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2024 has been a decent year for indie horror games. From abandoned theme parks full of monsters to Eldritch beings at sea, there has been something for everyone’s tastes. So if you’re looking for a smaller horror game to sink your teeth into this Halloween, these six games have you covered.

Hollowbody 24d5g

While the Silent Hill 2 remake has proven to be remarkably successful at capturing the feeling of the PS2 original, for those looking for a more accurate gameplay experience it may be a letdown. This is where Hollowbody comes in, which sticks more closely to the fixed camera angles and awkward combat of PS2-era survival horror.

Set in a dilapidated Britain in a vaguely cyberpunk near-future, you play as a black-market smuggler whose partner has disappeared into an exclusion zone. You’ll be exploring the ruins of an abandoned town, complete with monsters around every corner. However, there’s a creeping dread that even beyond the beasts, this is not a pleasant place to be. Hollowbody does have some noticeable flaws, but it’s one of the best indie horror games to recreate that early 2000s feel.

Hollowbody is available for PC.

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War is a common setting for video games. Whether it’s dense strategy games recreating historical battles or gung-ho shooters about fighting for freedom, it’s been heavily covered. Where war doesn’t feature that often is horror, which is a surprise when the setting is so ripe for it. War is a miserable, terrifying experience for those who fight in it, after all.

This is where Conscript comes in. It uses the damp, rat-infested trenches of World War I as its setting and it’s incredibly effective. The tight spaces and poor lighting make it hard to see threats around each corner, while damaged supply lines force item management to the forefront. It’s very Resident Evil in its structure, but the horrors here are much more human. By marrying the mechanics of horror games to the harsh realities of combat, Conscript is an effective reminder that war is hell.

Conscript is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

Pacific Drive 48591e

While not strictly a horror game in many people’s definitions, Pacific Drive meets the criteria of being one of the best indie horror games of 2024 in many ways. Supernatural threats you’re mostly powerless against? Check. A tense, foreboding atmosphere that persists everywhere you explore? Check. Jump scares? If mannequins appearing ominously behind you without you noticing count, then absolutely check.

Pacific Drive sends you out into an exclusion zone in America’s spookiest region (the Pacific Northwest) where science has unleashed horrors upon the landscape. Also your only protection is a beaten-up 1970s station wagon. Half survival roguelike, half car maintenance simulator, Pacific Drive manages to evoke horror through the random nature of its anomalous threats and with a landscape that becomes increasingly alien as you progress through the game.

Pacific Drive is available for PC and PS5.

Still Wakes the Deep 1x1019

Isolated locations are the perfect locations for horror, and where is more isolated than an oil rig in the middle of the ocean? Still Wakes the Deep sees you playing as a rig worker as the crew drills into something terrible in the ocean that should have been left alone. The game that follows is a desperate rush to escape from this unknowable horror while trapped by your surroundings.

Developed by The Chinese Room, Still Wakes the Deep evokes the same horror as their previous work Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Plenty of tense atmosphere, a monster that could be anywhere as it cracks and breaks the rig around itself, and a cast of excellent voice actors that sell the terror make the game one of the best indie horror games of 2024.

Still Wakes the Deep is available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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Mouthwashing is a game that seemingly came out of nowhere this year, and quickly shot right to the top of many players’ lists. The premise is that a spaceship crew is stranded following a crash that may have been caused by the captain. As the game progresses, the truth is revealed through a series of surreal flashbacks told out of order, revealing a rapid decline in sanity across the whole crew.

Mouthwashing uses low poly aesthetics to great effect, crafting a cast of characters who are generally unpleasant to look at and an environment that’s oppressive even before things begin to collapse. It’s a game that’s left a huge impression on its players, one that’s unlikely to be shaken any time soon.

Mouthwashing is available for PC.

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The low-poly PS1 aesthetic works wonders for horror. The shifting textures, static faces and awkward shapes and movements add an uncanny pleasantness that can be put to great work when it comes to making people uneasy. Crow Country embraces the PS1 horror aesthetic to its fullest, in a way you’d likely not expect from the developers of Snipperclips.

