I’ve got more than a little trepidation about writing a list of 22 Indie Games to Watch in 2022.
Because, hands up, I was ambitious about 2021. Too ambitious. Of the 21 games I listed last year, only 13 actually came out.
So let’s take those as DEFINITELY coming out in 2022 and that we’re all excited for them.
So if you’re here for anything listed here, then go back, all my comments still stand.
For everything else, let’s go through 22 Indie Games to Watch in 2022. (And please let’s all pretend they won’t slip to 2023)
Sifu
My preview for Sifu covered a lot of my thoughts, but Sloclap had me from the first moment I saw their stylish combat. With the pedigree of Absolver’s mechanical excellence behind them, a kung fu movie inspired revenge tale is a logical next step. Add in a progression system based on avoiding death to retain experience and skill opportunities for the final element.
So with a narrative focus and no need to balance for multiplayer, Sloclap can really sink their teeth into building an engrossing single player game that I can’t wait to see at full release.
Releasing 8th February for Epic Games Store and Playstation Consoles.
Tunic
It feels like we’ve been waiting for Tunic forever, and that’s only a slight exaggeration. First announced in 2017(!), the Zelda-like tale of the small Fox in the isometric puzzle adventure immediately captivated the audience with its toybox visuals and adorable protagonist.
It’s easy to use the phrase “Love Letter” but Tunic truly seems to capture the spirit of the classic Zelda games, blending beautiful graphics and so much creativity in puzzle and world design.
Hopefully that after so many years of hype, Tunic can live up to it.
Releasing on Mac, PC and Xbox Consoles on March 16th
The Gecko Gods
What if you could be Lara Croft but without the unfortunate colonial implications? Or the modern series tendency to impale her on a spike?
Enter The Gecko Gods. Head into a temple, solve puzzles, eat bugs, be a Gecko. Really it’s the life of simplicity we all want.
With a new publisher in Super Rare Games, The Gecko Gods looks like a simple, charming puzzle platformer that should offer a small scale puzzling experience come release on PC in 2022.
The Outlast Trials
The original Outlast was one of the progenitors of style that first person modern horror games ape so much. It’s Sequel went more than a little off the rails.
So heading back to that eerie medical setting, but trying to capture the same magic with a co-operative horror experience of getting through twisted medical trials?
A tall order! In spite of the wave of multiplayer indie horror games like Phasmophobia we’ve seen in the last few years, it’s still incredibly easy for Multiplayer to turn from fright to farce.
If the team that helped popularise modern horror games can keep the horror going in a brand new style, that surely gets it on the list of Indie Games to watch in 2022.
Releasing 2022 on PC
The Day Before
I don’t actually believe The Day Before is real. It’s simply too much. So it earns its place on this list of 22 Indie Games to Watch in 2022. By sheer dint of me wanting to see if it’s true.
An MMO Third Person Shooter set after the world has fallen into a Zombie based apocalypse also filled with the requisite greedy groups of hostile humans.
Whether you’re spending your time entering massive cities to resources, or scouting tundra to hunt for food you’ll be watching out for hostile foes. Hoping you make it back to the safety of your base camp.
Vibes of The Division are strong, with a focus on tacticool military weaponry and squad based exploration, but can such an ambitious title even actually live up to the promise?
When it appears on PC, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series Consoles in 2022, we’ll find out.