going to be into any game with a character named DJ Cool Bass. There's a demo available on Steam and the full game — from Soup Island and publisher Tiny Dragon — is expected to arrive in 2027.

A few other games caught my eye during the showcase. In Rita, which I covered in a previous edition of this roundup, you play as a chicklet that finds letters in the environment and uses those to solve crosswords and other puzzles. Doing so unlocks new parts of the world. Rita, from SporkTank, now has a release date. It'll hit Steam on July 30. A demo is available now.

Deg is pretty interesting too. Here, you'll be solving a variety of number- and grid-based puzzles to open up more areas to explore. The puzzles are inspired by the likes of Minesweeper and Picross. A demo for this game from Doseo is up on Steam. The full game is coming later this year.

The Thinky Direct stream kicked off the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase on Steam. The event, which runs until June 4, includes a sale.

The Cozy Games Awards Showcase took place this week as well. It was revealed during this stream that publisher Future Friends Games (CloverPit, Europa) is now a developer too. Its first in-house title is Pottering, a co-op gardening game for up to six players. You can work together to create a beautiful garden or just mess around while exploring. It's coming to Steam at some point.

Rural Cat Trails, from Hibikai Games, was revealed during the showcase too. This is an adventure game in which you (a cat) explore the Japanese countryside in search of a shrine that was important to the kitty's late grandfather. I wager this is one for fans of Little Kitty, Big City — I count myself among them. The best thing I've learned about this game so far is that, in addition to pawing, digging and wall jumping, this particular cat has an ability called a "wiggle butt dash." Rural Cat Trails is coming to Steam this year.

Elsewhere, 007 First Light arrived this week. IO Interactive is an independent studio so I can mention it here. I've only had time to play for a couple of hours and I dig it so far. I'm eager to play more and really get into the meat of the game, particularly after reading my colleague Devindra Hardawar's review.

The long-awaited Mina the Hollower from Yacht Club Games (Shovel Knight) finally arrived this week and the reviews have largely been glowing. This is an action-adventure game in which you play as a mouse named Mina. She can burrow underground to temporarily become invincible and pop out of the ground to cross short gaps.

Mina the Hollower looks like an 8-bit Game Boy Color game and it's clearly inspired by classic top-down Zelda adventures. It has a gothic horror tone and Soulslike progression. It's also a platformer. So, there's a lot going on here. The world seems to be appropriately dense with secrets hidden all over the shop.

I'm definitely going to need to find some time to try this. Mina the Hollower is out now on Steam (Windows, Mac and Linux), Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2 and PS5. It costs $20.

It's taken seven years for lead developer Alex Massé and the team at Paralives Studio to bring their game to light, but Paralives has finally arrived, albeit in early access. It's available on Steam for Windows and Mac (usually $40, 10 percent off until June 1).

Paralives is a life sim in the vein of The Sims. It's an attempt to create a viable alternative to what EA has been offering up with its long-running franchise. As you might expect, you'll create characters, build homes, explore a town, meet NPCs, try different careers and all that jazz.

Massé and the team expect Paralives to remain in early access for a couple of years, during which time they'll add a weather system, pets, houseboats, cars, a town creation option, gardening, pools (no word yet on whether you'll be able to delete the ladder after a character jumps in), an event calendar and much more. I wager they'll be squishing bugs too — I did enjoy the acknowledgement in the release trailer that the early access version isn't totally polished.

In the meantime, players will be able to create their own mods. As with The Sims, you can expect some of those mods to be quite spicy.

Here's another game that just hit early access. Effort Star's Enter the Chronosphere is a turn-based roguelite that's out on Steam (Windows and Mac). It's normally $15, but there's a 10 percent discount until June 8.

This is a bullet hell game with a twist — nothing moves until you do, including the projectiles you fire. That gives you a chance to anticipate incoming attacks and plan your moves. You can see where enemies are going to shift to as well.

I've played a couple rounds of Enter the Chronosphere and I'm enjoying it so far. It reminds me a bit of Flick Shot Rogues, a turn-based game that took over all of my attention for a while last year.

Maps! Who doesn't love maps? I sure do love maps, so I would like to play Map Map – A Game About Maps. Here, a small crew is on the hunt for a lost treasure that's hidden somewhere in an archipelago. As the crew's cartographer, you'll use real navigation techniques and equipment — including a compass, telescope and sextant — to help find the booty.

Map Map sounds educational and it looks lovely. This game from Pipapo Games and co-publisher Rekoup is out now on Steam for Windows (usually $15, 10 percent off until June 11).

If you're looking for something a little more chaotic to play with friends this weekend, you might want to consider Crashout Crew. This is a co-op game in which up to four players work together to fulfill warehouse orders while contending with safety violations like faulty wiring causing the lights to flicker and cacti springing up to get in your way.

I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but as an Overcooked fan, Crashout Crew seems like my cup of tea. Developer Aggro Crab has a strong recent track record too. The studio was behind the brilliant Another Crab's Treasure and it was the co-developer of Peak, a big hit from last year.

Its latest game is out now on Steam (Windows), Xbox Series X/S and Xbox for PC. It usually costs $8, but it's 38 percent off until June 7. Crashout Crew is also on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

The latest edition of Steam Next Fest is almost here. Some developers and publishers are getting out ahead of the glut of demos that'll emerge during the event by releasing theirs now. One that caught my eye this week was for Spooker.

This is a roguelite horror spin on billiards, in which you'll be chasing high scores by creating synergies between powered-up items and executing trick shots. Your opponent is a marionette character named Ralphie that's already creeping me out. The game is not just about having moderately unnerving fun, though.

"Spooker started as an attempt to combine pool, a game we love, with the score chasing, combo building systems from recent roguelites" Trev, a lead developer on the project, said in a press release. "We also wanted to tell a serious story about alcoholism and trying to escape from destructive cycles – that hits close to home for our team."

The team at Space Dragon Games is developing Spooker for PC and consoles. A demo is available on Steam now.

Papaya Plaza is a relaxing town sim from the team at Biscuit Factory Games, which includes ex-Fortnite and Fall Guys developers. It's up to you to restore a community by improving and decorating a town to turn it into a tourist hotspot. There are villagers to meet and help out too.

This looks cute! The trailer sold me on it the moment that the mayor encountered a pumpkin-headed character named Jack, who says "villagersss... what a curiousss... concept." I have no idea why Jack is hissing like a snake, but I am intrigued. Papaya Plaza is coming to Steam in 2027.

I keep forgetting that I haven't yet played Planet of Lana 2 after loving the first game. Lost in Tandem reminded me to fix that as it looks very much in the vein of said series.

This is a hand-drawn puzzle adventure game in which a young girl helps her large robot friend (known here as a Mech-ute) complete its mission in a post-apocalyptic world. What helps set Lost in Tandem apart from the Planet of Lana series is that it's a couch co-op game rather than a single-player one.

At least based on the trailer, it looks lovely. I adore that you can find stickers and place them on the mech. Lost in Tandem, from Tempete Studio and publisher Juicebox Studios, is slated to hit Steam in July.

It wouldn't really be a proper edition of this roundup without a dog game. In Hounded, you'll play as Duke, a border collie looking for his master. It's a third-person narrative adventure game in which the pup will use his nose and wield a supernatural force called The Tide in order to sniff out said master in a flintlock fantasy world.

A Kickstarter campaign for Hounded was funded in just four days last year and now IMPRNT Studios has locked in a publishing deal with Silver Lining Interactive (Spirit of the North, Outbound). Hounded is coming to Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.