You play as Mara Forest, a special agent investigating Crow Country, an abandoned theme park, whose owner has disappeared. The game is a classic survival horror game, with limited resources, obtuse puzzles and an array of creepy monsters wandering around. However, while the gameplay evokes Resident Evil and Silent Hill, the visuals owe a greater debt to Final Fantasy VII, right down to the chibi character models.

Crow Country is a fantastic horror game all round. The story is a true mystery, full of twists and turns. The gameplay is full of inventive puzzles. And the theme park is dripping with atmosphere, with the feeling that more horrors are lurking around the corners you can’t see. It’s an essential game for any horror fan, and easily one of the best indie horrors of 2024.

Crow Country is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.

Let us know what your favorite indie horror game of 2024 is in the comments below!

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Comedy dating sim Date Everything has a release date, as announced by developer Sassy Chap Games. It will release for PC and consoles on the appropriate date of February 14, 2025.

In a new release date trailer, lead designer Ray Chase discussed where Date Everything is currently at in its development. The game is currently feature complete, and the team are now performing bug fixes and polishing the visuals of the house environment you’ll spend most of the game in.

Date Everything is a dating sim where all the romance candidates are household objects, whose human-like personalities show through thanks to a pair of special glasses. The trailer shows off a bunch of these romantic interests, including Freddy the fridge, Rebel the rubber duck, Wyndolyn the window and Gaia the globe. Less tangible objects also appear to be romanceable, including a woman made of soap suds and the physical embodiment of a nightmare.

Date Everything is a comedy dating sim designed by four well-known voice actors turned game developers. Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond, Amanda Hufford and Max Mittelman have provided voice work for a variety of past projects including Persona 5, Final Fantasy XV and Genshin Impact, but have now turned their hands to making their own game. Date Everything was first announced earlier this year.

The Date Everything release date is February 14, 2025, and it will appear on the Switch, PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.

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A mobile version of the horror fishing game Dredge will be coming soon, as confirmed by developers Black Salt Games. The game will be coming to Apple devices and Google Play on December 18, 2024.

The mobile version of Dredge will contain all the features of the base game on other platforms. There has also been built around a new touch control interface, although there is for external controllers. All the DLC expansions (The Pale Reach, The Iron Rig, The Blackstone Key) will also be made available, although they will need to be purchased separately. The mobile version will be available from both the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android devices.

In addition to the mobile version, Dredge will also be made available for MacOS. According to the developer FAQ, this will function exactly like the standard PC version, but with added iOS crossplay features. Apple s can purchase either the Mac or iOS version and have access to both, and a cross-save function will allow players to switch between devices to continue their game. These crossplay features will not apply to other versions of the game.

A demo of the horror fishing game will be made available for Apple s, although there’s no mention of this for Android s. Dredge can be pre-ordered now for Apple devices, while Google Play pre-registration will be available in the coming weeks.

Dredge will release for mobile devices on December 18, 2024. It is currently available for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One.

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Voice actors Amanda Hufford, Max Mittelman, Ray Chase, and Robbie Daymond announced Date Everything, an dating sim that makes inanimate objects into love interests. The Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC title will have 100 romance candidates total, and each of them has multiple endings depending on your choices.

A first Date Everything trailer appeared to help explain how this dating sim will work. The player will be inside of their home and, after getting Dateviator glasses, will find objects there can also be individuals with personalities who are looking for love. 100 characters will appear, and your potential partners can end up loving, hating, or becoming friends with you. A handful of love interests appeared in the first video, such as Cabrizzio the kitchen cabinets, Keyes the piano, Hoove the vacuum, Harper the laundry basket, Dirk the dirty laundry, and Betty the bed. The video also highlighted how these romance options also know each other, with Keyes referencing Hoove and Harper and Dirk apparently in an established relationship. 

Here’s the full trailer:

Date Everything is in development for the Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

Sassy Chap Games, Date Everything, Team 17, North America, Europe, 

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A big feature is now in the Animal Crossing-like Hokko Life, as the farming update is live. Wonderscape and Team17 announced that people can now create their own farms in the life sim. There’s a new area and villager, Aubrey, so people can start growing crops.

When you head to the farm, things function the way they tend to in most farming sims like Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons. You till the land with a hoe, scatter seeds, and water them. Once a crop is fully grown, you can harvest it.

