Game of the Year lists tend to be dominated by big AAA titles. They’re the games that everybody plays, so it makes sense that they’re prevalent. But 2018 had a lot of incredible indie games that made a big impact — while still clocking in at under 10 hours.
Earthblade is a 2D fantasy platformer in a seamless pixel art world and is the next release from the Celeste team, well it’s still is but likely will not be released in 2024 as Extremely OK Games’ head Maddy Thorson explains in an official blog post. Earthblade was first announced in April 2021 and then had its first trailer at The Game Awards in 2022. You are Névoa, an enigmatic child of Fate returning at long last to Earth, in this fantasy platformer. Earthblade’s lush pixel art world offers seamless exploration, challenging combat, and countless mysteries to pick apart. Celeste was an amazing game, so we know this will be too, we just will need to wait at least another year.
This is Indie Game Culture’s List of 10 Indie Games That Are a Nightmare to 100%.
Clare from GL writes: No game is perfect, no developer is perfect, and not every studio or every game is going to get the combination just right. But we can look to the likes of studios like Naughty Dog which have created groundbreaking accessibility options that allow even blind players to enjoy their game
Celeste was under 10 hours? Took me 20 to finish all chapters, gather about 150 strawberries and do maybe 3 B-Sides. Still chipping away at this platforming masterpiece.
Indies rock!
I like indies, there have been some great ones this year, but let's not kid ourselves that there hasn't been a lot of great, long lasting AAA stuff.