Here’s a trailer showing off how farming works in Hokko Life, now that the update is live.

And here are the full patch notes from the Steam announcement:

• Requests now factor in the season and availability of resources

• Fixed refreshing of item amounts etc in Design Tool

• Added "Path" blueprint for flat objects you can walk on

• Fix for issue causing players to get stuck if they cancel movement of a mine lantern

• Fix for mine lanterns lights being too big and causing performance problems

• Fixed <request_amount> text on weed requests dialogue

• Silver pickaxe now uses silver bars instead of ore for crafting, in line with other pickaxes

• Fixed Redwood tree not giving correct wood

• Fixed Redwood tree not dropping any seeds

• Fix for slowdown the longer you play

• Fix for text about a request's material being inserted in the middle of a conversation

• Added Storage items

• Added Storage blueprints

• Changes to format of save files to help with corruption issues

• Fix for scrollbar not appearing in design tool to show all material filters

• Fixed the bonfire

• Small optimisation in Painting tool to help with painting crashes

• Fix for missing icon for Hanging Lights

• Added information to backpack request screen to let you know what item is wanted

• Fixed incorrect colours of several furniture items

• Fix for strange lighting artefacts on custom objects

• Fix for issue where speaking to villagers would lock the player if they had been in the main menu and back

• Fix for strange pop on loading screen fade after being in main menu

• Fixed missing icon for scateboard

• Fix for respawning trees and grass on forest path exit from the meadow area

• Fix for overflowing ingredients in Design Tool information

• Fix for design pieces growing in size if spamming the duplicate button

• Fix for overflowing and overlapping ingredients on information on craftables in backpack

• Fix for "string missing" being used for name of designs when saving

• Requests will be automatically removed from your request list after being time-lapsed for 4 days.

• Fix for mine rocks not regenerating

• Fix for wallpaper getting destroyed from backpack if you try and use it in a location that doesn't permit it

This means there are five major elements in the Hokko Life Early Access roap remaining. Both the farming and storage features are now in the game. The Bug Bonanza, Desert Island Distractions, Mayor Merits, Super Shopping, and Village Chic elements, which will add bugs, activities, rewards, new ways to shop and share, and clothing options, remain.

Hokko Life is available for PCs via Steam Early Access, and the farming update launched on July 23, 2021.

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An early access game is about to spread its wings and fly. Not only on its original platform too, but on consoles. The Monster Sanctuary Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions are cleared for take-off right as the PC version is about to leave this preliminary phase. As noted on Steam, it will land on all fronts on December 8, 2020. It will cost $19.99/£15.99/€19.99. Currently, a Steam copy is $17.99.

In Monster Sanctuary, every player is a Monster Keeper. This means you can travel the world, using monsters’ special skills to reach areas ordinary people can’t. You’ll meet new monsters, collect their eggs, hatch them, raise them, and add them to your team. Which ones are with you determine which areas you might be able to access. It also influences what your 3v3 fights against other monsters or Keepers will look like. In early access, new biomes, story elements, monsters, and skills have gradually been added.

Here’s the launch trailer looking at gameplay and showing how different monsters can help you better explore the world. You can even see how you determine monsters’ development by choosing what they learn in their skill trees and evolving them.

Monster Sanctuary Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions will appear on December 8, 2020, alongside the full version of the PC game. It is currently in the early access phase on PCs and has been since August 2019.

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The Going Under gameplay drips with wit and insightfulness. Even if the game possessed no redeeming features beyond its writing, Aggro Crab Games should still be applauded for the sheer density of jokes about corporations and tech startups that fit into the game. Fortunately, the game is so much more than a funny script.

Going Under is also more than a sum of its parts. While its gameplay, art direction, and writing could all thrive individually, were they parts of separate games with different premises, they blend together perfectly. Were that last sentence part of the game, I imagine “blend together” would be replaced with a term like “synergize.” This is because the developers really don’t miss an opportunity to employ corporate language whenever it’s appropriate. That fact becomes clear almost immediately, even if you somehow managed to overlook the wordplay present in the game’s title.

In Going Under, players take control of a spirited and unpaid intern named Jackie Fiasco. Jackie is quickly defined as someone who mostly plays nice, despite a palpable awareness of the borderline illogical and unfair practices of her employer. This should resonate with anybody who has had wear a performative smile and be positive at their place of work.

She is immediately tasked with clearing out a dungeon below the offices. Most of the absurdities portrayed in Going Under's gameplay can easily be traced back to a practice or idea in the real world, so the notion that characters in the game readily accept that failed businesses sink into the ground as a norm is particularly funny. It’s also a bit grim, because former employees of these businesses are doomed to roam the halls of their workplace in the form of creatures. Surely nobody aspires to become something like a "Joblin," but in the world of Going Under, them's the breaks.

The bulk of the game takes place in these dungeons, and players shouldn’t let themselves become disheartened by what will probably feel like a gauntlet of failures. This is part of the game’s grind, which is an obvious parallel to the “grind” people experience at work. But just in case it isn’t obvious, the metaphor is directly addressed via dialogue. And while Jackie would almost certainly feel the effects of it, what with the occasional immolation or stabbing, my frequent attempts to clear dungeons that I had consistently failed never gave way to tedium. This is because tying progress to failure is a hallmark of the roguelike genre and Going Under manages to execute on the concept in ways that feel satisfying.

Death after death doesn’t really bring Going Under gameplay to a halt, either. More dungeons can still unlock and story scenes sometimes follow failures. Jackie Fiasco also becomes stronger with successive runs which makes a lot of the challenging content far more approachable. Tasks given by NPCs can feel like real accomplishments, too. A large portion of the tasks are compelling undertakings which can be cleared with a relative quickness. Some of them require collecting items, but others can change the way players approach dungeons if they choose to pursue them. At one point, I was told to defeat three enemies without taking damage. I subsequently approached my fights very carefully until I achieved that goal.

The dungeon has randomized elements which keep attempts feeling fresh. Some of the randomness requires a bit of cost benefit analysis which feels both appropriate and exciting. For example, players might encounter a character called the Hauntrepreneur who is a vampire willing to reward the player with powerups if they agree to let him curse them with a random effect. These moments that focus on risk and choice are necessary since Jackie Fiasco’s move set is pretty limited. She can pick up a variety of weapons, some of which are very silly, and depending on their type can do melee or ranged attacks. She can also roll and throw, but that is practically it.

I emphatically and clearly recommend Going Under. There’s a definite catharsis in experiencing its thorough send up of an exhausting culture. You might even feel a sense of solidarity while playing it. The density of the jokes could potentially be construed as a weakness for some. While I will never condemn a game for commenting on real experiences I will say that Going Under almost too real at times. The grains of truth in the game come at you like a sandstorm, which could be grating depending on your mood. It would be understandable if these overwhelmingly frequent allusions to reality bred frustration. That said, I personally wouldn’t change it. The best jokes defuse the tension and the lightheartedness of the approach makes for a mostly positive experience. I’d be curious to find out what other people’s experiences were like in this regard.

Going Under is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows

The post Going Under Is a Gauntlet of Death; Its Story a Marathon of Jokes appeared first on Siliconera.

A game where you control the ages of animals and plants in the world around you is intriguing. Especially when your avatar can shift into an “ageless” state to take advantage of that energy. In theory, it has a lot of potential, and it mostly works in practice too! The problem is, the execution isn’t always great.

Ageless follows a woman named Kiara. She’s felt stagnant and trapped, and believes that finding a “gate” and gaining a “power” will be the push needed to give her meaning and purpose. The game picks up right as she comes across Vi, someone else who found the gate to Pandora and received a gift, confirms it is possible. She heads through the gate and discovers her new ability lets her advance or decrease the age of living things around her. But now that she has the power she wanted, she might find that it doesn’t immediately solve her problems. Rather, it can lead to more.

If you’re looking at Ageless and thinking it looks like Celeste and maybe even sounds like it gets deep and personal in the same way, well, you’re right. It is impossible to look at and talk about it without thinking of the Matt Makes Games title. Both are introspective platformers that can get very challenging. There are even the optional, hidden items to collect if you’re willing to take risks and test your skill. (They’re relics here, rather than strawberries.) The difference is in the execution.

Ageless is very focused on Kiara’s powers and using them to solve puzzles. Creatures behave differently at different stages of their life. An early example is how a rhino-like creature will be curious as a baby, aggressive as a teen, and fat and sedentary as an adult. Each stage offers a different sort of use when solving puzzles. Plants can make better platforms as they grow, but be ed when made younger.

For the most part, it handles the concept really well. Whenever you are in a level that doesn’t require Kiara to constantly keep moving to survive, Ageless gives you the time needed to work out the solutions to puzzles and learn how to properly jump your way through areas. Since getting the right angle with the analog stick to properly hit your targets with your aging and de-aging arrows can be tricky and require the utmost precision, it can work out pretty well for the most part.

I say for the most part, because there are areas where it might feel like Ageless doesn’t really play fair. The first boss fight in Pandora is the best example. It comes right after you’ve spent time learning to use the gift and amps up the difficulty. While the first few screens aren’t too difficult and involve basic jumps, arrow-aiming, and being “ageless,” it can quickly become unmanageable as the being upset about Kiara’s acquising begins the chase. Since there are no save points and the Switch can be more finicky, I felt like it was the sort of sequence where it was designed with a certain sort of control scheme in mind. To be fair, that first boss was honestly the one that gave me the most trouble. But in general, it sometimes felt like some puzzles and bosses were a bit more or less difficult than others.

Ageless is a game that I wanted to like more than I did. I wanted to play around with its world and mechanics. Sometimes, it let me. But more often than not, it would turn into the sort of game where being off by a single pixel could result in a mistake that would be easy to repeat and force you to deal with a chain of events until muscle memory would maybe, hopefully take over. (Though, given I played on a Switch with Joy-Con drift issues, that was unlikely.) It is definitely novel and the sort of Celeste-like folks might dig, but it could use some accessibility adjustments and balancing.

Ageless is available for the Nintendo Switch and PC.

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Overcooked PS5 and Xbox One versions have been confirmed, and they’re going to be pretty comprehensive. Ghost Town Games and Team17 confirmed both the first and second games will be headed to next-gen platforms in 2020, and when they do they’ll be bundled together as Overcooked! All You Can Eat.

What this will involve is actually something of a remake of the original Overcooked with the Overcooked 2, which adds online multiplayer. Also, both games will have cross-platform online multiplayer. It will be playable in 4K with 60fps. Also, in addition to the 200 levels and inclusion of all DLC, it has been confirmed that there will be new chefs, chef skins, and levels in these versions of the games.

Here’s the Overcooked! All You Can Eat trailer showing off the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X ports. While it didn’t show how Assist Mode will work, it also confirmed that Assist Mode and accessibility options will be present in this release.

The Overcooked PS5 and Xbox Series X versions will arrive together in Overcooked! All You Can Eat in 2020. Overcooked is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Overcooked 2 is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

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Monster Sanctuary, the Metroidvania with Pokemon and Dragon Quest Monsters-like monster collecting and training, has added a feature promised since its Kickstarter days. Moi Rai Games says is now possible to fight other people’s teams. The Monster Sanctuary PVP update is live in the early access build, letting people start trying for a spot in the game’s new leaderboards.

Once you and apply the Monster Sanctuary update, you need to make sure you hit a certain progress point to take part in online matches. You will only be able to access this online arena if you have beaten seven Champion Monsters and become a Keeper Lancer. If you have, then you can go into the ring and fight other folks online.

Like Pokemon, a Monster Sanctuary PVP match involves every creature in your immediate party. While you only have three out and active at once, all six will eventually be in play. You can swap creatures in and out, and a winner is declared when one person runs out of monsters. There is also a stalemate prevention system in effect, which will keep the from dragging on for too many turns. Your wins will be charted on the online leaderboards, letting you see how well you are doing compared to other players.

While the Monster Hunter PVP is the main highlight of the update, a new monster is also in the game. A Community Monster Contest Popular Vote winner is in. RacieB’s Manticorb, which is basically a little cyclops crossed with a manticore, has been added in the early Monster Sanctuary area. Its skill tree includes neutral attacks, buffs to help the party and itself, and fire, water, and wind elemental attacks.

Monster Sanctuary is available via early access on PCs. The full game will appear on the Nintendo Switch and PC. You can learn more about the game in our preliminary playtest.

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